The Marching Koalas, the Newcastle and Hunter Region Combined Band from New South Wales, Australia, will be the only non-American band participating in the 95th annual Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena on Jan. 2.
Newcastle, New South Wales, Arcadia's Australian sister city, walked away with all the honors in recent competition staged by Australia Sister Cities Association in Alice Springs. Reg Mason, vice-president of Newcastle Sister City Committee is in town for first reunion of Arcadia High School band members and other Arcadians who were in Newcastle last July.
An earthquake registering 5.5 on the Richter scale hit Australia's southeast coast at 3:28 PST on Wednesday, December 27, 1989. Newcastle, Australia's fifth largest city, suffered the majority of damage as 11 were known to have died. A city of 500,000, Newcastle has the largest concentration of heavy industry in the country.
John Bunton is a reporter for The Star, a weekly paper published in Arcadia's sister city, Newcastle, Australia. Bunton has been visiting in the U.S. with his family.
Arcadia will receive a coveted international city award for its sister cities program with Newcastle, Australia, in ceremonies on Saturday, July 21, at the conclusion of the 24th annual Sister Cities International Conference in Denver, Colorado.
The Arcadia High School Apache Marching Band will travel to Arcadia's sister city, Newcastle, Australia, in late June. Parents have agreed to make up the difference, if the $37,000 still needed cannot be raised. Besides Newcastle, where they will perform for 5,000 high school students, the band will sight-see and perform in Canberra and Sydney.
In honor of the high school marching band traveling to Newcastle, Australia, a film crew from "Down Under" arrived in Arcadia to shoot scenes around the city. Mayor Don Pellegrino served as tour guide. A second article tells of the preparations made by Jack and Barbara Saelid, and numerous others, as the Saelids prepare to lead 164 teenagers and chaperones plus 30 others on the trip to Australia.
The drill team from Dana Junior High School marched off with the sweepstakes award at the 43rd annual Camellia Festival Parade in Temple City, while the band, tall flags and drum major (military) all captured first place trophies.
Sam and Louise LaCorte have collected 24,671 signatures from people opposed to the parole of Richard Lanill Johnson, the man who killed their daughter. Johnson was convicted of shooting and killing Catherine LaCorte and Robert Morton in the foothills above Arcadia on February 11, 1976.