Two of Dayboro’s most beloved elders were among those honoured at the centenary celebrations for St Aidan’s Anglican Church on March 13.
Jean Heathwood and Hazel Fealy, both lifelong members of the church, cut the birthday cake (donated by Dayboro Bakery) at a party attended by more than 100 people.

Both women attended the church Sunday School as children, and both were married in St Aidan’s. They had their children baptised there, took part in the Ladies Guild, helped organise fetes and garden parties, and taught new generations in the Sunday School. Now in their mid-eighties, Jean and Hazel are still regular attenders at weekly services.
Scudding showers caused plenty of laughs as people dived under tents and umbrellas during the afternoon tea, but held off while Rev Chris Johnson compered the storytelling part of the afternoon. Jean’s daughter Leonie and Hazel’s daughter Dawn both presented their mothers’ histories with St Aidan’s, and several other past members had contributed accounts to be read to the gathering.
Jim Williams, a “newcomer” who has only been attending St Aidan’s with his wife Dulcie for 40 years, sang the country-and-western song, “The Old Country Church”. Jim told the gathering the history behind the communion table built nine decades ago in memory of the wife of one of Dayboro’s pioneering tradesmen. Carpenter Walter “Jack” Thorpe met Ethel Harding in England while serving in World War I. He brought his young bride home to Dayboro, but tragically she died in childbirth. (The child, Cynthia, survived, and is living in England aged about 90.) Jack Thorpe was also in charge of rebuilding St Aidan’s after it was destroyed by a storm in 1929. Whatever could be salvaged was stored under the Kelly house, and then reused in the current building in McKenzie Street.
The Mayor of Moreton Bay Regional Council, Allan Sutherland, spoke about the importance of the church as a focus in the community historically. He said modern planning made a mistake when it forgot to provide a place for the church.
Archbishop of Brisbane and head of the Anglican Church in Australia, Philip Aspinall, officiated at the packed centenary service which followed the party.
There will be further celebrations throughout the centenary year, and the church is putting together a historical booklet full of people’s memories of St Aidan’s in the Dayboro community.