WHYLD Newsletter September 2019
WHYLD is pleased to bring you this second newsletter for 2019, thanks to grant funds from Yarra Ranges Council and the Township Network Group. Our biggest news is that we have secured the lease of the Sydney Halbish Hall in Don Valley, taking over management from Yarra Ranges Council on September 1st. With our AGM scheduled next month, we think it’s a great reason to celebrate. Please feel free to join us on Tuesday October 15 from 7 pm at the Hall. The evening will kick off with an LED poi performance by our very own WHYLDfire group, followed by the brief formalities of the AGM and a light supper. To assist us with catering, please RSVP by Friday October 11. This is a great opportunity to visit the hall and see what a great community space it is. The Hall will be available for hire for both community and private activities.
WHYLD welcomes new members, so if you are interested in any of our events or activities, please feel free to contact us by email: welcome@whyld.org.au, and please do like us on Facebook: WHYLD Community Group, or for more information visit our website: whyld.org.au.
The hall in Don Valley was born from a community movement sometime during the 1940’s when residents were seeking a school to be reopened in Don Valley. While the first school in Don Valley opened in 1917, it was closed in 1924 and children from Don Valley had to walk many kilometres to attend the closest school in Launching Place.
The government were reluctant to build another school in Don Valley with concerns there would not be enough students, however they granted a sum of money to either rent a house or build a small schoolroom. This was not considered good enough for Don Valley’s residents and so they rallied support through volunteers and fundraising and with the sum of money raised decided that instead of a school they would build a hall! This hall, located on Allotment 5, Don Road, became the new school and opened in 1948 with an enrolment of 25 students. As enrolments grew the need for an official school building became apparent and this was built and opened next door in 1955.
Free from being used as a schoolroom, the hall was now available for a wider community use. Local electrician Dave Cutting installed power points and light fittings when electricity became available in Don Valley in the 1950’s.
CFA Captain Jack Gaskett hosing the fire at the hall
Deeming the fire safely out the crew inspect the damage
The hall committee acquired second-hand theatre seats and regular picture nights were held to raise money for the fire brigade. Local artist Jim Mackay sketched drawings for film night posters to promote these events and school students printed them out on the spirit duplicator and coloured them in. As with the technology of the day and reel to reel projectors, most film nights included regular breakdowns with loud heckling from the audience.
Other events at the hall included the annual barbeque hosted by the rural fire brigade, together with its attractions of the spinning wheel, hoopla, coconut shy, lucky dips, show bags, food & drinks. There were regular dances, card nights, meetings and, in the eighties, as well as weekly karate classes being available, a youth group was formed, where locals could gather to play games like table tennis and cards. There were even a few weddings
A fire in the hall (c.1977-78) caused significant internal damage, but this was not a deterrent to the locals. The hall was renovated and expanded, combining the original cloakroom and kitchen into a large kitchen at the southern end of the hall, with a new cloak room and entry created at the northern end. Around this time the old tin-can toilets out the back were replaced with men’s and women’s flushing toilets on the west side of the building.
When the hall reopened after the fire it was named the Sydney Halbish Memorial Hall, in honour of Don Valley resident Sydney Halbish, who was awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM) for community service in 1977 and died in 1978. As well as being on the hall committee, Mr Halbish was the secretary of the fire brigade from 1964 until 1974.
In the 1990’s, the hall committee handed over management to the Shire of Upper Yarra who turned the hall into a kindergarten and community use ended. Around 2000, Council ceased using the hall for early childhood activities and the hall was then managed by the school; more recently, a couple of local women ran a playgroup and the hall became available to the community once more.
Earlier this year Yarra Ranges Council sought Expressions of Interest from community groups or social enterprise organisations to enter into a Lease Agreement to manage the recently vacated Sydney Halbish Hall located at 22 Old Dalry Road, Don Valley (at the corner of Old Don Road) for a five-year term. WHYLD Community Group submitted their proposal, which was accepted by Council, and we have now signed the lease!
