Don your frocks (or suits) and put on your dancing shoes because a Diggers Ball is being held to celebrate the centenary of the opening of the Wingham Memorial Town Hall, and to acknowledge the 50th anniversary of the removal of Australian troops from Vietnam.
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While the anniversary of the official opening of the hall is on April 2, the ball is being held on Saturday, April 13, 2024.
"Another of the reasons for doing it is to commemorate and celebrate our defence services personnel across the years, men and women, and to to honour the memory of those past and salute those present and into the future," Mave Richardson AM PSM said.
"It's a once in a lifetime opportunity for our community to come together and recognise the significance of the conflicts and peacekeeping and how much Australia has been involved with so many things to to assist other countries and to defend their own, of course."
However, Mave says, you needn't be interested in dancing to come. She says it's just as much fun to watch those on the dance floor as it is to take part in it.
This year's Diggers Ball follows the retrieval of a 100-year-old time capsule from the town hall's wall in late 2023.
The Diggers Ball is being held at the Wingham Memorial Town Hall from 6.30pm.
Dress is formal or smart casual wear, and uniforms and medals. There will be prizes for Best Dressed female, male and couple.
Music will be provided by local band The Mud Bishops; there will be ballroom dancing and contemporary music as well.
Tickets to the Diggers Ball are $50 per person and a light supper is provided. BYO drinks.
Tickets are available at the Wingham Museum, Ashlea Road Boutique in Wingham, and Bass 'n' Blues Music Megastore in Taree, or by emailing Wingham Museum at mvhsmuseum@gmail.com.
Why a Diggers Ball?
The Wingham Memorial Town Hall was built by the community, with funds raised by the community, in memorium to local fallen soldiers from World War I. It is one of only three memorial town halls in NSW and it has a long history of being the venue for Diggers Balls.
The only Diggers Ball at the Wingham Memorial Town Hall this century was in 2018, when more than 170 people packed the hall to commemorate the centenary of the end of World War I. The only other one in relatively recent history was 1994.
The first Diggers Reunion Ball was held at the showground in December 1919, and another in July 1920. In 1929 the Diggers Ball became an annual event at the Wingham Memorial Town Hall up until the late 1950s.