Community push for a museum at Cobargo

Cobargo District Museum president Ken Redman said the former RSL building or any other prominent building to house donated artefacts would be key to get the museum up and running. Grant funding was often dependent on having a physical location.

In the meantime, the museum committee has set up a window display in his newsagency on the main street and there will also be a display of photos at this weekend’s Cobargo Show.

“At this stage we are just recording who’s got what items and photos,” Mr Redman said. “My dad was raised in Cobargo and the family was sleeper cutters before the war, so I’ve found the district’s history pretty interesting and pretty diverse.”

The committee was also taking donations and always wanted new members and also to hear from people who had items to donate.

There is a similar push in Tilba where the community has started lobbying the Eurobodalla Shire Council not to sell the old fire station as a commercial building, but instead to donate it for the use as a museum.

In Cobargo, Mr Redman was pleased when a member of the Moruya museum dropped off a whole bunch of ribbons from previous shows at Cobargo, including one from 1946 when it was “Victory Show”.

He said once people knew there was a physical location where items could protected and displayed, they would be more likely to donate family heirlooms.

Museum members Vicky Hoyer and Pat Reed rattled off several items they were looking forward to acquiring including the town’s old telephone exchange, a cot from the CWA and gold scales from the bank.

Pat’s father Bluey Welsh was the town butcher and so she had items from his old shop as well as various papers he collected.

Anyone with items or dollars to donate should contact Vicky on 0422 377 278. 

Keep an eye on the newsagency display as there was the idea of changing it regularly, for example to have sporting items on display for the start of football season.

“We are only a fledgling group but we are working hard and love to hear from people interested in getting involved or with items to donate,” Mr Redman said. “What people tend to forget is that history is not only what happened 120 years ago, it’s what is happening right now and yesterday.”