A NEW sign celebrating the origin of a local town’s name has been installed as the community prepares to begin its centenary celebrations later this month.
The Sturt Highway sign in Monash features a picture of town namesake Sir John Monash, and was donated by the Otto de Grancy family and Roadside Services and Solutions as one of the town’s centenary projects.
Lone Gum and Monash Community Association member Alison Halupka said strong community support led to the installation of the sign.
“A couple of years ago a local person put up a hand-painted sign attached to a tree on the western approach to the town (from Barmera) that said ‘Named after Sir John Monash’,” she said.
“A lot of people thought it was a good idea, so with our centenary coming up we thought it was a great time to make it clearer with a proper sign, and that’s where the decision came from to make it a centenary project.”
“We decided to only put a sign on the eastern approach to Monash (from Renmark) because we got Berri Barmera Council’s approval to put it there in place of the sign that used to be there.
“That was just a photo of vines, which is generic for all of the Riverland, whereas the other similar sign on the other side of town is of the Monash playground and had a local girl in it.
“The Otto de Grancy family has paid for the new sign because they wanted to make a donation to the Monash community, and they’ve certainly been heavily involved with the CFS and Lone Gum and Monash Community Association.”
Ms Halupka said the town was given its name when it was proclaimed in 1921, even though the famous World War I general never visited the town.
“It seems in recent years Sir John Monash’s name has gained more significance and his contributions towards winning World War I have come to the fore,” she said.
The Monash Centenary Committee will host its first event, an exhibition of historic photographs called Monash Hidden Secrets Exposed, at the town’s Memorial Hall from May 28 to 30.