Arawata remembers its past

ARAWATA residents celebrated three major milestones over the weekend.
It has been 140 years since the Arawata hall was built, 130 years since the school started in the hall and 100 years since the inception of the public state school.
Despite the drizzly day, a fantastic turnout of well over 100 people helped to commemorate the historic event.
A morning tea and barbecue were provided, but the highlight of the day was the memorabilia display in the former Sunday school.
“Our focus was to bring together articles that tell a story about the first land selectors of our district,” organiser Jedda McDonogh said.
The district was formed by 22 founding families.
“The memorabilia display was received with enthusiasm from the members of our community,” Ms McDonogh said.
“I believe it is important for the community to celebrate this occasion because it fosters a sense of friendship and support. It educates our new residents and reconnects the descendants of the first land selectors.”
A formal dinner took place on Saturday night, which was completely sold out.
The dinner was organised to replicate the 1936 dinner that celebrated the reopening of the hall after it burnt down.
It was described as a superb evening.
There were six guest speakers, musical numbers, piano duets, singing and more.
The guest speakers were headlined by Mrs Olive Raymond.
Olive is a granddaughter of the first land selector in the area, Mr Lawrence Carter Holmes and she is the only remaining person alive who was in the original 1936 photo.
On Sunday, a church service was held, followed by a commemorative tree planting ceremony in the former school grounds.
The commemorative tree was a maple donated by Burra Garden Supplies. 

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Posted by Tayla Kershaw on Apr 2 2019. Filed under Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry