Back in 1972 Orange became a future centre for decentralisation of business and residential with the creation of the Bathurst-Orange Development Corporation.
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Bathurst Railway beat Lithgow Workies 14-5 to win the Group 10 rugby league title and Manly beat Easts 19-14 to win the NSWRL competition at the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Outsider Piping Lane beat the heavily-favoured Gunsynd to win the Melbourne Cup while Gough Whitlam brought Labor to power in Australia for the first time in 23 years.
And for those who remember him, little Donny Osmond’s cutesy-pie song, Puppy Love, was the biggest selling song in Australia in 1972.
Oh, and it hardly rained in Orange in June.
With only one week remaining Orange is facing its lowest June rainfall since 1972.
Just 3.6mm have been recorded at the Orange Airport weather station this month.
June is usually very wet in the region.
Last year 219mm fell, including nearly 40mm on one day.
There were only six dry days last June which led to sporting fields being closed across town.
It was cold and wet and snow was falling across the region.
So, it is an extraordinary position for the region to be in now to see loads of sunny, dry days.
Farmers are already beginning to worry about their dams not filling to give them something to feed their crops when the true big dry hits in summer.
But on the outdoor sporting fields of Orange, footballers, golfers, netballers and more are enjoying a season without washouts.
And it looks like the conditions are to continue through the rest of winter and even into spring.
The Bureau of Meteorology is predicting there is only a 30 per cent chance of above average rainfall this winter with about 100mm predicted.
For the sake of the farmers rain is needed soon, but for townspeople, Orange is shining amid days of blue skies, sunshine and even warmth.
The frosts are ever-present but seeing as nothing much grows at this time of year anyway they are not doing great harm.
And it would take an almighty heatwave to ruin our reputation as a true winter escape for Sydney tourists.