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Warren
Thursday, June 12, 2025
PROUDLY SERVING WARREN, NEVERTIRE, COLLIE & OUR SHIRE
HOME DELIVERY AVAILABLE IN SOME AREAS: ASK YOUR LOCAL NEWSAGENT
Men’s Shed has your kindling!
“Mayor of Warren” puts town on sporting map
STORY: PAGE 6
STORY: PAGE 3
Collie CWA set to celebrate centenary By SHARON BONTHUYS
A century of giving and supporting the community will be joyfully celebrated later this month when the members of the Collie branches of the Country Women’s Association (CWA) of NSW gather with others from near and far for a luncheon to mark a significant milestone - their centenary. Collie is a community with two CWA branches, and while technically the centenary applies to the Day Branch, which held its fi rst meeting in December, 1925, the 100th anniversary of CWA operating locally will be celebrated by both the Day and Evening Branches. A delicious luncheon prepared by branch members will form part of the event on the last Saturday in June that will also include memorabilia displays and other activities. The event in the historic Collie CWA Hall is completely free to attend, funded by the efforts of local CWA members. Attendees must RSVP though, so organisers know numbers for catering. Past state president of the CWA of NSW, Mrs Joy Beames, will be a special guest at the event, which will also be attended by CWA members from other branches in the region and beyond. Continued page 2
Senior netball competition registrations spike in 2025 STORY & PHOTOS: PAGE 15
Our Wayilwan Language Journey
Andrew Hull (Gidgee Media, centre) with (L-R) Hayley O’Hara, Kallee-Ray Forbes, Hannah O’Hara, Roxy Cobcroft, Nate Hall, Cliffy Mackay, Indi Gale, Charlie Gale, Olivia Hall and David Milgate. PHOTO: RAINY KING.
AN INVITATION TO A JOURNEY BY WARRAAN WIDJI ARTS In 2021, Aunty Beth (Elizabeth) Wright, whose father, Peter Wright, grew up at the Beemunnel, spent hours and
hours listening to recordings of old sound archives. The sound archives are stored at the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AITSIS) in Canberra. The recordings were of the last fluent Wayilwan language speakers.
The purpose was to reawaken Wayilwan language, a language at the time classified by UNESCO as being on the brink of extinction. Aunty Beth’s hard work to develop a dictionary of just over 1000 words has enabled the reclassification of Wayil-
wan to critically endangered. The dictionary was fi rst used in Warren at our local TAFE by Warren’s Certificate III Aboriginal Languages for Community Use students.
Continued page 2