Narromine $2.50 incl GST
PROUDLY SERVING THE NARROMINE, TRANGIE AND TOMINGLEY REGION
Thursday, January 26, 2023
HOME DELIVERY AVAILABLE: CONTACT YOUR LOCAL NEWSAGENT FOR DETAILS
Pergola to provide welcoming new face for Trangie Golf Club
Hand-axe, artefacts from Rain, hail, and shine – Inland Rail returned to Narromine family nails third Indigenous communities in northern wheat crop comp STORY: PAGE 6
STORY: PAGE 5
STORY: PAGE 4
Peter Kierath awarded OAM By EMILY MIDDLETON PETER Kierath OAM has today received an Order of Australia Medal (OAM), for his service to the community of Narromine. Part of the furniture, Mr Kierath has dedicated his time, service, and passion to the community for as long as the town can remember. Mr Kierath served as an alderman for nearly a decade for Narromine Shire Council, as a councillor for over 10 years, and is a current member of the Narromine Economic Development Committee. He was the initiator of the Narromine multi-purpose hall at the Narromine High School precinct, as well as founder of the airport users’ group. Most notably however, Mr Kierath has been a committee member for the Narromine Aviation Museum since 1998, and has watched the museum be built, evolve, change, and strengthen ever since. His hard work and dedication has aided the museum to its continued success today. “Well, I’ve got to say, it was an ambush,” Mr Kierath laughed, when asked how he felt about his OAM. “It was just something I just never ever expected. I had never thought about it, and then I got that note from the Governor-General – must have been early September I thinksaying I was on the list [to be award on Australia Day 2023]. “I couldn’t read it, I shed a few tears. It just shocked me a bit. The next day I got it out and read it again, and I was still having trouble believing it, because I thought who
Peter Kierath at the Aviation Museum. PHOTO: NARROMINE STAR. the hell would be doing this. I just had no idea. I found it very humbling, and it was very emotional for me to be quite truthful.” In his role as chairman [multiple times] of the Narromine Aviation Committee, Mr Kierath has seen many big developments completed. “We’ve done a lot of work in the museum, and I think, given what it started out as, and what it is now, there’s been huge upgrades, and expan-
sions of exhibits and all sorts of things like that, which I think has made it more interesting. “We have another three to four significant projects on the cards this year,” Mr Kierath hinted. “When you fi rst start a museum, people don’t want to give you too much of the family memorabilia, because they don’t know where the museum is going, but the longer it goes on and the higher the stand-
ard you put in, the more confidence it gives to people.” But as many Narromine locals know, the museum wasn’t Mr Kierath’s only remarkable project. Sitting on the Narromine hospital board for over two decades, Mr Kierath was the brains behind Timbrebongie House, Narromine’s aged care provider. “When I was on the board, I noticed that there were always three to four people in the hospital beds or rooms that were
Strike gold with a career in mining Alkane Resources ŚĂƐ Ă ůŽŶŐͲƚĞƌŵ ŝŶǀĞƐƚŵĞŶƚ ŝŶ ŵŝŶŝŶŐ ĂŶĚ ŐŽůĚ ƉƌŽĚƵĐƟŽŶ Ăƚ dŽŵŝŶŐůĞLJ 'ŽůĚ KƉĞƌĂƟŽŶƐ, south of Dubbo. If you’re interested in a rewarding career in mining, work with us. dŽ ĮŶĚ ŽƵƚ ŵŽƌĞ ĂďŽƵƚ ĐƵƌƌĞŶƚ ĞŵƉůŽLJŵĞŶƚ ŽƉƉŽƌƚƵŶŝƟĞƐ͕ ŐŽ ƚŽ ǁǁǁ͘ĂůŬĂŶĞ͘ĐŽŵ͘ĂƵͬĐŽŵƉĂŶLJͬĐĂƌĞĞƌƐ ^ƵĐĐĞƐƐĨƵů ĂƉƉůŝĐĂŶƚƐ ũŽŝŶ Ă ǀŝďƌĂŶƚ ĂŶĚ ĞŶƚŚƵƐŝĂƐƟĐ ƚĞĂŵ ĂŶĚ ĐŽŶƚƌŝďƵƚĞ ƚŽ Ă ĐƵůƚƵƌĞ ŽĨ ŝŶĐůƵƐŝŽŶ͕ ŝŶƚĞŐƌŝƚLJ ĂŶĚ ƌĞƐƉĞĐƚ ʹ for each other, the environment and the local community.
old, but weren’t really sick. And some of them had been in there for months and months on end, maybe even years,” said Mr Kierath. “So, they were treating a few of those rooms as an aged care centre. The people weren’t high health, but they weren’t sick. Then I saw that some of them were going to Dubbo, Wellington, Tullamore, Tottenham etc, just for aged care, and I thought dear oh dear we should have one of those here.” After discussion with the committee, it was decided an aged care centre was needed, and plans were underway. Eventually leaving the hospital board, Mr Kierath became a founding chairman of the Timbrebongie House Committee, and got the ball rolling on design plans. “My younger brother put me onto a very good architect in Sydney who specialised in aged care. After approaching the government, we were unsuccessful in obtaining any grants, Narromine wasn’t their priority etc, but we ended up going down to Sydney, and we spoke to the federal health department in Sydney and we got a grant from them, maybe half a million dollars.” Through tireless efforts of fundraising, and a few other grants, Mr Kierath, the newly-employed manager, and the board were able to raise enough money to get Timbrebongie House off the ground. “I think it’s been going hell bent for leather ever since!” he said. Continued page 2