Heritage Council award to Wandong History Group
The Heritage Council presented an award to the Wandong History Group last weekend in recognition of their hard work to preserve their local heritgae and document the history of the surrounding Wandong and Heathcote Junction area.
The Heritage Council award is given to organisations who have undertaken and displayed great commitment to heritage in the State. Former winners have included the See yup temple society, the Chewton Domain Society and Friends of the Geelong Botanic Gardens.
A not for profit group based within Mitchell Shire. It was formed in 2012 when it was recognized that there was an urgent need to collate, catalogue and preserve the past history of Wandong and Heathcote Junction for the benefit of future generations before it was too late.With very few resources they have made major achievements in the area and have published various books highlighting the history of Wandong and Heathcote Junction.
They spent 12 months putting together an exhibition entitled Walk Through the Wars, which ran for 5 days from ANZAC Day until 29th April 2018. The exhibition was designed to coincide with the centenary of the end of World War One and was held in a marquee near the 2012 War Memorial.
The exhibition was a free event highlighting stories of local soldiers from the Boer War all the way through to current peacekeeping activities. It was very well attended and was received an award from Mitchell Shire Council for Community Event of the Year. So dedicated were members of the group I believe that some of them even slept in the marquee during the exhibition period, to ensure the exhibits stayed safe.
The group also successfully nominated St Michael’s Church in Wandong to the Victorian Heritage Register. The award also comes with a $2000 gift to the History Group.