Recollections December 2021 No images? Click here About Recollections What's On We're just days away from the start of the Museum's Golden Jubilee year - 2022. Watch out for the exciting events to come. New Life Member, Tony Spinks, doing what he does best! ORAL HISTORY PROJECTS by Jill Tilson, volunteer Below is my experience with oral histories. This has been quite a year being involved in two very different kinds of oral history projects. One involved lots of interviews and less administration and the other less interviews and lots of administration. I have enjoyed it and learnt a lot. In the May edition of Recollections, I wrote about an oral history project I had started to coordinate for the Mt Cotton Drama Group. Russell Dinte and Jill Tilson To re-cap, the Group started in 1974 and merged with MATES Theatre Genesis in 2018. So, there were 44 years of history of the Group. The bones of the history is already on their website www.mtcottondrama.com. Here is the process that I undertook. Liz Blumson and I met with some of the Group around a year ago when they handed us a few boxes of programs and other objects. It was agreed that we would focus on recording the personal stories of individuals rather than the historical list of events. The Museum could then play them through speakers or headphones if a display was mounted in the future or could use them on our website. In February 2021, I attended the oral history workshop conducted by Dr Robert Mason, cultural historian at Griffith University, as part of the Museum’s volunteer training day. This was so helpful. Not only did I learn how to conduct these interviews but the importance of the preparation. I met with Jean Spencer and Norma Forrest from the Drama Group who provided me with some very useful reading material and information. Jean became my contact person. She knew the people involved with the Group, but they had to give me permission to contact them via the Museum. So, a template email was created by Jean to forward to her contacts who returned them to me at the Museum. The next step was to create an Information Sheet and Consent Form. These were forwarded to potential participants. It was important to remember to collect and record the receipt of these consent forms. In the stress of the moment of meeting the person for the first time and then doing the recording, it was easy to forget if the person had forwarded the consent form or not because sometimes they came via email and sometimes by hand. Step two was to find a recorder and a room that was quiet. We had a few hiccups with that along the way. Eventually we found that The Nook was the best place to record. However, trying to organise to book the room at the time when both the person and myself were available took some doing. Sometimes we used a Cleveland Library room. One or two interviews were conducted over the phone for people no longer living in the Redlands. Step three was to create a list of questions which I did mainly from the material given to me by Norma. I realised I was going to need some assistance with this process, so I asked Museum volunteer Michele Wilkinson to help me. Michele had conducted oral histories of older people through her work as a social worker in aged care. I am so grateful that she agreed. However, that took more organising as we couldn’t both use the room or recorder at the same time. Eventually, I discovered that I had a recorder on my phone that made all the difference. I am so grateful too, that Russell Dinte agreed to help download the interviews and to enhance the quality of the sound when necessary. Thanks to both of them. By the end of this year, Michele and I will have interviewed 27 Group members. We have discovered that the Mt Cotton Drama Group was a collective of very special, talented, community minded people who believed in equality and respect for others. Within the Group, friendships were formed and maintained over many years. Lyn Mathers, a Group member interviewed, said “ … It was a family. Even if we weren’t directly involved in the current production, we all got together and helped out everybody else”. by Jill Tilson, volunteer Redland City Council contacted the Museum to see if we would like to participate in their COVID-19 oral history project. We would conduct interviews with residents to capture their experiences. Liz asked me if I was interested in doing this. As I had now got into the swing of conducting oral histories with the Mt Cotton Drama Group, I thought I would like to use my experience in this way. Above L to R: Michele Wilkinson, Jill Tilson, Lorraine Fox and Sue Tanner. In August, Liz Blumson and I attended a meeting at the Cleveland Library chaired by Angela Puata, Redland City Council’s Historian and Heritage Librarian, with Gillian McNeil (RCC Local History) and representatives from North Stradbroke Island Museum on Minjerribah and the Coochiemudlo Heritage Society. These were the people and organisations it was hoped would be involved in interviewing community members. Each organisation was to recruit 8 – 10 participants. Liz asked me if I would co-ordinate this project for Redland Museum. At the same time volunteers Sue Tanner and Lorraine Fox kindly agreed to assist. We were given Joint Permission Forms for participants to complete to permit sharing of information across organisations. (This is in regard to Copyright.) Initially there was no project information sheet but, upon request, this was provided. We were asked to give this to potential participants and for them to advise Council