Almost 60 years after the Redlands held its first citizenship ceremony, 168 people from 26 countries will ''take the pledge'' on Wedenesday at Redland Performing Arts Centre on what is also Australian Citizenship Day.
The first Redlands citizenship ceremony was a modest event held at Redlands Memorial Hall in Passage Street, Cleveland on October 1, 1954.
Present at that ceremony was John Boeterhoek, just 15 at the time, who became a citizen along with his parents and three siblings and who, after six decades, still calls the Redlands home.
John said he and his family had moved from Holland to Sydney, Bathurst and Kilcoy before arriving in Thornlands, where they took up farming.
"I don't remember a lot about the ceremony, but I do remember being called out, " he said.
John said he and his family remained in the Redlands for work, nearby family and the lifestyle.
"I welcome all the other new citizens today," he said. "I hope they like the Redlands as much as we do and that they do well here."
Guest speaker at the ceremony will be Carl Saffigna, who wrote the book Half a World Away after interviewing more than 100 descendants of immigrants living in the Redlands as part of the research for his book.
New citizens taking part in today's citizenship ceremony are from Afghanistan, Belgium, Canada, Costa Rica, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Kenya, Mozambique, New Zealand, Philippines, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, Turkey, United Kingdom, USA, Vietnam and Zimbabwe.
