SITTING patiently through the presentation of ten different categories, Victorian Community History Award nominee, Phil Roberts thought organisers had missed something.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wasn\u2019t quite sure what was happening,\u201d he said. \u201cThe book that I had done wasn\u2019t coming up on the screen.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy wife, Geraldine and I waited through all the awards, and she said to me, \u2018I think they\u2019ve forgotten about your book.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
But once the last award of Monday afternoon was announced, it was clear the nominated Avenue of Memories <\/em>was far from overlooked.<\/p>\n Mr Roberts won the day\u2019s most prestigious gong, the Victorian Premier\u2019s History Award for this book, published by the Arch of Victory \u2013 Avenue of Honour Committee.<\/p>\n Presented by Premier Daniel Andrews\u2019s wife, Catherine Andrews, Mr Roberts said it was a \u201creal honour\u201d for Ballarat, for him and the committee, amongst 120 entries.<\/p>\n \u201cI was pleasantly surprised. I wasn\u2019t at all expecting to have the main prize,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n For him, the 100-plus year story of The Arch and The Avenue, the longest of its type in Australia, is \u201cfascinating.<\/p>\n \u201cYou wouldn\u2019t imagine you could write a 250-page book about an avenue of trees, but there\u2019s just so much over 100 years.<\/p>\n \u201cThe actual planning itself is a strong story,\u201d Mr Roberts said. \u201cThe building of The Arch\u2019s funds mainly came from the first women\u2019s football match in Victoria, which was in 1918 at the Eastern Oval.<\/p>\n \u201cThe future King of England, the Prince of Wales, came to open the arch in 1920.\u201d<\/p>\n From 1917 to 1919, there were eight sessions of tree planting, the first during the war. Some of The Avenue\u2019s trees closest to The Arch are even originals, having come from Victoria Park.<\/p>\n \u201cThey planted 500 trees in one afternoon, and it was a particularly wet day. The week before, the boys from the high school and Boy Scouts actually dug the holes.<\/p>\n \u201cAll the preparations were made in three weeks, it was quite an amazing story,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was horse and buggy days, and those trees are still there. It\u2019s been maintained over the 100 years, where many other avenues have faded away.\u201d<\/p>\n With the award comes more exposure for Mr Roberts\u2019s book.<\/p>\n