SA Heritage Heroes 2013 Award Winners
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Congratulations to the
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Minister's Award for the GROUP category
Farina Restoration Project Group
Formed five years ago, the Farina Restoration Project Group has the aim of stabilising and, where possible, restoring aspects of the historic town of Farina, a railway town 25 kilometres from Lyndhurst in the Flinders Ranges. The Group also encourages the public to embrace the history of this outback town. For three years sixty volunteers from South Australia and Victoria, including retirees and members of the local community, have stabilised stone buildings, erected story boards about the Farina township and continue to research the town's history.
Minister's Award for the INDIVIDUAL category
Lorraine Pomery
Lorraine Pomery, who celebrated her 87th birthday yesterday, has an encyclopaedic knowledge of the history and heritage of Port Elliot and its surrounding district. She has been instrumental in recording Port Elliot's history and heritage through the authorship of books and photography.
Joining the National Trust in about 1981, Lorraine served as Chair of the Port Elliot branch of the Trust for many years and she has been an active participant in the Anglican Parish of Port Elliot-Goolwa, particularly St Jude's Anglican Church at Port Elliot. In 1991 Lorraine became a member of then Port Elliot and Goolwa (now Alexandrina) Council's Heritage Advisory Committee. When the Council resolved to protect the local heritage of the towns of Port Elliot, Goolwa and Middleton, Lorraine took on the task of providing historical background research for potential local heritage places. Her painstaking research provided an excellent basis to protect the heritage of these three towns. Lorraine has recorded a huge amount of information about Port Elliot and District which she willingly shares with other researchers.
Minister's Commendations within the YOUTH GROUP category
Pichi Richi Trade Training Group
The Pichi Richi Trade Training Centre evolved in 2002 out of a partnership between the Quorn Area School and the Pichi Richi Trade Training Centre. Since 2009 the Hawker Area School, Port Augusta Secondary School, Booleroo Centre School and the Orroroo Area School have also had student involvement.
Students work with members of the Society to preserve, build and maintain the infrastructure required to operate the Pichi Richi railway system. These partnerships enable students in rural and isolated locations that often find it difficult to access suitable vocational work experience in the area and opportunities to develop skills in Building and Construction, Carpentry and Joinery, Cabinet Making, Shop Fitting and Sheet Metal Work.
Minister's Commendations within the GROUP category
Engineering Heritage - South Australian Committee
The Engineering Heritage - South Australia Committee is a special interest group of the South Australian Division of Engineers Australia. The purpose of the Group is to identify, record, recognise, preserve and promote South Australia's engineering, industrial and technological history.
Past activities include nominating significant engineering works, such as the Overland Telegraph, for national heritage recognition and organising field trips to regional sites. In 2009 Engineering Heritage and the Adelaide City Council launched Engineering A City, a guide to sites within the City of Adelaide where reminders of our engineering heritage can be seen - a third reprinting of this publication is scheduled for later this year.
Pichi Richi Preservation Society
The Pichi Richi Railway Preservation Society, now in its 40th year, operate maintain and manage a 90 kilometre section of the famous narrow-gauge Ghan railway between Port Augusta and Quorn, through the Pichi Richi Pass. The dedicated volunteer members of the Society, who have a high level of skills and abilities, maintain heritage steam and diesel locomotives, rolling stock and infrastructure including the railway track, stations and associated buildings. The Pichi Richi Railway Preservation Society has provided a regular operational railway experience in the Flinders Ranges and its volunteers have committed in excess of 30,000 hours annually to the operation of the Society.
Minister's Commendations within the INDIVIDUAL category
Michael Bollen
Michael Bollen has a passion for bringing history to life through his publishing company Wakefield Press. Michael has been the Director of Wakefield Press for 24 years adapting his skills to the role of publisher, editor, business manager and mentor and often plays an important part in encouraging authors to write in the first place. Wakefield Press has contributed significantly to a better understanding of South Australia's history and without publications from Wakefield Press an understanding of South Australia's life and cultural heritage would be diminished.
Veronica Jenkin
A retired school teacher, Veronica Jenkin has held numerous roles with the Port MacDonnell Maritime Museum since the 1980s including being President, Correspondence Secretary, Records Officer and Museum Display Designer. She planned all the displays in the first building, supervised displays in the new building, wrote all the Museum's policies and trained the Museum's volunteers. Veronica was also a member of the District Council of Grant committee set up to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the wreck of the SS Admella in 2009.
