Ron McCullough is still fighting the good fight for the city of the Mount Isa and rolling up his sleeves for a big challenge.
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Mr McCullough has lived in the city for 60 years and he was mayor for 18 years from 1990 to 2008.
He is now chair of the city's 2023 100 Year Celebration advisory committee and he wants everyone to get involved.
"We want to bring the wow factor back to Mount Isa," Mr McCullough said.
"We need to re-energise the city and get people talking about the good side of Mount Isa. We want to be planning the next big thing."
Mr McCullough said the anniversary celebration was an opportunity not just to create memorable events but set the city up to begin the second 100 years of its life after 2023.
"We can make this whatever we want it to be but let's start talking Mount Isa up," he said.
"People who left the town, that's all they talk about, the great time they had here - we've got to recover that."
Mr McCullough said it was up to the community to make 2023 the best it can be for Mount Isa but that would require an "attitude change" to talk up the city.
"That's what our challenge is, we've got to start with our people and in relation to the centenary we've got to look at things we do and we used to do and bring them back bigger and better," he said.
For instance that might involve a cycling road race, something Mount Isa used to have a tradition.
"We used to have a very strong cycling community in Mount Isa, maybe we could set up a big centenary road race," Mr McCullough said.
"We thought big when it came to the Mount Isa Rodeo and made it the biggest in the business, we need that kind of thinking again."
Mr McCullough said it was up to sporting and service clubs to make the year a success.
"They're the ones that need to come up with the ideas," he said.
Mr McCullough said as well as getting some signature events up and running they were also looking at leaving some more lasting memorial to the centenary.
"Somebody spoke to me about building a large facility at Outback at Isa where all the history of Mount Isa Mines was going to be stored, a place where you found out everything about mining in the city and a place where tourists would come and go," he said.
As for the miners memorial also proposed for the 2023, Mr McCullough said the proponents needed to determine what they really wanted and how much it would cost.
Other lasting ideas Mr McCullough canvassed could be a university campus in the city to complement JCU's Centre for Rural and Remote Health or even a campus promoting Indigenous learning.
"What we need is for people who can say 'you can do that' rather than 'you can't do that'," he said.
"If we want to have our children grow up here and we want them to have the life we had here, we've got to work for it."
Mr McCullough said the whole community needed to get behind the city and its centenary plans.
"We need to speak with a strong voice," he said.
"Unity is strength."
As well as Mr McCullough the committee features sitting Councillors, two residents, two representatives of community organisations and two representatives from local businesses, plus Council staff and a Queensland Government representative.
A Terms of Reference document is at www.mountisa.qld.gov.au/100years where the link to complete the online application form to join the committee can also be found.
Applications will be open until the end of February 2020.
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Derek Barry
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
