100 years ago
16 March 1922
Picnic
Grasping the opportunity of an enjoyable day’s outing amongst the beauty spots of Ferntree Gully, many members of both Dandenong and Keysborough social clubs attended a combined picnic held on Saturday 18th last month. On reaching the vicinity of Scoresby, the members of the Keysborough Club, travelling in the first van, encountered a rather severe mishap, owing to the hind wheel of the van collapsing. However, the party reached the Gully. After dinner, an enjoyable afternoon was spent amongst the beauty spots. A good number climbed the mountain to the lookout. The return journey was accomplished by hiring the local char-a-banc, and by means of another van. After travelling a short distance, all were astonished to hear that the van, like the previous one, was faulty – on account of a lose tyre and brakes refusing to act. At about four o’clock in the morning, with all neighbouring chanticleers heralding our approach, we reached home after travelling at the excessive speed of 16 miles per hour.
50 years ago
16 March 1972
Sane thinking on garbage
The unanimous decision by Dandenong Council on Monday night to establish a garbage depot in the Police Paddocks will not meet with the approval of everybody. But it is a move which cannot, when all the relevant facts are considered, be condemned. The area sought for the tip – to use the layman’s terminology – is currently used mainly as grazing land with few, if any trees around. It would not serve any other useful purpose. Dandenong council deserves a pat on the back for its sane approach to the problem of garbage disposal and land reclamation.
20 years ago
18 March 2002
A first look at our new future
The State Government caught Greater Dandenong on the hop last week when Premier Steve Bracks announced a $250m housing development on the former sale yards in Cheltenham Road. It is anticipated the development, which will be linked to the Dandenong station, will bring 2400 residents to the city. Mr Bracks also announced that Dandenong would be the centrepiece of the State Government Growing Victoria strategy and that a Dandenong development board would be formed. The timing of the Government’s announcement by Premier Steve Bracks in the whistle-stop visit to the city last Tuesday surprised and angered several councillors. Cr John Kelly said he was “appalled “at the lack of information the Government provided to councillors and the way in which the project was announced.
5 years ago
20 March 2017
UFO Witness to tell story
A schoolgirl’s sketchy line drawing remains the first image from one of Australia’s most famous UFO events. Fourteen-year-old Marilyn Eastwood sketched what she saw of the Westall UFO incident on 6 April 1966, which remains one of the few daytime UFO sightings by scores of witnesses. “We thought it was the end of the world, that we were about to be invaded,“ she said.
Compiled by Dandenong & District Historical Society