She also has been an active member of the Port MacDonnell and District Heritage Advisory Committee and has worked tirelessly with volunteers to uncover and restore graves at the Port MacDonnell Cemetery.
Brian Samuels
Originally a history teacher, Brian Samuels has been a voluntary and professional historian and a heritage activist for over 40 years. Since the mid-1970s, when teaching in Port Adelaide, until 1994, Brian was the Honorary Historian of the Port Adelaide Historical Society. He has initiated, collaborated and completed many heritage and historical projects, including many associated with Port Adelaide. Brian's activism and advice helped establish the Port Adelaide State Heritage Area in 1983, which has continued to enrich the Port experience for residents and visitors alike. He was also the Founder (and Vice President) of the Historical Society of South Australia in 1974 and has written over 150 publications, ranging from books and booklets to journal and newspaper articles.
Roy Taplin
After Roy Taplin, a retired master painter and decorator, moved to Burra almost a decade ago, he saw the need to restore the interior of the State heritage-listed Burra Town Hall, which he carried out with meticulous care. This otherwise neglected historic building in the Burra has been brought back to life thanks to Roy's skill and dedication. Following receipt of a State Government grant in 2010, Roy commenced the restoration of the Burra Railway Station, which ultimately will house an interpretative centre focusing on Burra's natural history prior to the European settlement of the region in the 1840s. With Roy's excellent project management of the Burra Railway Station project, another of Burra's significant heritage buildings is being transformed for the appreciation of future generations. Meredith Satchell will accept this award on behalf of Roy.
Christine Finnimore
For over 25 years Christine Finnimore made a significant contribution to the preservation of South Australia's cultural heritage. Christine joined the History Trust of South Australia (now History SA) in 1991 and was appointed Senior Curator of the Migration Museum in 2001, becoming its Director from 2009 until her retirement last year.
During her time with the History Trust, Christine was seconded to the position of Director of Carrick Hill from 1996 to 1997. As curator of the Migration Museum Christine was instrumental in establishing a programs of high academic rigour which addressed the histories of previously under represented communities, including Aboriginal Australians. She also worked extensively to interpret the history of the site of the Migration Museum, the State heritage-listed former Destitute Asylum and school for Aboriginal children.
Certificates of Recognition in the GROUP category
The Construction Industry Training Board AND Applied Building Construction Training
The Construction Industry Training Board, in partnership with Applied Building Conservation Training, has worked together to train building workers in the conservation and restoration of historic buildings.
In 2009 CITB employed the services of Keith McAllister of Heritage Stone Restorations to undertake stonemasonry and general heritage conservation courses. This collaboration resulted in Keith McAllister's Heritage Stone Restorations forming their own training company Applied Building Conservation Training. ABC Training provides hands-on practical and theory training in all aspects of restoring and repairing heritage buildings involving partnerships with State and Local government, including the Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources.
The Spalding History Archive Group
Established in 1991 the Spalding History and Archive Group have a core membership of ten to fifteen volunteers drawn from the Spalding community. One of the main objectives of the Group is to preserve and record the history of Spalding township and district. The Group regularly contributes articles to Spalding's newsletter, The Scribe, and has featured in articles in local and regional newspapers. At the Spalding Cemetery the Group, with the assistance of students of the Spalding Primary School, has identified unmarked graves, removed lichen and moss from headstones and erected a notice board showing the location of burials.
Studio Nine Architects
Studio Nine Architects has worked with the Department for Education and Child Development since 2009 in the master plan of the Kapunda High School which encompassed the State heritage-listed Administration building, formerly 'Eringa', the Kapunda home of Sir Sidney Kidman. Previous work to the Administration building involved insensitive additions including verandah enclosures and the installation of fluorescent lighting suspended from highly ornate ceilings, thus masking the grandeur of this stately building. Studio Nine Architects' project at the Kapunda High School involved the upgrading this heritage building to current standards whilst retaining and conserving significant fabric.
Certificates of Recognition in the INDIVIDUAL category
Paula Bartsch
Paula Bartsch, the Curator of the Mount Pleasant District History Room, has been involved in developing and reviewing history of the Mount Pleasant district, beginning with researching her own family history over 30 years ago and now the history of her local area. She has spent at least 12 years working in developing the Mount Pleasant District History Room, which officially opened in 2007. Paula has a passion and commitment to the local heritage of Mount Pleasant and has developed the History Room's heritage collection, including photographs, memorabilia and historical video footage. She has written a number of pieces including pamphlets on local buildings and historical areas and has recently undertaken a major project looking at the history of the Mount Pleasant Show Society.