of their willingness to participate and to indicate which organisation they wished to conduct the interview. This proved to be too unwieldy for us as we were approaching the people individually. So, with Angela’s agreement, we asked the participant to sign the information sheet and I emailed it to Angela to speed up the process. Myself, Sue and Lorraine kept in contact via email and phone. Each of us found our own participants with different experiences of COVID-19. Between us, we have interviewed eight people so far with one more to go. Some were recorded in the Museum and others at people’s homes or place of work. All were person-to-person. As these recordings are going to be transcribed rather than used as audio playbacks, slight background noises were acceptable. In relation to the recording itself, we were provided with a list of questions and a statement to make at the beginning. We were advised not to speak other than to ask the questions as that added more work for the transcribers. We were also advised to tell the participants this before we started the recording. This provided me with a unique comparison with the Mt Cotton Drama Group interviews which felt more like conversations. Other than facial expressions, I personally found it quite difficult to conduct an interview with no verbal responses. Having said that, it was an interesting experience. After recording the interviews on our phones, we saved them to individual computer files. They are then saved to individual USB sticks and returned to each participant so they have an opportunity to review it and make any changes. Once the interviews have been approved and completed, then all the files will be saved to one USB stick together with the individual Consent Forms and forwarded to Angela. Russell Dinte has been an enormous help in teaching me how to do the technical side of downloading. Finally, Angela needed to know the dates when forms were handed out, returned and signed, interviews held, USB sticks given out, confirmation on recording given etc. So with help from my son, I have created a spreadsheet that I will send to her. Angela did not ask me to do this but it seemed the easiest way to get the information to her. Council Library history staff were to interview some colleagues, councillors and the Mayor and will prepare all transcriptions after Christmas. Thank you to Sue, Lorraine and Russell for your help with this project. Congratulations Tony - Our New Life Member Tony joined the Museum in 1978 after he restored the pioneer buggy. He later restored four more horse-drawn vehicles for the Museum. Initially, Tony's volunteering was limited due to work commitments but since retirement, Tony has been an active volunteer at the Museum. He served on the Management Committee as a member (2014-16 and 2021-22), Vice-President (2016-17), President (2017-20), and Immediate Past President (2020-21) and received a Redland Museum 10-year Service Award in 2020. In addition to the restoration of artefacts, his primary focus has been on property construction, maintenance and repairs as well as events and displays. Key achievements include: a. restoration of artefacts such as horse-drawn vehicles, Above: President Bruce Smith presents Tony Spinks with his Life Member certificate and badge at the Christmas party on 5 December. Tony has demonstrated his significant capability to implement solutions which enhance the Museum's property. His energy and enthusiasm to do whatever needs to be done is phenomenal. His long and meritorious service to Redland Museum is exemplary. First, there was the preparation... Then, the eating ...
Finally, the clean-up... Thank you to the volunteers who helped with catering, decorations, and everything else to make this party enjoyable. Happy New Year No Fun for Santa and by Paul Ledington, volunteer Santa it seems is suffering from numerous distractions. The reindeers are discussing industrial action yet again, but unfortunately, Santa’s RRM (Reindeer Resource Management) department, A.K.A. ‘ Roger the Elf’, is being decidedly unhelpful. The ever changing rules governing all of those border crossings on Christmas night are turning the delivery of presents into an administrative nightmare. Just how do you socially distance when coming down a chimney or get a Covid vaccination certificate for a reindeer? Mrs Santa is also being very odd and rather distant, and, to add to all his other woes, Santa keeps hearing the mysterious sound of bells to which he can but respond “It’s the bells, the bells!” whilst trying very, very hard not to do a hunchback of Notre Dame impression. Above: Mrs Santa (Sharon Vassallo) socially distancing from Santa (Ian Munday) and Roger the Elf (Jim Gilbert) with the Fairy and the Hark Angels to the right. Meanwhile Mrs Santa has begun to see the downside of being Co-Executive Hairperson of a community focussed, not-for-profit enterprise whose stated mission is to give something to everyone in the world using a business model that involves all deliveries happening on the same day using an ecologically-friendly transport system. To add to Santa’s worries, reindeers are, however, high emitters of methane, and of course, the phasing out of coal means even fewer chimneys. Sounds like a business planning workshop is needed. And yes, there are two angels called "Hark the Herald #1" and "Hark the Herald #2" whose contribution was "Hark, Hark". You didn't think I could make sense of this, did you? Now, Mrs Santa has decided that there is a market opportunity in the massive, rather