Evening talks to educate town

AN annual fixture of the Ballaarat Mechanics’ Institute will be returning with the first round of the Twilight Talks series set to start up next week.

With each session in the first program offered free to attendees, the weekly program will kick off with a talk this Wednesday by Dr Frank Hurley and pastor Bill Sutcliffe on memoir writing.

The talks’ coordinator Phil Roberts said unlike past programs, the individual sessions will not adhere to a connecting theme.

“This particular one will have a lot of variety because this time it’s a series of different themes,” he said.

“All these talks should be of great interest to the Ballarat community. We see ourselves as giving these talks in a cultural sense so bringing a big variety, we’ll hopefully attract a wide audience.”

The memoir-writing talk will be followed with a presentation from Dr Jean Douglas and Garry Snowden on Ballarat’s World War One-era nurses and doctors.

Stories about BMI will feature the week after from Rex Bridges and Neil Leckie, after which Isabel Bacon will talk about women in sport before the series’ conclusion with a session on the history of Ballarat Punch Magazine.

Mr Roberts said Twilight Talks has long been a popular offering.

“It does vary a bit, it depends on how well-known the speaker is and the general interest,” he said.

“We probably average 40 to 60 most talks but there’s times we need to use the Minerva Space for 150, 200 people.

“The second lot of talks should tie into Heritage Festival before the third lot in September.”

Each talk will run from 5.30pm in the BMI’s Humffray Room.