Resident Kim Odgers urged his town two years ago to get organised for a big anniversary - 250 years since Captain James Cook gave it its European name - Batemans Bay.
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He's still waiting.
Below is the letter Mr Odgers wrote to the Bay Post/Moruya Examiner, published on April 19, 2017, explaining why he thought the town should celebrate on April 22, 2020.
Now, he's taken to social media to urge the town to use the next 12 months to get Captain Cooking.
"Many other eastern coastline towns, also named by Cook, are well advanced in their planning and celebration arrangements," Mr Odgers posted this week.
"Batemans Bay, as far as I am aware, is not. These other towns have already secured government offered funding and community groups are combining and cooperating with this planning. Local councils are providing organisation and logistic support.
"Incredibly, local planning within our town for these celebrations has yet to get out of the blocks."
Kim Odgers letter from April, 2017
What’s cooking for 2020?
This Friday, April 21, 2017, marks the 247th anniversary of Lieutenant James Cooks naming of Batemans Bay as the HMS Endeavour sailed north along our coastline on Cooks first voyage of discovery to the Australian eastern coastline.
This anniversary is our reminder of the origin of our towns name, but it is also a reminder that in three short years other established eastern coastline towns, also named by Cook, will celebrate the 250th anniversary of this extraordinary voyage and of the naming and location identifications Cook entered into his journal. Planning and funding for these separate celebrations are already well underway elsewhere.
The administrators of the Royal Australian Navys sail training ship, the Young Endeavour, are considering replicating Cooks coastal voyage timeline, which could mean that this superb reproduction of Cooks vessel will be anchored in the Bay and be available to assist in our own celebrations on April 21, 2020.
But planning for these celebrations must begin now. Key community groups, the Chamber of Commerce and Council should coordinate what will need to be an all of town organisation and funding effort. The Anzac Day holiday, just 4 days later, will allow for a 4 or 5-day range of events that should add to the tourism interest at that time.
James Cook did not record his reasons for using the name Bateman. He may have intended to commemorate either Nathaniel Bateman (an earlier mentor) or Viscount John Bateman (British politician). Cook had earlier served as master under Nathaniel Bateman, producing charts of the St Lawrence River and the Canadian coastline. These charts are considered to be amongst the finest examples of the period and are jointly signed by both Bateman and Cook.