By JESSE GRAHAM
HEALESVILLE and District Historical Society has celebrated three decades of record keeping, hosting a public talk and reflecting on time gone by.
On Friday 18 July, the Historical Society hosted a public talk by historian Andrew Mackenzie, OAM, and an afternoon tea at Healesville Library to celebrate its 30th birthday.
Historical Society member Alma Mitchell said the event was a success, with around 50 society members and residents coming down to mark the occasion.
Mr McKenzie talked about his life and some of the photographs and postcards he recently donated to the society at the event.
Ms Mitchell said the society had come a long way since its beginnings, and that, when she joined in 1992, the group had no formal location and had to keep records and photographs in members’ homes.
Years later, the society moved into the Memorial Hall, and then into the Yarra Ranges Council’s Community Link building.
Ms Mitchell said that, regardless of their location, the society had always received a warm welcome from the wider community.
An example of that support included Mr McKenzie’s recent donation, which included over 500 historic photographs and postcards from Healesville’s past.
She said the birthday of the society was a milestone, and was one of many landmark birthdays to occur throughout Healesville’s 150th year.
“There are a lot of good anniversaries this year – it is a big year,” Ms Mitchell said.
The Healesville and District Historical Society is exhibiting some of Mr Mackenzie’s donated pieces at the Healesville Community Bank branch until November as part of the Greetings from Healesville project.
The society is also busy compiling its second volume of Images of Time: A Pictorial History of Healesville, which is set to be released around November.
For more information on the project or on the society, call 5962 1655.
