Ballina Information Blog

We are inviting you to tell us about your most memorable Mothers Day.
We did think about calling it “What Mothers Day means to me” but only briefly because that has already been done to death and we thought we could all have a bit of fun here… and to do that we need you to […]

Congratulations to East Ballina couple John and Victoria Kennedy, who today celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary.
The Kennedy’s family and friends gathered at the Lennox Head Bowling Club to mark their April 19 anniversary.
John said he went on a blind date in Broken Hill and realised that he had met Victoria a year before.
True love blossomed […]

Two Ballina Shire residents are in the running for the inaugural NSW Volunteer of the Year Award after being announced Northern Rivers Regional winners.
Marie Jane Taylor, of Wardell, was named as Northern Rivers Volunteer of the Year. Marie Jane has for more than 30 years been supporting people with a stoma.
Also honoured was Youth Volunteer […]

 
The equine influenza outbreak has robbed Ballina man Vic Gwynne of the chance to see a horse he part-owns contest the ‘big three’ of the Melbourne spring racing carnival.
Vic, along with his brothers Errol, of Sydney, and Peter, of the Gold Coast, are members of a 14-person syndicate which races Empires Choice, winner of this […]

 
Ballina’s Barry Regan is a true saltwater man.
The 78-year-old who has twice beaten leukaemia had his first surf at Curl Curl in Sydney in about 1943.
These days he’s still surfing — and what’s more, he’s still making his own surfboards.
But they’re not your usual foam and fibreglass boards: These boards are the old 16-foot (about […]

Local piper Graham Broadhead will be among those performing at this year’s Retravision Northern League grand final at Kingsford Smith Park, Ballina, on Sunday, September 16.
Graham, also known as G’Bro, is well-known to Ballina Shire residents as editor of the weekly newspaper, The Advocate.
But he hasn’t always been a newspaperman. Graham’s first job was as an […]

Name: Melanie Doriean.
Occupation: Currently Labor Candidate for the seat of Ballina and otherwise a project officer in the Department of Education and Training.
Do you have any hobbies?
I love reading, discussing ideas, walking, singing in a local choral group, spending time with my family.
How long have you lived in the Ballina electorate?
My husband and I […]

Name: Ben Smith (aka Smithy).
Occupation:
IT consultant and small business owner. I love being in small business, small business is the backbone of our community and we have some of the best small business operators in NSW here I think! Very enthusiastic, forward thinking people.
Do you have any hobbies?
I walk every day; I figure it’s a […]

Ballina Info profiles John Bailey, the Greens candidate for the seat of Ballina in the March 24 State election …
Name:
John Bailey, Greens candidate for the state seat of Ballina (which covers both the Ballina and Byron Shires).
Occupation:
Writer. Recent publications include The White Divers of Broome on pearl shell diving, The Lost German Slave Girl, relating […]

Continuing Ballina Info’s profiles of local people. Here we look at former rugby league player Greg Fryer, pictured …
It’s a long way from the Sydney Cricket Ground and the 1969 Sydney rugby league grand final to Chicken Mania in River Street, Ballina, but that’s the path that Greg Fryer’s life has taken.
In between have been […]