March was a month of quacks, colours, and campaigns, with more than a few occasions for the main street to be brought to a standstill.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Dominating the month's focus was the state election, which took place on March 23, just five months after Wagga hosted its by-election.
Independent Dr Joe McGirr retained the seat he won in September's by-election. Up to a quarter of the seats in the lower house fell to non-major parties including the Independents and Shooters, Fishers Farmers candidates.
Related:
Aside from the lengthy campaigns and political promises, March also saw the return of Wagga's famed Gumi Race. Though, the 2019 amble down the river had a distinct difference.
Owing to fallen water levels in the river, the homemade float element of the Gumi Race was cancelled and replaced with the city's inaugural 'World Championship Rubber Duck Race'.
So successful was the race, and so low does the water continue to be, that the ducks will be brought back to the water in 2020.
Related:
Speaking of ducks, March was also the month when quite a few quacks came to grace our small screens.
Attempting to revitalise its dwindling doctor population, in the first week of March, the people of Temora released a fully-produced music video clip entitled 'Temora's Great Quack Quest'.
Borrowing elements from the Hollywood cinema-scope with songs and scenes reminiscent of La La Land, the video was shared far and wide across the nation.
It didn't result in as many - or really any - academy awards like its inspiration film.
But, it did attract national attention and an influx of viable applicants for various medical positions on offer in the town.
Related:
Dancing down the main street continued in Wagga during March with the arrival of the city's first Mardi Gras on March 9.
Described as the city's "biggest party", the street parade and festivities throughout the day attracted tens of thousands from around the region, state and nation.
The mardi gras wasn't the only event that brought the city's main streets to a close in March.
Related:
Beginning on March 10, climate change activists of all ages, armed with pickets and megaphones, set a precedent of blocking traffic and voicing their concerns down the main streets.
That first strike was followed throughout the year with additional protest gatherings, including the student-led school strike for climate change in September.
A modest turn out of just 100 protesters at that first protest in March, quickly grew in momentum with literally thousands later taking to the streets in September.
Actions taking place around the region, state, nation and even world, climate change became the hot topic for 2019.
Inconveniences to motorists aside though, the strikes may have been warranted.
Early in March, The Daily Advertiser revealed that in all likelihood, the Riverina would experience excessive and adverse results from a changing climate.
Related:
According to the study by the Australian Conservation Foundation and Australian National University, released in March, by 2050 Wagga will cease to experience a typical winter.
Meanwhile, the report went on to say that the Riverina will experience twice as many hot days and see 28 per cent less rainfall by the same deadline.
On the other end of the spectrum, some good news was delivered in March through a long-awaited announcement that one of the city's most under-used lots would soon be utilised.
In the second week of March, owners of The Murrumbidgee Flour Mill and Grainstore, known simply as 'The Mill' on Edward Street announced plans to adapt the site into a 148-room, six-storey Holiday Inn.
Related:
Negotiations with Wagga City Council to see the plans approved had been in the works for more than a year, with development applications submitted at the end of 2017.
Final approval by the Southern Joint Regional Planning Panel was then granted in February 2018, a full year before the designs were revealed.
But the city will have a little while longer to wait before the new complex is unveiled in early 2021.
What got readers commenting
The city lit up for Wagga's first Mardi Gras and the same can be said for social media. The Daily Advertiser streamed the march live to mark the historic occasion.
The city's first grocery store with a zero waste concept was introduced in March, when Jenny and Rick Storrier began transforming a former kebab shop into The Source Bulk Foods. It would be another six weeks before the doors were opened to the public, but the hype was there from the very start.
When Joe McGirr declared victory at his first state election since the by-election the previous September, it was the end of a long 12 months of state politics for the city.
It became quickly apparent that the old Cache building wasn't going to remain empty for much longer, with the Adams brothers from The Borough making big plans for the building a few doors down. Melba's Bakehouse and Eatery opened up not long after.
Karli Prigg, who was five months pregnant when she tragically died in a crash north of Wagga, was remembered by her grieving family as someone who emanated "one of the purest loves" from her big heart. In honouring Karli's memory, her fiance Tom Wivell said her ability to lift people up during difficult times was one of her defining attributes.