Hervey Bay Gossip

These days it’s hard to believe that Howard was once a booming coal mining town but between 1866 and 1977 that’s exactly what it was. Historians suggest that the coal mining at Howard also had a lot to do with the development of Hervey Bay with much of the coal production being shipped out from Urangan Pier.

Today there’s very little to see of what once made Howard a boom town but a photographic exhibition and artefacts housed in the Howard Museum can certainly give you some idea of what life was like in Howard back then.

The Howard Museum is housed in the Tom and Minnie Young Memorial Hall.

Howard is soon to have its very own skate park with the official opening set to take place on February 11. The festivities will run from 2pm to 5pm with local bands, skate competitions and a free sausage sizzle.

Carols by Candlelight in the Burrum District will be held at Howard on Saturday December 10.

In Hervey Bay this year’s Carols by Candlelight will be held at the Seafront Oval at Pialba on Saturday December 17 and will commence at 7pm.

Over 5,000 people are estimated to have attended the festivities last year and even more are expected this year.

The Howard/Torbanlea area lost another of its young men when Josh Reis was hit by a truck and killed on Monday night. Josh was returning from a wake for Joseph Egan (see report here) when he was struck by the truck on the Bruce Highway about 4km north of Torbanlea.

Howard will be in mourning today as it buries one of it’s well-known sons. Gunner Joseph Egan, who was was killed in a road-rage incident in Adelaide over a week ago, (report here) will be buried today.

As parents who have a son in the Army we can say that Australia can’t afford to lose young men of Gunner Egan’s stature.

Anyone who has served in the Army can tell you that only the strong survive basic training. It’s hard and rough and it’s designed to separate the strong from the weak so those young people who last the distance are true heroes and we should be proud of their courage and their willingness to serve our country.

So when we lose one of these wonderful young people to something as senseless and cowardly as road rage it hurts all of us.

Gunner Joseph Egan from Howard was murdered by three men just north of Adelaide on Friday night after a road rage incident. The three accused were to appear in Court yesterday charged with his murder.