100 years ago
11 September 1924
Wanted – a few live, energetic men, with a little time to spare, to take on secretaryships in Dandenong. There’s quite a slump in the secretarial market at present. It took the bowling club about an hour to get a secretary at its annual meeting recently. The Poultry and Kennel society, the Football club and the Brass Band are other institutions that have experienced difficulty in filling the secretarial office. The trouble in this direction is largely accounted for by the lack of support accorded honorary secretaries by some committees, the members of which leave the whole of the work to be carried out by the unfortunate secretary. For this reason, busy men can hardly be blamed for persistently refusing to take on secretaryships.
50 years ago
5 September 1974
MIDNIGHT ARCADE INFERNO!
Fire raged through the Vanity Court arcade in Dandenong causing thousands of dollars damage. The fire, which is believed to have started in the electrical system on the second floor. Dandenong fire brigade was alerted by a passer by and fought the blaze for 20 minutes. They confined the fire to the Thomas Street end of the arcade and restricted the damage to the switchboard and staircases. However, shop windows shattered under the extreme heat and there was considerable smoke and water damage to many properties. Shopkeepers at the Lonsdale Street end were open for business as usual, although they were without power.
20 years ago
13 September 2004
Councillors ‘underpaid’
Casey Mayor Rob Wilson says councillors don’t get paid enough and has pushed for the council to become the first in Victoria to have full-time councillors. The council last week supported a recommendation to make the Mayor and councillors full-time employees on a two year basis. Cr Wilson said that councillors worked hard for little pay. “If you work it out, kids get better paid for working at the front counter at Maccas.” Councillor Wilson added that the city was expected to become the size of Canberra, with a population of 320,000 and that under the present system would need between 15 and 18 representatives. If the councillors were full-time, only half that number would be needed. “A lot more council business can be done during the day.” A Municipal Association of Victoria spokeswoman said the proposal may have some merit. “Certainly, a lot of mayors and councillors put in close to full-time hours in their roles and aren’t paid that much.” The spokeswoman said that councillors worked about 25 hours a week and were paid between $15,000 and $18,000 a year.
5 years ago
10 September 2019
VLocity trains are on track
A new batch of VLocity trains has been ordered to meet growing demand for regional rail services – and they will be built right here in Dandenong. Bombardier will build the next six VLocity trains, supporting 100 direct jobs and hundreds throughout the supply chain. The new trains are part of the $340 million in funding from the Victorian Budget 2019-’20 to purchase up to 18 new three-carriage trains. Bombardier is expected to begin building the new trains next year, before they are delivered to the network in 2021.
Compiled by Dandenong & District Historical Society
