From Little Things…

The Deans Marsh community is one of many in the Shire to benefit from the last round of Shire Small Grants, grants to help local community groups turn their own ideas into projects that in a small way enrich their local community. Small projects, small benefits, local communities – it can all seem pretty unimportant. But it isn’t. It’s one of the most important things that communities do; work together to make a difference. And while we work together to make some local improvement we can never know just how much this will ripple on through time and continue to benefit us all. Our small project, for example, started life in 1939 and it continues to spark local new ideas, new projects, and to influence our future.

In 1939, some members of the Deans Marsh branch of the Country Women’s Association decided it was time the local hall had decent stage curtains. The hall was the hub of the local community where local groups met, held weekly dances and so on, and decent stage curtains would make such a difference. So they set about making them. This is wartime, there is little spare money or time, and the project got off to a slow start. But it stayed alive in their hearts and come the end of the War, the serious embroidery and sewing began. The late 1940s are still tough times so the women re-cycled hessian sugar bags into 48 panels and embroidered their personally chosen designs to make the first Deans Marsh Hall Stage Curtains. For 50 years those curtains brightened the lives of the local community. But like any local achievement, it did far more than just that. Making the curtains brought folk together in a common cause, it strengthened community bonds, it gave the community a sense of pride in what they could achieve. Together, all these seemingly unimportant little community projects are what builds and sustains communities, enriches them, helps make them more self-reliant, more resilient, healthier and happier places to live.

After 50 years of opening and closing on the community life of Deans Marsh, the first curtains became quite fragile. Experts were consulted and in no time the Museum of Victoria recognised the curtains as a valuable and rare surviving example of the fine craft work of women in the 1940s. The Museum offered to preserve the curtains and add them to the permanent State collection. That was a very proud moment for our little community, a totally unexpected outcome, who would have thought! But now, once again, Deans Marsh had no stage curtains.

Next week, the story of how the 1990s new curtain project in Deans Marsh helped unite a changing community and, 20 years later in 2018, inspired a whole new celebration of Deans Marsh.

The next round of Surf Coast’s Small Grants program is coming soon to help make your idea a reality. Have a go. You never know. From little things….

Tony Watts
Deans Marsh