History on the wall

Historic plaques
The purpose of the Mechanics' Institute of Victoria Historical Plaques Program is to inform the public of the history of Mechanics' Institutes in Victoria, and give a snippet of history about the individual institute. There are already plaques in place on the Minyip Mechanics' building and at the Laen Institute site.
These plaques are similar to those used by Heritage Victoria - an oval shaped blue baked enamel surface with white writing.

A Heritage Victoria plaque on one of the Foy & Gibson warehouses in Fitzroy Street in Collingwood

The plaque carries the MIV logo, some standard text and a personalised space for details of the Institute, and a plaque number. They can be affixed to stone, concrete or wooden buildings. They cost $185 from the MIV, just contact MIV

The Dimboola Banner

Here is the third and final post on the Wimmera Stories from Culture Victoria - 'The Dimboola Banner, communicating history'.

The first issue of the Dimboola Banner newspaper rolled off the presses on 10th May in 1879. 
It was printed by Henry Barnes and edited by his brother William.
Many proprietors and editors have come and gone since. 
Now more than 130 years on, the Banner is still published weekly, and maintains an office in Dimboola, though the paper is now printed in Warracknabeal.

An Elliott Addressing Machine

The Banner building has been acquired by the Dimboola & District Historical Society, and transformed into a Newspaper & Letterpress Printing Museum. 
The museum owns and operates a diverse collection of vintage presses, all in working condition. 
It preserves a wealth of print relics, including a vast amount of loose type from the long-gone era of handset typography.

See the full story, archival photographs, and video at the Culture Victoria site.

Community milestones

We have been researching local Community Milestones for the National Trust's Heritage Festival, and almost reached another.
It was in December 1963 that the Nhill Library opened in the Lowan Shire Offices. Unfortunately the building was recently gutted as part of the new Hindmarsh Shire office development, however there is still the photo evidence.

The library in residence in 1960s

Going - March 2013

Gone...just a shell - April 2013

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The Kaniva and Lowan Shires both joined the then Horsham and Dunmunkle Library in 1962. The Lowan Shire incorporated the library area into their new Shire offices, which opened on 20th December 1963.

The 606 square foot library had a bookstock of 2,500 volumes, and was open for 16 hours a week.

 The Library Assistant was Mrs Rita Oehm, at the loans desk above.

The shelving was mainly Tebrax with some wooden units. The vinyl flooring was in natural tonings with a black and blue pattern set into it. The chairs were a brown vinyl.

The childrens' section had stools of natural coloured vinyl and a wooden picture book unit with a padded seat.

The Library moved out of the Shire Offices into a shopfront location in Nelson Street.
Then in 1997, the Hindmarsh Shire purchased the old Manchester Unity Lodge Hall in Clarence Street, and the Library moved back into the building which had previously been home to the Nhill Free Library Reading Room.

- Stage One of the new two-storey Hindmarsh Shire Offices behind the old Lowan Shire Offices building. There will be an Open Day for the new offices on Monday 13th May from 10am to 4pm.

Malleefowl

The Malleefowl or Lowan bird or mound-builder or incubator bird, is a native of this area - the dry sandy Mallee scrub. They belong to the megapode family like scrub turkeys and scrub fowls.

A pair of giant malleefowl at Patchewollock

Malleefowls are foragers eating seeds and insects, and while they live on the ground, they can fly and sleep in trees. The birds mate for life which can be up to 20 years.  At 2-4 years the male digs a large hole in the ground then rakes composting leaf litter into a mound and attracts the female with his booming bird-call. After the female lays a number of her eggs in the centre, the male maintains the regulated temperature of the mound. Malleefowls take 55-60 days to grow from egg embryos to hatchlings, when they must dig themselves out of the mound and fend for themselves (the adults ignore the newborn chicks).