Click on pictures below for more details
HISTORY
OF THE GOLD COAST HINTERLAND HERITAGE MUSEUM
The
Museum was a vision of Sue Shepherd who talked to other community members
about how our heritage is being lost with many families leaving the
district. Sue organised several people to come along to a meeting in June
2001 where she outlined her vision of a heritage museum in Mudgeeraba.
It
was agreed that there was a need for such a museum in the district and
from there the museum committee was formed.
We
had a lot of advice from people with knowledge of what is required – Dan
Robinson from Qld Museum came along to an early meeting to let us know
what we should do to go about establishing the museum.
Steve Gill from GCCC also spoke to us about the council’s views
on our proposal.
By
October 2001 we had established the Rules of the Association, which
outlined our aims and objectives. We were incorporated in November 2001.
We
spent a lot of time researching what we needed to do to establish the
museum through visiting other Museums – Tamborine Mountain Heritage
Centre and Stanthorpe Museum. We have also attended workshops and
conferences at other Museums.
Most
of the members of the Management Committee have connections with
pioneering families in the district and have collected a lot of
memorabilia over the years that their ancestors used in the early days of
settlement of this area.
To
help with establishing the Museum we have received grants from The
Mudgeeraba Foundation [$1000 for computer software], Gambling Community
Benefit Fund [$5000 for Computer hardware] and Volunteer Small Equipment
Grant [$3600 for Quickshade].
The
Museum will be a living and working place, where every activity of a
pioneer family’s day possible to re-create, will be done. Some visions
we have are for a dairy, including butter churning, a black smith’s
shop, displays of farming equipment etc.
In
2003, ‘Friends of the Museum’ was established for anyone that shares
our same interest in preserving the history of our region. The members of
‘Friends’ have been a great asset in assisting the committee in the
work involved in setting up the museum.
We
have come a long way since 2001 and much of the credit must go to Cr Ted
Shepherd and the Gold Coast City Council. Without Ted’s advice,
assistance and financial support we would not be at this stage yet. We are
all grateful for his continued support.
All
Management Committee Members and ‘Friends’ are volunteers who willing
give up their time to work on the Museum. The Museum is a ‘work in
progress’ with many years of hard work ahead of us.
Dedicated
and Officially opened by Cr Ted Shepherd
