The Meredith History Interest Group (MHIG) started in 2008.
The Meredith History Interest Group preserves, records and exhibits the history of Meredith and District .
The MHIG provides the opportunity to locals and visitors an understanding of the town of Meredith and its people, past and present.
The MHIG holds records of pioneering families, early industry, businesses, festivals and events and buildings.
The MHIG is committed to preserving local history through the development and preservation of a collection of historical documents, artifacts, manuscripts and memorabilia.
It is the aim of the MHIG to expand individual and collective knowledge about our unique local heritage, resulting in a greater sense of community and civic pride.
From modest beginnings, the organization has grown to a membership of around 100.
MHIG is run by an active group of volunteers and welcomes members to our working parties. Volunteer groups contribute to preserving and displaying the history of Meredith through answering research requests, hosting exhibits, educational programs and publications.
We maintain a research library of past and current literature on the history of Meredith and District.
The MHIG publishes a regular newsletter which contains articles on topics of local interest, historical and heritage matters, research reports and information about exhibitions and events held.
The MHIG meets on a regular basis for meetings and events at the Old Shire Hall or the Memorial Hall in Meredith.
Meetings:
Committee Meetings: Third Tuesday of the Month 10.00am
General Meetings: At least four meetings per year, March, May, August and December.
Extraordinary Meetings: Date and times at the discretion of the Committee.
Volunteers meet every Tuesdays & Thursdays to catalogue, research, organize events and welcome visitors.
The committee for 2025 is as follows:
President Marg Cooper
Vice-president Darren Guthrie
Secretary Kerrie Kruger
Financial committee - Andre Konarski, Michaela Holyrod, Kerrie Kruger
Committee Bev Loveday ( Gardener & Artistic Developer )
Committee Paul Ryan ( Maintenance)
Committee Tony Scott ( Newsletter Editor)
Annual General Meeting President’s Report
Marg Cooper
We had a busy year!
We probably didn’t have quite as many events as we have previously had per year but the events we had were bigger, in that they required lots more preparation, in researching, documenting and creating displays etc.
We started the year with the Annual Meeting which was held here at the Memorial Hall.
After the elections etc the book Ladies Please Start Your Engines was launched with a talk and slide show by the author, Darren Guthrie and a swinging of the bottle by Leanne Powles. If you haven’t seen his book…it documents the christening of engines at gold
mines, almost from Bendigo to Geelong…most mines had such a ceremony which usually involved a pretty girl and a bottle of champagne.
But the book tells so much more about those mines!
The letterbox that resembles the old Shire Hall arrived early in the year and some men of the Buninyong Men’s Shed kindly came down and installed it and we rewarded them with scones, jam and cream.
Chronicles X, a production company who are Melbourne based, who have been recipients of our help over the past few years, completed and broadcast on television, interviews they had filmed of some local people. They also filmed and broadcast the launch of the book, Pubs and Publicans of Meredith that Kerrie Kruger compiled.
I watched most of the interviews and was distressed with Brett Cunningham who was Golden Plains Mayor at the time. In his interview he mentioned several history groups but not MHIG and in the whole interview he mentioned Meredith once in reference to the Music Festival.
So we invited him, to show him that there is a very active History Group in Meredith and that Meredith town does exist and that lots of things happen here. He was a good listener and showed quite an interest in what we told him
In May we held an exhibition in the Memorial Hall titled A Different Ballgame where we tried to show that football in Meredith affected almost everyone in the community in some way. The highlight of the weekend was the visit of Doug Wade and the interview conducted by Brett Cunningham, who came back to show his support.
This event was registered with Victorian Heritage Festival and was also advertised through their channels.
During the year we turned the front room on the left as one enters, into a Museum Room thinking that we need something for people to look at. Of course, football information went straight in there after the exhibition followed by The Corner Store which was our theme for Open day in October. It was amazing what old grocery items we came up with or made to resemble what would have been sold in the Corner Store, in times past.
We took part in National Shared Reading Week for Street Libraries. We elected to wrap interesting books in brown paper, add a homemade book mark and a short blurb about the book that we hoped would entice readers to try a different genre to what they usually
read. Kerrie wrapped and decorated about 50 books which we gave away at our Open Day and some we left in the Street Library. This service is very popular and is looked after and kept tidy by Bev.
When the Meredith Lodge sold their premises in Meredith and moved to Lara for meetings we thought that the big Bible they had which had belonged to the Elaine Free Presbyterian Church should stay in Meredith. It didn’t but this year the Lodge closed down and Tom Beecroft brought several artifacts to us including the Bible.
We were delighted to. They arrived in October and would you believe it rained just as they finished unloading….after months of absolutely no rain. They will be fabulous for storage as we are running out of storage in the main building and the sheds.
In early November we launched Morrisons Thru the Lens book at Morrisons Fire Shed. Several speakers told about Morrisons, Tom Sullivan a Moorabool Shire Councillor launched the book, after noon tea was enjoyed as well as lots of catching up. The print of
80 books has sold out and a reprint is on the way. Thanks to the people who contributed financially for the printing. Donations are always appreciated and help us to continue to collect, collate and share history like with this book.
A couple of us decorated a toilet at the Music Festival again. After we left last year the crew thought the display was so good that they put a lacquer over it to protect it. They planned to do the same with the latest artwork. We tried to show festival goers some information about their surroundings at Cargarie, the mines, the bridge and the river.
I created a calendar for 2025 which featured photos taken from a drone of bridges in the district. Mt Mercer Windfarm helped with funds to pay David Law for his drone services and for a bit of the printing. The print of 100 calendars also sold out.
We had lots of visitors and inquiries about information. Two interesting ones were: someone wanted to know where Elderberry Cottage was where their relatives had lived and Wendy Harmer, the comedian, in her book mentioned her Great Aunt Claire and
described her property and house near Henry Bolte, but didn’t give a surname.
Mysteries to be solved!
We have an exciting year planned.
On May 3 & 4 we May we are having a Sculpture Exhibition. We are asking you to create a sculpture that represents something in Meredith or Australian History from any materials, any size. We are calling the exhibition History Reconstructed.
Kerrie and Bev will finish their book about Murders, Suicides, Accidents, Drownings etc
We should have an exciting launch of that book!
And we are collecting photos of Elaine for an exhibition in October. It is planned to put them into a book to be published next year, in 2026. So, if you have any photos or know someone who has please get in touch with MHIG.
Thankyou to all who in any way gave us assistance in 2024.
We appreciate your interest and your money.
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2024 we received a generous grant from Berrybank Windfarm to get two containers, to fit them out and to decorated them so they don’t look like containers. They will be fabulous for storage as we are running out of storage in the main building and the sheds.
https://www.berrybankwindfarm.globalpower-generation.com.au/ |
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