Sylvia Broderick, centre in blue, surrounded by family, friends and members of the community during the surprise celebration marking 50 years of Sylvia’s Fabrics. Image: Moree Online News.
When Sylvia Broderick reached 50 years in business on March 1, she knew exactly how she wanted to celebrate.
Nothing big. Just family, a few church friends and several other close friends. About 30 people altogether.
“That was just perfect,” she said.
But Moree wasn’t quite finished celebrating her.
On Friday afternoon, August 21, Sylvia stepped into a surprise gathering outside Sylvia’s Fabrics, where family, friends and members of the community had assembled to mark half a century of the business she established in 1976.
There were speeches, music and plenty of familiar faces. Moree Plains Shire Council unveiled a commemorative plaque in her honour, recognising both 50 years of Sylvia’s Fabrics and Sylvia as Council’s longest-serving tenant at the Max Centre.
For a woman who had asked for little fuss, it was a lot to take in.
“Tonight, just blown away,” Sylvia told Moree Online News afterwards.
“I honestly … didn’t think it was going to happen.”
Mayor Susannah Pearse, wearing the mayoral robes she said were reserved for particularly special occasions, described Sylvia’s Fabrics as far more than a small business.
For generations of customers, she said, the shop had been a place for Book Week costumes, wedding dresses, curtains, quilts, sewing and knitting, suit hire and event tickets.
“Sylvia’s Fabrics has been more than a small business,” Mayor Pearse said during the ceremony.
“It’s been our unofficial community centre, box office, and welcome to town.”
The plaque, dated August 21, commemorates the “remarkable achievement” of Mrs Sylvia Broderick and offers the congratulations and thanks of the people of the Moree Plains.
Deputy Mayor Wayne Tighe also paid tribute to Sylvia’s long involvement in the community, including through the Catholic Women’s League.
But when it was Sylvia’s turn to speak, her thoughts kept returning to the people standing around her and the town she has called home for decades.
“I love everyone here in Moree,” she said.
“It’s just been my home for all those years, and I just don’t know what I’d do without the shop.”
Sylvia thanked her family, friends and customers for supporting her over the years.
“We’ve all been good friends, and it’s just a beautiful place to be,” she said.
Then came a line suggesting the plaque might be marking a milestone rather than a finale.
“I hope I can stay another 10 years,” Sylvia said.
“The last 10 [have] gone pretty quickly, so I want to run another 10.”
It is a prospect she still entertains when the speeches are over and the question is put to her directly.
When Sylvia reached 40 years in business, she said, she never really thought about reaching 50. Now that 50 has arrived, she sees little reason to set an end date.
“Keep going, keep going,” she said.
“It’s hard, you just keep going. It just creeps up on you.”
These days, Sylvia works about four hours a day, leaving time for family and her other interests. She remains involved with church activities and the Moree Evening VIEW Club, and Council says her volunteering was recognised when she was named Moree Plains Shire Senior Citizen of the Year in 2023.
Asked to look back over five decades, Sylvia did not nominate a sales record or business achievement as a favourite memory.
One that stood out was Moree’s appearance on ABC’s Back Roads in 2025 and the involvement of people connected with her shop and the local fashion and sewing community.
But mostly, she remembered people.
“I’ve had lots of other really lovely things that have happened over the years,” she said.
In all that time, Sylvia said she could not remember encountering a customer who was particularly rude or difficult.
“I’ve been very lucky in that way,” she said.
Council said Sylvia’s granddaughters Nicole and Heidi were behind Friday’s surprise, wanting to recognise their grandmother’s contribution to Moree.
After the plaque was unveiled, the gathering moved to the Bank Art Museum Moree, where Rachel Cubis performed.
Standing outside the shop earlier, surrounded by friends and family, Sylvia struggled to quite believe what had been organised around her.
“This is … the ultimate, I tell you. Absolute ultimate,” she said.
“I just want to thank you all for making me cry.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you for supporting me and being so beautiful. I love this community.”
And after 50 years, the woman at the centre of it all appears quite content with what comes next.
Four hours a day. The doors open. Familiar faces coming through them.
And, if Sylvia gets her way, perhaps another decade.
