For those of us who enjoy local history and appreciate great photography, this week we introduced 'OUR TIMES', previously unseen photographs from the Manning River Times archives.
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Photographer Scott Calvin discovered these photographs among the Times negatives. He was thrilled with the high quality of the images. "They are beautiful photos," he says.
The idea for "OUR TIMES" came to us when we published the above photograph from 1971 of school dance lessons. The photo resonated with many of our social media followers and sparked a lot of conversations. Some recall being taught folk dancing, for others the Pride of Erin, Canadian Three-Step and the Barn Dance, even the Maypole. We were all left wondering what those two boys in the middle of the line were talking about.
Dance wasn't our favourite lesson of the week, boys and girls alike would agree on that. But these dances were staples at school "socials". The Barn Dance was mandatory as a starter, and some like the Canadian Three-Step could be downright dangerous as young and enthusiastic dance couples, tightly gripped to each other, raced from one end of the hall to the other, skidding on "pops".
What we didn't appreciated as school children was the importance of these lessons. They opened us up to a world of country dances, in small halls like Marlee, Wherrol Flat and Caffreys Flat. You knew you were in good hands when an experienced older dancer took the lead. And the suppers were awesome.
We will continue to share a photograph a day with our social media followers and we welcome any memories you have to share. The week's photographs will be compiled into a gallery, some with links to more photographs.
FOOTNOTE: Due to a gremlin in the system, some may have missed the link to the Rural Women stories in last week's newsletter. They make for great reading - here's the link:
Toni Bell
Editor