Right now the local community is encouraged to share their stories of our colourful history, to be featured on a website dedicated to preserving our local heritage. The project, made possible through a $97,000 NSW Government “Heritage Near Me” grant, will come to life with the launch of the MidCoast Stories website in September.

“It’s so important to record the stories that show another side to our beautiful region”, explained Janine Roberts, who along with Penny Teerman is part of a small group of volunteers who successfully secured the grant funding to drive the project forward.

“We are on a mission to uncover the stories of the people, places and events that make our community unique”, she said.

The aim of the MidCoast Stories project is to drive interest in our local heritage and an understanding of why it’s important, and ultimately to get the local community involved in preserving our past. Support from member for Myall Lakes, Stephen Bromhead, has been welcomed by heritage volunteers and MidCoast Council, who met with the Minister for Heritage, Gabrielle Upton last month.

Stories are already being collated, featuring Gloucester’s secret links to Hollywood, the forgotten artworks of a much-loved Australian illustrator, and the birthplace of Australia’s oldest surviving company.

Community members are invited to contribute short, interesting submissions of around 200 words on any topic connected with the MidCoast. An initial bank of stories will form part of the website launch during History Week in early September, with an objective to have a minimum of 200 stories uploaded by April 2019 when the grant funding is finalised.

Education forms a key element of the project, and a dedicated educator will assist local school students to research and write stories, building an interest and love of local history among our younger community members.

A series of free workshops will also be offered to assist local community participation. “Keep an eye out for upcoming workshops that will help you bring your stories to life, including how to research your property’s history, and how to use resources such as ‘Trove’ to delve into the past”, Janine said.

So what happened with George Cassimaty? After pulling Gwen from a deep well and successfully performing “artificial resuscitation”, he received a certificate from the Royal Humane Society for his efforts.

To find out more about this colourful local character, you’ll have to wait until September 1 when George’s full story is uploaded on the MidCoast Stories website.

In the meantime, to find out how to submit your story, email the team at info@midcoaststories.com

Further information will be made available once the educational workshops commence, and to announce the launch of the MidCoast Stories website in September.

Locals can also keep an eye out for a series of family history workshops to be held in MidCoast Council’s libraries during August, coinciding with National Family History Month.