Susanna Freymark
This is Brenda’s backyard, Richmond Valley mayor Robert Mustow said at the unveiling of a plaque at the Casino Civic Hall on Canterbury Street yesterday, Saturday, May 23.
She performed here and her funeral was here, he said.
“Brenda was raised a block from here at 179 Centre Street.
“I used to walk past her house every day, there was a sign Onisac at her house and it was years befoere I knew what it meant.” (Onisac is Casino spelt backwards)
Mr Mustow said as a child when he walked by “you’d hear Brenda before you saw her.”
Her family owned Wileys Bakery half a block from the civic hall.
“This area is like Brenda’s backyard,” Mr Mustow said.
A group gathered outside the Casino Civic Hall to see the plaque unveiled and view the large banners of Brenda on the exterior of the hall. The banners were created by Signarama.
Brenda’s husband Warren Armfield was there to unveil the plaque.
Beef Week Committee president Brody Lisha said Brenda was a special person.
“She meant so much to us,” he said.
There were stories about the hundreds of balloons Brenda would buy to decorate the Moke and how she made sure every festival she had a new shirt to wear as she spruiked Casino Beef Week with her megaphone.
The murals of Brenda are lit up at night so they can be easily seen. The murals will remain on the walls of the hall after Beef Week.
With the Beef Week theme being Brenda Through the Years, there is going to be a lot of lookalikes and stories told about Brenda in the coming week.
The plaque and banners are a Richmond Valley Council and Beef Week collaboration.