Community
26 November, 2025
Rich sporting history celebrated
A crowd gathered last Tuesday evening to help celebrate the stadium’s 50th birthday.
EVER wondered how the place you play basketball, squash, table tennis came to be?
It was all there to see last week as the St Arnaud Stadium clocked over a major milestone.
A crowd gathered on Tuesday evening to help celebrate the stadium’s 50th birthday.
The Lions Club, who were instrumental in the stadium’s existence, cooked a BBQ for the visitors who came to check on the stadium and the memorabilia.
President Trevor Baldock welcomed everyone and introduced Bill Knights, Bernie Casey and Jim Anderson, who told the story of how a Lions Club trip to Stawell to see their new stadium ended up with an idea that St. Arnaud needed one too.
Taking over several years to design, raise money, begin building, raise more money and finally the official opening in 1975.
It was agreed the stadium would not be here without outstanding forward thinking and determination of Town Clerk and Lions Club member Don McKenzie.
His unwavering commitment and even a bit of sneakiness concerning the removal of the pine trees made the stadium dream a reality.
Life memberships were sold, eight students competing in a 28 hour 10 minute non-stop table tennis marathon to raise money, many donations and twisting of government coffers resulted in the facility we see today.
One avid sportsman said he will never forget the excitement when the stadium finally opened.
Basketball, squash, badminton, table tennis, indoor cricket, karate, a gym, a sauna, pickle ball, aerobics, the list is endless of the activities our stadium has accommodated.
Updates include solar panels and battery backup, and Trevor Baldock with hundreds of tubes of silicon on the roof, all help to keep our stadium open and ready for whatever the sport.
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