Parramatta Hails It's Golden Girl Betty Cuthbert

Betty Cuthbert won a place in the hearts of Australians after winning  three gold medals in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics . Winning the 100m, 200m and 100m team relay, the blue eyed girl from Ermington was the first Australian ever to win three gold medals at a single Games, earning the title of the nation's Golden Girl. 

Parramatta On Parade! 150th Anniversary Celebrations - 1938

It promised to be an event of a spectacular nature seldom before seen in Australia. Ten days of pageantry and carnival  at Parramatta from 27 October to 5 November 1938 to celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the second oldest settlement in Australia.

Poster publicising the Anniversary Celebrations
PRS16/001 Parramatta Council Archives

A management committee made up of leading figures from the district was formed a year before the event to begin the final preparations for an event that promised to produce a "galaxy of entertainment and historic features". It was an impressive array of entertainment which included a, Military Tattoo, Police Carnival, Chinese Fireworks Display, Dancing Under the Stars, Period Costume Garden Party, Venetian Carnival on the River, Swimming Fetes, Sports Gymkhana, Orange Festival, Street Parades, Massed Band Concerts, Grand Prix, and a Wild West Rodeo. There was even a Coronation Ball in which the Queen of Parramatta would be crowned.