Granny Smith Festival, 1957

A dinner on Thursday 19 September, which officially opened the festival, took place at Lauriston (Dundas). Ryde’s mayor Ald. Mitchell, stated

Granny certainly served our community well, and she must have been a wonderful woman.

I pay an earnest tribute to the people of the early days who made development of this district such a success.

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Let us make it a shining light to work even harder for further development. 

In addition to Granny Smith’s relatives, members of the Chamber of Commerce and visitors, were executive officers of the Department of Agriculture including Dr R J Noble who said the apple had a tremendous effect on the fruit-growing industry in Australia; it was now the finest apple grown in the State.

A procession down Rowe Street took place on Saturday 21 September, with 5000 people lining the streets.

Saturday’s procession was a colourful and successful beginning to the week of festivities planned for the first Granny Smith Festival.

From just after noon, people began pouring into Eastwood in trains, buses and cars, and by half-past-one, the streets were packed with an expectant crowd.

A huge cheer went up in Rowe Street as mounted horsemen and women leading the procession, rode into the street.

Behind the horses, rating an even bigger cheer, was Granny Smith herself, riding in a horse-drawn sulky and waving cheerily to the crowd.

Following behind Granny came the first of several bands in the procession – the North Shore Regiment Band.

Trailing the band were tiny tots, who were given one of the greatest welcomes of the day.

One was dressed as Granny Smith, and the other as Mr Smith. They marched as quickly as their legs would take them in front of teams of schoolchildren.

Then came the girls of the basketball teams and behind them, the first section of the floats and decorated cars.

Glendinning’s float was also an outstanding piece of work. It was designed in the form of an apple orchard and pretty girls in the orchard threw Granny Smith apples from the float as it drove in procession through the town.

The Denistone Pipe Band was the next band in the procession, and it led teams of girl guides, boys’ brigade members and more floats.

The Country Womens’ Association float was fitted with apple tree branches still bearing the big green apples which made Granny’s name immemorial. Granny herself sat on the float gently rocking in an old rocking chair and nursing a black cat on her lap.

Other entrants in the procession were: Sylvia Blake, Eastwood Baptist Sunday School, Jenkins and Cordon, Mulligans, Lynams, Skyline Drive In (Dundas), Eastwood Apex, Ryde St John Ambulance Brigade, Tanners, Harold Fox, Eastwood Enterprises and Civic Dry Cleaners.

Boys of the Holy Cross College Band also marched in the procession.

Decorated cars, a team of square dancers and motor scooters, all added to the colourful impression that the procession carried with it through the town.

At the same time, there was discussion concerning a fitting memorial. The Sydney Morning Herald 23 July 1957 reported that it was decided upon a ladies’ amenities centre, ‘the outward feature of which is to be a 5ft plastic apple which can be illuminated at night’.