BALRANALD Shire councillor Alan Purtill, 64, has become a steadfast part in the
community.
But it didn’t all begin in the small New South Wales town.
Born
in Echuca in June of 1949, the first four years of his life were spent in
Mathoura, NSW, on the Cobb Highway.
His father worked in the local post
office, before moving his family to Balranald to work in the family
store.
Bought by Alan’s grandparents in the late 1940s, Purtill’s Corner
Store was a popular place in town, housing a newsagent and milk bar, as well as
selling electrical goods, food and giftware.
“People still talk about the old
shop — the ice creams and malt and nut sundaes — we had the best milkshakes in
NSW,” he says.
“The shop used to be the hub of the town.
“In those days
there was no television, and people used to congregate in the street to
talk.
“When we put a television in the shop, parents would send their kids
there when they went to the pub.”
The life of the store is a story in
itself.
Managed by three generations of Purtills, it was relocated across the
street and even rebuilt following a fire that destroyed the building in the late
1970s.
For more of this story, see Thursday’s Guardian (January 29).