empty, warehouses of ‘Santazon Inc’ and the serious accommodation crisis in ‘Santaland’. She has let out the warehouse to ‘Boarders’, who just happen to be a group of strolling Morris dancers. You can imagine Mrs Santa’s confusion when she is told that the ‘Borders’ have been closed and are not working anymore. No Work equals No Pay equals No Rent, particularly if anyone going near the borders has to go into 14 days quarantine. “How do you get yourself out of that lot?” You may well ask! “With great difficulty” comes the answer. As we have very limited space left, I will but say it involves a pitched battle between the Morris dancers, a romance between a graveworm and a fairy, and finally a singing reindeer. Well it made sense at the time and it was still only three o’clock on a Sunday afternoon, so it had not even reached wine o-clock yet. First, the Morris dancers had been doing lots of practice wearing their bells around their ankles and when the bo/arder rules changed, they emerged from their dormitories to dance for us. They still need a little practice as their dance involved banging sticks together which gradually deteriorated into a test of strength and resolve and ended up resembling the battle of Culloden, or Helms Deep for the Tolkien fans amongst us! It did, of course, explain the bell noises, but, by that time, Santa was too far gone to notice and kept muttering something about ‘Safety Rules’. It was around this time that a rather shy and retiring grave-worm bumped into a rather less shy and certainly not retiring fairy. It was probably more to do with the sparkly costume and tutu of the fairy, but the sex appeal veritably oozed from the grave-worm much to the surprise and delight of ladies on a front-row table, particularly his wife who was yelling something about going for it. A lot was left unresolved in this encounter. It looked to be an instant crowd favourite and seems almost certain to continue its run in future years. Above: The shy grave-worm (Russell Dinte) and [below] the effervescent fairy (Lorraine Fox).
There was a moment when even Mrs Santa almost lost her cool for the grave-worm! Oops, that's not Betty the Singing Reindeer! I'm not sure what this character was all about, but by that time, I was a blob on the floor with laughing. Finally, to bring matters to conclusion, Betty the talking reindeer appeared to sing Christmas carols in reindeer! When you think about it, there is not much to beat a singing reindeer so it really was the end. Right: Debbie Spearritt, who brought us Betty the talking reindeer last year, singing her reindeer heart out. Suffice to say that Jan, Sharon and the rest of the Theatre Redlands crew have another year to solve the problem of how to top 2021. I for one am looking forward already to the continuing story of Santa and his woes...even more to the grave-worm and the fairy. Theatre Redlands is going from strength to strength in their development of what I shall call ‘Theatre-in the -Event’ and I can hardly wait to find out where the next step of their journey goes. Seasons greetings to you all and may the New Year bring you joy. APEX 40
Redlands Model Railway Group Ann-Marie Anderson, member of Theatre Redlands and Redland Museum, won Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Community Theatre Play 2021 at the Gold Palm Theatre Awards on the Gold Coast on 6 December. The role was Leona Kyling, a Redland businesswoman, entrepreneur, philanthropist and poet, one of five women featured in Women of Their Word, written for Redland Museum by Jan Nary and drawn from a biography researched and written by local author and Redland Museum Member, Mick Bright. Ann-Marie says that she found it rewarding to immerse herself in the character of Leona, a real woman who had lived in the Redlands and given so much to the community. Ann-Marie with Mick Bright Special Mention: Theatre Redlands received 13 nominations in 8 categories for only 2 of their productions that were eligible for judging. Of those 12 nominations, they had 5 finalists in Penny Everingham, Leo Wockner, Anne-Marie Andersen, Rhianna Shoemaker & Ray Noonan. L - R: Anne-Marie Andersen, Jan Nary, Sharon Vassallo, Jonnica & Ray Noonan. Debbie Spearritt also attended the awards cereomony held at Dracula's on the Gold Coast. And a few more things ... The last general meeting of 2021 was a busy affair with more volunteers receiving their guiding badges (others had received their badges at the Christmas party), volunteers reporting on their sections and the Redland Model Railway Group handing over their recently completed layout for use in the Toy Hall of Fame. The new layout has two sections. One portrays Cleveland station in its early days whilst the other incorporates dinosaurs and large kangaroos. It links the Redlands area to the ancient mysteries of this land. Volunteers at the Museum's stall at the festive activities at Raby Bay Harbour Park. Click the icon above to access our Facebook page! Follow us on Instagram and share with the younger (or the young at heart) members of your family and friends. The editors, Sylvia McGarry, Paul Ledington and Sharon Vassallo will endeavour to provide you with articles about Museum events and activities, Collection items, and historical facts on the Redlands. But we would like to hear from members. What would you like for inclusion? Do you have a story to tell? The newsletter will continue to be sent at the end of each month (except for December which maybe earlier). Editors can be contacted at recollections@redlandmuseum.org.au |