THE Tea Gardens Red Cross (TGRC) and Tea Gardens Family Research and Local History Group (FRLHG) have new displays this month at the recently upgraded Tea Gardens Library.
The TGRC has installed a temporary display of memorabilia from the last nine decades of the group’s active service in the area.
“A lot of our information got taken to the tip a few years back when a past President passed away,” current Red Cross Vice President Carol Hayden told News Of The Area.
“So a few of our current members got together to arrange photos, newspaper clippings and more, to let people know we have been going in this town for 90 years.”
Even the current plethora of historical material is overwhelming, so members are eager for assistance to digitise the hard copy materials.
“So, it will be there for all time,” Carol said.
“[Anyone interested] can contact our President Helen Janes, or visit our meetings at the Tea Gardens Uniting Church hall on the fourth Monday of every month.
“We also need more Trauma Teddies to be knitted, and are hoping to set up a knitting group.”
Over one million children have been comforted by a colourful, cuddly Trauma Teddy since Australian Red Cross branches first started hand-knitting them back in 1990.
They have been handed-out to kids fleeing bushfires, floods and other emergencies; inside ambulances; arriving as refugees; or in need of comfort while in hospital.
The Family History Group has a more permanent display, featuring images and artefacts from their vast depository.
Items include an elector role from Stroud Shire Council days, several images of the baths and buildings along Marine Drive, records from former and current clubs and a plane-spotting record from WWII.
“At long last we have found a permanent home at the Library, and are very pleased and appreciative of it, especially after moving around for a while,” Shirley Cox, group librarian for the last 24 years, told NOTA.
“The Tea Gardens Country Club has given us a home in their cottage for the last few years, and when you have a budget of nil, it makes a big difference.”
The FRLHG has a big job ahead for the end of the year, sorting and finding new homes for its expansive collection.
“This area has so much history that has been ignored in the history books… starting with the Australian Agricultural Company’s time on the north side of Port Stephens,” Shirley said.
“We are very fortunate to have historian Jan Winn as a member, considering the amount of work she has put into recording the history of the area.”
Beginning in 2026, the group will meet in the library on the second Monday of every month, and are also planning to have a workshop or speaker in the library’s big new room.
By Thomas O’KEEFE
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