There’s always a lot of interest in the Paddle-wheelers children’s show and yesterday was no exception, with questions asked as to the whereabouts of the program’s hosts. During our research for the STV 8 60th anniversary, we came across this Sunraysia Daily story on the micro fiche about the announcement of the first host for the show, Sandra Firth. After a year or two at STV 8 Sandra moved the Wagga Wagga and eventually became News Editor at 2WG. She was News Editor at RVN for a while before going back to radio and sadly passed away in July 2021 at the age of 81. Sandra is pictured here with a friend from 2WG Samantha Blair at her 80th birthday.
A later host of the Paddle-wheelers was Sue McGurgan who moved to HSV7 in Melbourne after Mildura and eventually became Director of Publicity for the Seven Network. She retired in 2020 and was last known to be living in NSW.
Unfortunately so far, no video tape of the Paddle Wheelers has been discovered. When the program first went to air, the only medium to capture images was on film. Only a few short segments have survived and they were of special occasions, not the studio show. The program went live to air and was never pre-recorded and so even when video tape was available there seems to be nothing in the archives of the popular show.
Thanks to the ever reliable Bruce McLean for helping with the research.
