Stuart Atkins… “We’ve put a lot of effort the last five years in maintenance of the venue, because a 100-year-old building does tend to need a little bit of TLC and we’ve spent a lot of time doing that.
Sir David Attenborough isn’t the only one celebrating their 100th birthday as a proud community member whose contributions have assisted others.
The Bowning Community Hall (then named the Advance Hall) has served as a reliable meeting place for locals and visitors alike. Celebrations for the Hall’s centenary will be held from 10.00am to 2.00pm on May 23rd.
From its humble beginnings as a lot of land for sale in 1876 (for a sum of 15 pounds sterling), the Hall’s opening on May 26, 1926 – featuring a grand ball and music by the Bast Goulburn Orchestra – was the first major event to fill the four walls. Since then, many a wedding, funeral and birthday party has been held on and within the historic site.
The total cost of the Hall and its furnishings had amounted to 1450 pounds, 950 of which had still needed to be collected from the community.
The Bowning community would host another ball in their Hall in 1935 following the completion of a new supper room.
Several ANZAC Day services were also recorded to have been held within the Hall, as documented in various local newspapers of the time.
The Hall has also undergone several name changes. From the initial Advance Hall (as named by a local student following a naming competition within the school), the building was renamed the Bowning Memorial Hall in 1946 with the Bowning Hall Association also changing their name in 1988 to Bowning Hall Incorporated. The Hall would again change its name to the Bowning Community Hall in 2021.
Stuart and Fran Atkins have been heavily involved with the Hall for several years, including advocacy and restoration after the building had begun to show its age. They are now busy planning the Hall’s centenary celebrations, featuring activities, market stalls, races, food, raffles and memorabilia.
According to Stuart, the Hall has always served as a central hub for the community to come together.
“It all started in 1926,” he says.
“There were previous halls in the village beforehand, but they were all privately owned, and so, the 26 residents of Bowning got together, found the block of land and put up the main hall.”
Ten years later, the new supper room (kitchen) of the Bowning Hall would see the building’s use flourish dramatically by community members.
The building itself isn’t the only significant addition to the site.
“We’ve got the Bowning War Memorial, a playground, public toilets and parkland,” says Stuart.
“All of this is owned by the community, not by Council.”
This, he says, is important, as they have always strived to provide a resource from the community for the community.
“That’s where our emphasis is maintained,” he says.
“We’ve put a lot of effort the last five years in maintenance of the venue, because a 100-year-old building does tend to need a little bit of TLC and we’ve spent a lot of time doing that.
“The Hall’s been used for quite a variety of things [such as] weddings, birthday parties, elections, ANZAC Day, Remembrance Day and Easter Egg Hunts.”
The Hall is always available for hire.
From 10.00am on May 23, a time capsule will be planted by the Bowning Primary School with students from the school asked to imagine what the town will be like in 100 years. It is believed the capsule will be dug up in 25 years’ time, which means several witnesses will be able to see both the burial and the unearthing of the capsule.
At 12.00pm, a centenary foundation stone will be unveiled.
Although many old buildings have a foundation stone, the Bowning Hall does not. The commemorative stone will be laid by Richard Glover, the grandson of Thomas Glover, who had been one of the people responsible for the initial building.
Preparations for the centenary celebrations have taken more than a year of rigorous planning to reach its current point, but Fran says there is still more help needed.
“One of our biggest problems was finding information,” says Stuart.
“Fran has crawled through everything she could find online and in old newspapers, and we have some records of the Hall, but there’s whole gaps of information that we don’t know about.”
A call has now been made by the Hall Committee for the greater community to have a dig through their memories and possessions in search of any little bits of history or memorabilia to be on display during the celebrations.
“If you do have any photos of events and activities that have been held at the hall, or any documents, we’d be happy to display them,” says Fran.
“We’ve got bits and pieces from over the years, from when it was first built.
“Newspapers have been a great source trying to track down the information.
All memorabilia will be donated to the Historical Society for their records at the conclusion of the event.
As for what wonderful events people can expect to see at the centenary celebrations, Fran says they’ve also got a huge range of stallholders who will be adding some colour to the day.
From facepainting, local truffles, fire pits, earrings, 3D printed items, soaps, sourdough bread and coffee, Fran says they are expecting to see up to 25 local and visiting stalls.
A selection of local community groups, such as the Yass Historical Society, the Spinners and Weavers Group and the Anglican Church (who will be providing a Devonshire tea on the day).
A stall providing sausage rolls and soup will also be available to satiate any hunger.
A history display will be open for viewing within the Hall itself and the local car club will have their vehicles on display outside, showcasing the peak engineering performance from several years prior.
For children, a 10-metre-high slide will be available with face paint to entertain them.
Four raffles will take place throughout the event (one per hour), and a centenary coin for the Bowning Hall will round out the excitement as the collector’s piece goes on the chopping block.
To fill the silence, Fran says they are on the lookout for more local musicians to showcase their art during the event.
For anyone interested in performing or submitting memorabilia, please contact Fran on 0408 637 335 or by emailing bowninghall@yahoo.com.
Elizabeth Kovacs
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