Eacham Historical Society

The Eacham Historical Society finished the year off with a number of gatherings to celebrate another successful year.  The members who volunteer at the museum in Millaa Millaa got together for a fancy-do at De Millaa coffee shop while more than a dozen members who regularly volunteer at the history centre in Malanda gathered at the Rainforest Bounty premises on Lindsay Road to enjoy a morning tea.  The Society could not function without the efforts of those who volunteer and their efforts are greatly appreciated.  And to end another successful year, some fifty members and guests gathered once again at the Malanda RSL function room to catch up with fellow history buffs and see the old year out at the Society's annual dinner party.  The work of the Society these days typically involves issues of family history research with the Society regularly assisting members of the public who are working on their family stories.  So much so that they are beginning to feel like a genealogy group.  But the group did do other heritage work over the year and were pleased to hear that the 'Anzac Treasures of the Tablelands' project that they had assisted with had won an award.  Later in the year, a field trip which attrached great interest from the members involved a long drive out to Mount Garnet then down to Gunnawarra Station and on through to the Kirrama Range and out through the Kennedy Valley.  It was a long day but those who participated in the trip enjoyed themselves.  It was also reported that the Society's electronic-media effort is still the most successful aspect of their publicity effort with their 'You know you grew up on the Atherton Tablelands when', facebook site now with over 4,000 members and the official Society facebook page continuing to grow.  The Society also managed to maintain their regular annual social events with successful display stalls at both the Malanda Show and the Rocky Creek VP Day with good interest from the public.  The Society started the new year off with their first meeting for the year on the 19 January.