By Derek Schlennstedt
The Cockatoo community enjoyed a rousing Australia Day breakfast at the beautiful Alma Treloar Reserve on Sunday 26 January.
With loyal community members heading out in droves to enjoy an early breakfast, a huge audience gathered to enjoy the official ceremonies.
Among those representing the community were members of the local Scouts, Emerald SES and the Cockatoo CFA.
Community leaders also joined representatives from Cardinia Shire Council, Gembrook MP Brad Battin, La Trobe MP Jason Wood and Stella Axarlis AM, who led the Affirmation.
The first to gain widespread praise from the awards was Cockatoo Young Citizen of the Year winner, Jayden Kruzicevic-King.
The Senior Citizen of the Year honour went to Dan O’Connor, with the award being posthumously accepted by Trish O’Connor.
Lynda Prout accepted the Cockatoo Community Event of the Year for the Jitterbugs Playgroup, which is a playgroup program for parents of 0-4-year-olds in the Cockatoo community.
Interestingly, after the Australia Day Anthem, The Cockatoo History Group made a surprise announcement. The group used the awards ceremony to launch the ‘Voices of the Past’ historical book.
The book has its genesis in the disastrous bushfires of Ash Wednesday, 16 February 1983, and has been a work in progress for several years.
In the Victorian town of Cockatoo alone, over 300 houses and other buildings were destroyed and six people lost their lives. Many documents, photographs and memorabilia were burnt, and residents moved away temporarily or permanently.
Dot Griffin, then a young mother, saw the urgent need to collect what remained of the local history.
For over 20 years she visited residents and former residents, who were mostly elderly, and recorded about 20 of them on tape. Almost all had fond memories of Cockatoo.
In 2012 the Cockatoo History and Heritage Group obtained a Local History Grant from the Public Record Office of Victoria to digitise and transcribe the tapes and to assist in publishing a book based on them.
The 17 transcripts finally selected are now known as stories, and each has a chapter in the book.
Collectively, they provide a fascinating insight into the lives of Cockatoo people in the twentieth century and the book is lavishly illustrated, with colour and black-and-white photographs and maps.
Following the surprise announcement community members came together over morning tea, as Lucy Roxburgh entertained the crowds.
Greg Carrick attended the day and captured all the celebrations.