Lynette Carmichael and Janine Molloy
Lynette Carmichael and Janine Molloy for over 30 years have been active members of the Henley and Grange Swimming Club, which is the oldest surviving amateur and competitive swimming club in South Australia and in 2012 it celebrated its 100th year of continuous service to the local community. In recognition of its centenary, Lynette and Janine undertook the ambitious project to collect, restore, and collate the records of the Henley and Grange Swimming Club into an official Historical Archive and to write a history of the Club.
Neil Davies
For over twelve months, Neil Davies, an archaeologist and historian, researched, prepared and mounted an historical exhibition of Section 399 for the 10th Anniversary celebrations of the Aldinga Arts EcoVillage (located on Section 399) in October 2012. The exhibition raised the awareness for the community of the local heritage of the area and included aspects of local natural flora, fauna and Aboriginal heritage. Neil's interest, ability and persistence to comb through historical records has brought the history of the local area to life.
Theo Ellenbroek
Theo Ellenbreok has been an active member of the National Trust of South Australia for over 30 years, including being a member and committee member of the 18-36/Young Trust and the Committee of Burnside Branch of the Trust. Theo is a strong advocate for the protection and conservation of our State's cultural and natural heritage and has contributed many voluntary hours to the work of the National Trust. In addition he has been an active member of the Henley and Grange Historical Society and the Charles Sturt Memorial Museum Trust.
James Everett
Following over 20 years experience in cemetery administration, including being Chief Executive Officer of the Adelaide Cemeteries Authority, Jim Everett has an extensive knowledge of South Australia’s history and he is dedicated to recording and sharing his knowledge. To that extent he was the Foundation Chairman of the Campbelltown Historical Society and was instrumental in the establishment of the Friends of the West Terrace Cemetery. As archivist for the South Australian Synod of the Uniting Church, Jim has spent countless hours ensuring that the church records are maintained for future generations.
Annette McLean
Annette McLean has been a Committee Member of the Friends of Old Government House since October 2002 and its Wedding Co-ordinator for ten years and President for nine years. Under the leadership of Annette, the State heritage-listed Old Government House in the Belair National Park has remained a major tourist attraction in the park. She has been an outstanding leader in fighting for the upkeep and improvement of the former Vice Regal Summer Residence. Of particular note Annette successfully obtained funding to restore the Servant's Quarters at Old Government House. Annette has also served on the Board of the Friends of Parks.
Philip Saks
After retiring from lecturing in Lighting Design at Adelaide TAFE in 2007, Philip Saks approached Artlab Australia in 2008 volunteering to conduct tours of its conservation studios. He had already been a volunteer guide for the South Australian Museum and the State Library of South Australia. He then became Artlab's first Tour Ambassador in November 2008. The Artlab tours are available to community groups and Philip's keen interest in conservation and cultural heritage is demonstrated by his excellent knowledge for Artlab's work. Over five years of voluntary service, Philip has conducted most of the 95 tours of Artlab's conservation studios.
Dr Pamela Smith
Dr Pamela Smith, a senior research fellow at Flinders University, has worked as a heritage consultant for 19 years specialising in cultural heritage management, cultural landscape research, Aboriginal heritage surveys and ethnographic studies. In 2002 Pamela commenced the four year Adelaide Hills Face Zone Cultural Heritage Project, which included an archaeological field survey of the Hills Face Zone and research into the history of colonisation in order to identify and interpret the archaeological and historical evidence of the Zone. The Project increased the public's interest and appreciation for the Hills Face Zone and its cultural heritage values.
Eldon Zimmermann
Eldon Zimmermann has been described as a master craftsman in heritage miniaturisation. Using an array of wood working tools he has hand crafted over 60 scale model horse drawn buggies. Eldon and his wife Mary have developed their property 'Meldonfield' as arguably one of the most popular tourist attractions in the Peterborough area. He has since built a scale model replica of the original Petersburg (now known as Peterborough) Railway Station, demolished in the late 1960s. This project involved obtaining a copy of the original plans for the building and salvaging the building's red bricks which he then cut down to 10mm by 4mm replicas.
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