Committee for Lorne – Lorne Historical Society stages History of Fishing Exhibition in the Fishing Co-op

One of Lorne Historical Society’s most successful exhibitions, “Fishy Tales”, showcasing the history of the fishing industry in Lorne, is once more on display. This time, the exhibition is being staged in the building which is the very heart of Lorne’s fishing industry, the Co-op at the Pier.

Vanessa Schernikau, CEO of Great Ocean Road Coast Committee (GORCC), approached the Society with a request to restage the exhibition at the Co-op. The selected location is the fish shop. GORCC refurbished the space, lining the walls, painting the interior and making the space secure. They also installed a video monitor to display a video file of images depicting
the fishing industry in Lorne from days of early settlement until the end of the industry.

Anyone who has an association with Lorne will have memories of the Co-op.

It was the place to go to buy fresh fish, oysters and crayfish. The blackboard out the front displayed what was available and there was also a blackboard with Christos’ latest verse; his observation on current affairs. There was usually something, a shark or a moonfish, hanging from the beam on the loading dock. All these elements went to make up the unique experience of visiting the Co-op.

And then, when you entered, on the wall behind the counter, were the paintings of various marine species by Robert Coy. These paintings were a very special part of the shop at the Co-op. When the Society agreed to restage the “Fishy

Tales” exhibition in this space, we felt that the experience for visitors would not be complete without the Coy paintings. So the Historical Society, with the generous support of the Lorne Aquatic & Angling Club, acquired the paintings from the Raskatos family, the operators of the Fish Shop until its closure.

The paintings now hang as part of the exhibition. The Society has also taken the opportunity to recognise Christos Raskatos who, together with his brother Bill and Bill’s wife Julie and son Stephen, ran the business. Christos was a larger than life character and a visit to the Co-op to purchase seafood was always accompanied by Christos reciting verse or commenting, in dramatic fashion, on affairs of the nation. The Society managed to find a short film produced in 2005 entitled “The Goddess and the Poet” featuring Christos discussing his life and his love affair with Lorne. The film was generously provided  to the Historical Society by the Australian Centre for the Moving Image.

We were privileged to have Christos’ partner Leanne Moorfoot and his daughter Nikki Popovski in attendance at the opening of the exhibition last Friday.

Also in attendance were the Chairman of GORCC, Ken Northwood and the CEO, Vanessa Schernikau.

At this stage, the exhibition will be open each Saturday and Sunday between midday and 2.30pm. We would like to extend these opening hours, given the level of interest and attendance we received when the exhibition was open in the Society’s rooms last year. As a volunteer organisation we are dependent upon volunteer resources to assist us in opening this exhibition. If you would like to join the Society or just help us out by being on a roster of people to be in attendance at opening hours, please email us at [email protected] or contact Vice-president, Peter Spring on 0417 514 807

You can visit Lorne Historical Society’s website at lhs.org.au or follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/LorneHistoricalSociety/

Peter Spring
Lorne Historical Society