THE Yornup Hall centenary celebration in 2013 has won the Bridgetown-Greenbushes Premier’s Australia Day active citizenship award for a community group or event.
The reunion was organised by a small committee with a tiny budget and a group of resourceful volunteers.
It was 1913 when, under the supervision of the Yornup Progress Association, the Yornup Hall was constructed and instantly became the heart and soul of the Yornup community.
Over the past 100 years the hall has been used for more than socialising. It has acted as a school, a venue for birthday parties, engagements and weddings, church services, sporting activities including darts, badminton and roller skating.
It has housed gymkhanas, movie nights, Christmas functions, school concerts and market days. The grounds have been used as the local sporting arena for cricket, tennis, basketball and football.
The Hall was always used by the local fire brigade as a base for meetings and to prepare meals for the volunteers, an electoral polling station and is still an emergency evacuation area for the Shire.
The hall is symbolic to Yornup and, as with the original Progress Association striving for better roads and railway, the present Committee has always striven for the betterment of the community.
The event took 12 months to bring to fruition, culminating with a gathering in excess of 1000 past and present residents of Yornup who donated their family
histories and treasures to share in a magnificent display for the weekend.
The celebration was held on Saturday April13, with morning and afternoon teas, lunch and dinner, mostly supplied by donations and the work of the committee and their supporters, including the CWA, Bridgetown Scouts and the Bridgetown Lions Club.
Sheath tossing, log chops, boomerang throwing displays and wagon rides along with children’s activities, vintage car and motor bike displays helped to entertain people on the day.
There was live music performed by past and present band members and local guest artists singing.
A dance held in the evening was attended by about 200 people.
A cake cutting by long term residents Mr Bob White and Mrs Leslie Doust was celebrated and a commemorative tree was planted with mix of soil from four significant local historical sites.
On Sunday a church service was held, followed by a morning tea then a self-drive tour of places of interest in the area surrounding Yornup took place.
This weekend drew people back to the district from as far away as New Zealand, the Eastern States and the North West of Western Australia and provided the opportunity for old friends to reunite and reminisce while many new friendships were forged.
Committee member Glen Norris said the committee had purchased a centennial plaque which was put on the wall in the hall.
Chairman of the committee Michael Pearce said the committee was very pleased with the way the event had turned out.
“With all the information, stories and photographs accumulated we are hoping to put them all together and make it into a book over the next year,” Mr Pearce said.
“We have also produced a DVD of the event using photos and some video of various activities and we have been selling it as a fund raiser. We had people here from Queensland, New Zealand, New South Wales, in fact from all over Australia.
“The people of Yornup were very supportive of the event we put on and are now very proud that we have been awarded the Premier’s Australia Day Award for such an enjoyable activity.”
