Collection to preserve town’s past

A PHOTO book capturing the history of Morrisons will soon be available following a launch event this month.

Titled Morrisons: Thru the Lens, the more-than-200-page work features nearly as many images, and was compiled by members of the Meredith History Interest Group as part of a photo exhibition on the town which was held in October last year.

Project lead and the group’s president Marg Cooper said the book and its preceding exhibition are about celebrating the small hamlet.

“We’ve done this to keep the history of Morrisons alive so it doesn’t get lost,” she said.

“Morrisons is so different now to how it was in the past. People will be amazed.

“You can’t see the river now from the road or the bridge; when these photos were taken, it was almost treeless, I suppose to support the mining or for fires.

“We did one of these before for Steiglitz and there’ll be a bit of text with each image to let people know what’s in the photos.”

While the book, much like the exhibition it was based on, will primarily feature the town’s buildings and infrastructure, a photo display showcasing people and figures absent from both projects will be present during the event.

Long-time Moorabool Shire councillor Tom Sullivan will launch the book, and Ms Cooper said a myriad of guest speakers will present.

“We’ll have Anne Miller, whose family lived near the river near what was known as the original soldier’s squatter there,” she said.

“Pam Sellman is going to talk about her grandmother, and hopefully one of the Parkinson family will talk about their connection to the community too.”

The launch event will run from 1.30pm on Sunday 10 November either at the Morrisons Fire Station, or at St James Anglican Church, depending on whether renovations will be taking place at the former.

Attendees will be able to purchase the book at the event, after which copies will be available to buy at the Meredith History Interest Group’s centre at 31 Staughton Street, or at Collins Booksellers on Lydiard in Ballarat.