Siegfried Seiter arrived in Australia from Germany on January 1^st 1954. Sieg joined his brother Alfred in a joinery business names Seiter’s Blackforest Furniture.

Sieg along with Alfred employed up to 48 staff at one stage specialising in manufacturing kitchens. At that time Seiter’s Blackforest Furniture was the second biggest industry in Numurkah.

In 1978 Blackforest Furniture won the Victorian Decentralised Industries Award. In February the following year the business won the Ideal Homes Exhibition gold medal and in November was awarded the National Small Business Award, presented by he then Minister for Industry & Commerce Phillip Lynch in Canberra. 

The partnership lasted for 34 years ending in 1988.

In 1969 Sieg opened an electrical appliance store called Seiter’s Discount House in Melville Street. In 1978.

Sieg was elected President of the Numurkah Chamber of Commerce in 1971 and served three consecutive terms as its leader.

In 1984 Sieg opened Numurkah’s Own Video Shop. And four years later  changed Seiter’s Discount House into a second-hand shop called Melville Street Market, incorporating within it Numurkah Removal Business.

Sieg was a talented tennis player, captaining a Wunghnu Tennis Club premiership twice, in 1963-64 and 1965-66. He later played with Numurkah’s St John’s Tennis Club.

He played soccer with the Numurkah Soccer Club, was treasurer in the early 1960’s and top scorer in 1968.

Sieg played badminton for Wunghnu in the Shepparton competition and was a member of the winning C grade Country Week team in Melbourne. He also played Australian Rules Football for the Wunghnu Magpies, playing eight games in 1958, winning most improved in 1959 and the Senior’s best and fairest in 1960. He won the 2^nd XV111 Best and fairest 10 years later, was President for two terms. In 1973 the Wunghnu Football Club won its last premiership under Sieg’s Presidency.

Sieg joined the Numurkah Bowls Club in 1972, played in two premiership teams, and won about 14 club honour board events. He was the Wunghnu Indoor Bowls Club champion more than 10 times and won the association championship on one occasion.

Sieg joined the Rotary Club of Numurkah in 1967 and is still an active member today. He has served two terms as president, and in 1975 was in charge of envelope collection for the Numurkah Time Capsule Project. In 1981 he led a Rotary team to Papua New Guinea to build a Catholic school on Gusap, and one of the buildings was eventually called Numurkah House, Sieg also instigated the elderly lonely citizen’s Rotary Christmas Dinner and, together with Don Graham, the Rotary Sportsmen’s Dinners. Sieg recruited the most new members into District 9790 during two separate Rotary years.

In 2010 he organised a Combined Service Club’s Dinner with 390 guests, raising $6,000 to purchase three Shelterbox units to be used to house families during disaster events.

Sieg organised 13 Oktoberfest Balls from 1977 to 1999, plus three day/evening Oktoberfest Events in 1981, 83 and 85.

Sieg instigated many major projects including Numurkah’s Signature Brick Millennium Marker in 2000, selling every paver/brick totaling $54,000. Together with his brother Alfred he organised the Numurkah Rose Festival Lantern Procession and supplying local schools ready cut timber to assemble the lanterns and was responsible for the Christmas decorative flags flying from the power poles in Melville Street.

As a member of the Numurkah Tourism Association, for many year, Sieg served as treasurer in 1993-4 and instigated Numurkah’s Splash Down Fishing Competition.

Sieg held and continues to hold German Nights in his family home catering for about 70 guests at a time. The funds raised are directed towards Rotary and Community Projects.

Because of Sieg’s outstanding commitments to our community he was awarded a Paul Harris Fellowship in 1990 and last year was awarded a Paul Harris Fellow with Sapphire.

Sieg’s latest project was a Memorial to the “Numurkah Mob” a tribute to 15 Numurkah men who joined the armed forces during World War 2, three of whom did not return home. 

Sieg designed the Memorial, raised the funds from the families and the community to fund it and assisted with the construction and placement of the memorial in Memorial Park.

Hundreds of people attended the dedication of this memorial.

 

Sieg has been and continues to be a valuable contributor to the fabric of our Numurkah & District Community. His tireless efforts in raising funds to benefit other less fortunate than us is unquestionable.

Sieg was nominated three times.