Halloween Day Photos

Below, courtesy of Denis and Dimitri are images of the recent Halloween Market Day held at the museum.

The day was a great success thanks to the dedication and hard work of members of the Community Group of Greenough, the musicians and stall holders. Thanks also to the Geraldton Guardian for sponsoring the children's fancy dress competition.

Invitation to Halloween

You are invited to our Halloween/Market Day that is to be held on Sunday 30th October between 10am and 3pm.

Display Shed Redevelopment

It had been hoped that the redevelopment of this shed would have been completed in time for the museum's 45th birthday next week. However, difficulties in obtaining quotes from builders and uncertainity over the future management of the museum has delayed the project. We have, however, with assistance from the Greenough Regional Prison, had the old bush poles replaced by steel posts, and today Keboda Stone completed a limestone buttress to fill a gap in the west wall. This work was funded by the City of Greater Geraldton through a Lotterywest grant.

Let's hope the project is completed well in advance of the museum's 50th birthday.

Pioneer Museum & the National Gallery

What does the Greenough Pioneer Museum and the National Gallery of Australia have in common?

They both have a drawing by Tom Rands of the 1888 flood at Greenough in their collections.
Our drawing, donated to the museum by Phyl Duncan in 2007 is pictured above. We believed it was the only image of that devastating flood in existence.
Image our surprise when we were informed that the exhibition entitled "Out of the West" currently on display in the National Gallery has another Tom Rand drawing of the 1888 flood.
The NGA drawing was purchased in 2010 and can be viewed at http://nga.gov.au/exhibition/OUTWEST?Default.cfm?MnuID=2&GallD=3.
On comparing the 2 sketches I presume that ours is a quick preliminary sketch, and that Rands then decided to improve the composition by including adjacent buildings.

John & Elizabeth's Wedding Certificate

Among documents held in this museum's archives is the wedding certificate of John S. Maley and Elizabeth K. Waldeck. The couple were married at Gray's Store, Greenough (there being no churches at Greenough at that time) on 27 August 1862. The marriage ceremony was performed by the Resident Magistrate, Charles Symmons, as there was no priest or minister residing in the district. Witnesses to the ceremony were 2 Geraldton storekeepers, Henry Gray and Charles Crowther.
The certificate was in very poor condition when found and required extensive conservation by Corkhill Conservators of Perth. Fortunately descendants of John and Elizabeth donated funds to save this valuable document.

Unique Gates

Ray proudly showing the double gates he recently made for the Pioneer Museum
New single gate leading to the Historic Tree Walk

Through funding from the City of Geraldton-Greenough Community Grants and financial assistance from the Geraldton-Greenough Historical Society, the museum was able to employ Ptera Trading to design and construct these new gates. The museum is once again appreciative of being able to use the talents of local craftspeople to enhance this property.

New Banners

New banners have now been placed along the Phillips Road approach to the museum. Due to safety concerns about vehicles turning off the Brand Highway, these banners can only be viewed by south-bound traffic. The banners (which depict 6 diverse objects from the museum collection) were financed by the City of Geraldton-Greenough through funding from a Lotterywest grant. The steel work was constructed by Ptera Trading of Geraldton, the banners designed by Two Fish Drowning of Greenough and were made and printed by Seaside Signs of Dongara.