General News
20 September, 2022
Help preserve local history
GREATER focus on recording oral histories is needed to ensure Corangamite Shire’s history is well documented before it is lost forever.
GREATER focus on recording oral histories is needed to ensure Corangamite Shire’s history is well documented before it is lost forever.
Heytesbury Historical Society members Gavan Deppeler and Neil Trotter have called on the community to record and retain local history as a matter of priority.
“Educating and communicating the need to retain local history, in particular oral history, is an area of urgent attention,” Mr Deppeler told a meeting of Corangamite Shire’s history groups at Cobden.
Their comments came as history society representatives from Corangamite Shire met to share notes of their challenges and achievements at Cobden recently.
Mr Trotter said a major concern was the loss of oral history.
“There is a lot of recorded history put out by individual authors, but little is being done to bring it all together,” he said.
Mr Deppeler suggested providing life story books to share with loved ones was a valuable way of encouraging oral storytelling to ensure history was not lost.
Facilitated by Corangamite Shire, the forum also heard about the loss of volunteers in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and meeting the challenges of digitisation.
Many groups had experienced a fall in volunteer numbers since the pandemic, yet others found that they gained interest and membership as more people found time to research family history.
Camperdown Historical Society president Rob Wuchatsch said the group maintained its volunteer numbers.
“While the enforced break was disruptive to the community, it wasn’t hugely disruptive for the society and allowed some members to take a break,” he said.
“It’s important to give volunteers jobs that they feel comfortable in doing. If they are not happy, volunteers will just walk.”
Corangamite Shire community development officer Garry Moorfield provided details about grants opportunities available to the shire’s volunteer-operated history groupsand museums.
Members of the community interested in becoming involved are encouraged to contact one of the many historical and heritage groups throughout the Shire which include:
Camperdown and District Historical Society Inc, contact 0417 352 987 or email camperdowndhs@gmail.com;
Cobden and District Historical Society Inc, contact president Judith Gribble on 5595 2178 or Heather Walsh at the Cobden Pioneer Dairy Park on 0427 353 106;
Derrinallum Lismore History Group, contact Avon Buchholz (collection manager) 0490 078 420, Sandy Gibson (President) 0427 962 987 or email derrinallum.lismore.history@gmail.com;
Heytesbury District Historical Society, contact Peter Younis (Treasurer) 0408 032 365 or email pyounis@thevetgroup.com.au;
Skipton District Historical Society, contact Mary Bradshaw (Secretary) 5340 2186 or Terry Gosling (Treasurer) 0418 999189;
Western Plains Machinery Preservation Group Inc, contact Nathan Micallef on 0421 825 006 or email wpmpg@outlook.com; or
South West Restoration Group, contact Helen Smith on 0408 104 912.