THERE was a lot of catching up to do at The Myall Coast Historical Society's inaugural Show and Tell Day.
Old time locals, historians, ex-locals and other characters that hadn't seen one another for years were gathered at The Masonic Hall on Saturday, August 26.
Amongst the attendees was Great Lakes Mayor John Chadban, who aside from officially representing and giving support on behalf of the council, had a lot of catching up to do himself.
Clr Chadban is an ex-Stroud boy and has deep ties with not only that town's history, but with that of the rest of the shire.
The historical associations between Stroud, Tea Gardens, Bulahdelah and outside towns such as Dungog are quite strong.
As he yarned with local characters such as Rex Hill, Janis Winn and Norm Cruikshank, they spoke of past personal links from both long ago and more recent times.
Historical Society's president, Clr Len Roberts, greeted Mayor Chadban and both men addressed the audience.
They spoke of the importance of such events not just for looking at artefacts but also for bringing us back together to reflect on our past and sense of identity.
Clr Roberts then presented the new Historical Society's logo.
A competition had been held and the final logo decided on is actually a combination of two designs by Lesley Turner and Rex Hill.
It is a circle with the society name and a drogher.
Droghers were amongst the first modes of local transport in our pioneer years and their existence helped considerably shape our towns.
The design will be fine-tuned by local artist, Pat Pritchard, before being incorporated into the society's letterheads.
Within the various historical displays on the day was an assortment of old photos, newspaper cuttings, artefacts and the like.
They dated from the late 1800s until as recently as 15 years ago, as some important and historical events have occurred in modern times. Even the details of these can be partly forgotten, and newcomers of course did not experience them.
Anne Butler (from the Bennett Family) had an entire two tables of artefacts and memorabilia from the early 1900s.
The Bennett family lived at Hawks Nest and our beach is named after them.
Local historian Janis Winn brought many items, including historical laminated newspapers and photo albums of a more recent time put together by the late Michael Rowe.
Within these were pictures from the 1980s showing modern environmental change, including erosion events at Winda Woppa.
There were displays depicting the history of the Motum and Engel families, including irreplaceable documents from the late 1800s, photos of WWII soldiers at North Arm Cove, the 1977 Tea Gardens School Centenary, 1986 hailstorm and much more.
Clr Roberts and other Historical Society members said it was a great success and there will definitely be a repeat along with other related events such as theme nights and getting together with other societies.
Many individuals have offered to donate historical items and the society hopes to soon have somewhere to store them, perhaps one day a building with displays.
The Myall Coast Historical Society meets monthly and people who would like any information or are thinking about joining should contact the secretary Dawn Engel on 4997 0820.
The society would like to take this opportunity to thank the Hawks Nest Golf Club, The Masonic Lodge, the HNTG Progress Association and the Tea Gardens Country Club, who have all made substantial donations to the society.
Without these donations the society would almost certainly not have been able to get up and running.
Many thanks to all who contributed to the running of the day, those who provided afternoon tea and to all those who came along, and a big thank you once again to the Masonic Lodge who provided the venue.
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