Shire of Wandering gears up to celebrate small farming town’s 150th birthday

The Shire of Wandering is celebrating 150 years since its formation this spring with a weekend celebration planned to include a dinner dance, old-fashioned games and fireworks. The small farming community is 120km south-east of Perth and a 50-minute drive from Armadale along Albany Highway. Organisers are encouraging all past and present residents to attend as well as those with other connections to the town. Wandering was discovered in 1859 by members of the George Stedman Watts Family, when they found their straying wagon team horses grazing in the lush grass around a fresh water spring known till this day as Horse Well. In 1861, the earliest property “Grassdale” (located on the south-eastern approach to town) was selected and is still owned by the Watts family. The village was called Wandering to recall the first sighting of the wandering stock, with the Wandering Roads Board established in October 1874. To celebrate the Wandering Roads Board’s 150th birthday, the event will kick off on Friday, September 13, with a dinner dance at the town community centre. On the Saturday, the entire Wandering townsite will come to life with historic buildings open for viewing, with displays of history, past and present families, businesses and sporting and community groups. Wandering Primary School will be celebrating its 100th anniversary year and will also open its doors to the public on the Saturday morning. Old-fashioned games are set to take place on the Wandering oval that day, including a 100-yard “step-out” which was last run at the Wandering 125th Celebrations in 1999. The Wandering Gift will also run, last being held at the Wandering 100th Celebrations in 1974. A cake celebrating Wandering’s 150th anniversary will be cut and a live band will play throughout Saturday afternoon with celebrations concluding with a fireworks extravaganza. Saturday’s events will be family friendly, however the Friday night dinner dance is an 18-plus event. Tickets for the diner dance will be available through Eventbrite or via Wandering Shire and cost $75. For those wishing to stay in Wandering overnight, the town has a caravan park with powered and unpowered sites and there is also accommodation options in surrounding towns. Wandering’s 150th Anniversary Committee is calling for past residents and businesses to contribute their stories to the history displays. Those wanting to contribute a history board should contact the Wandering Community Resource Centre on 6828 1820.