We are excited about this new direction for our group, although it’s actually an idea that emerged during the community consultation led by WHYLD in 2012 where
The Hall Committee at the 1978 opening of the Sydney Halbish Memorial Hall (from left to right): Jack Fisher, Kit Cutting, Freida Harvey, Rod Mayne, Veronica Groat, Jack French, Jack Gaskett.
Earlier this year Yarra Ranges Council sought Expressions of Interest from community groups or social enterprise organisations to enter into a Lease Agreement to manage the recently vacated Sydney Halbish Hall located at 22 Old Dalry Road, Don Valley (at the corner of Old Don Road) for a five-year term. WHYLD Community Group submitted their proposal, which was accepted by Council, and we have now signed the lease!
We are excited about this new direction for our group, although it’s actually an idea that emerged during the community consultation led by WHYLD in 2012 where residents expressed their concerns about the lack of care and use of their local halls. Vibrant Heart, Halls & Hubs emerged as one of the projects in our WHYLD Community Plan launched in 2013, with the objective to revitalise existing community halls to facilitate greater usage by the community.
We already have a small group of enthusiastic Don Valley residents (kin of those hardworking forebears who built and managed the hall in bygone days), eager to assist us with the daily management of the hall. They bear the spirit of previous generations where hall was the heart of the community and would love to see this hall buzzing with activity on a daily basis.
Some activities such as Kreationz Cheer & Dance and Lego Club are weekly activities commence in October and run weekly. WHYLDfire (those amazing fire twirlers) meet on the second Saturday afternoon to develop their skills. A youth/disability group is in the pipeline, as are many other activities, and just need like-minded people to assist with getting these off the ground.
Left: The official opening of the renovated hall
following the fire – a stark comparison to the
black and white photo on the previous page.
The Hoddles Creek Branch of the Australian Red Cross has been part of the local community – and the WHYLD community in particular – for 50 years! With 45 members aged between 9 and 86 years, Hoddles Creek Red Cross is a powerhouse of activity, with a monthly stall at Launch Fresh, a monthly sausage sizzle at the Woori Yallock Butcher and, of course, providing catering at the WHYLD Winter Warming Festival and other local events.
Please join current and past members to celebrate this important milestone.
Monday December 2
12.00 – 3.00 pm
Yarra Junction Bowls Club
Tickets $35 until October 31, $45 from November 1.
More information: hoddlescreekredcross@gmail.com
Winter Warming 2019 has come and gone, but memories of warmth and wonder remain in the hearts and minds of the hundreds of visitors who joined us at Wickhams Reserve on Sunday June 23 to celebrate winter solstice.
While the event was promoted throughout the Upper
Yarra, visitors from as far as Pascoe Vale South and Noble Park headed out in to the Yarra Valley in the heart of winter to attend our annual bonfire night. Hillcrest CFA were there as usual to direct the parking and stoke the bonfire and fortunately no-one got bogged!
Upper Yarra SES provided shelter and light and we were spared the inclement weather this year. Hoddles Creek Red Cross worked hard to feed the masses, but the loaves couldn’t be divided and they had to make a dash for more bread and milk.
Inside the pavilion, a cosy warmth emerged with a buzz of activity from badge making & face painting, while the Red Cross stall provided a different kind of warmth with their winter woollies and handmade toys – ample options
for kids to spend their Red Cross coins received as prize money for the poster competition.
Outside, the performing stage provided music from Jazz to rhythm & blues, with thanks to the Ruby Ray
Duo, Bronte, Murray Goodchild, Michelle Fisher, Peter Lorback, Arvo & Tomi for sharing their talents. Over in The Magic Corner, a spellbound audience marvelled at the appearance of a white rabbit, a lost ring and an endless bag of tricks from Chris James and The Dreaming Space.
Chestnuts roasted on the open fire, and toasted marshmallows on sticks provided free treats for both adults and the kids. And finally, with the dark well and truly descended African drumming (led by Kofi Kunkpe and the Yarra Valley Drummers) pulsed as the crowd gravitated around the bonfire to share the warmth in the true spirit of community. And in their grandest fire show finale yet, the WHYLDfire volunteers twirled their fire sticks and spun their poi, inspired by the light and into the night. A night for all to remember…see you next year!
