MT. PLEASANT HALL CENTENARY:  Our Society participated in the centenary celebrations of the Mt. Pleasant Hall & School of Arts on Saturday 22nd May by having a display relating to the Mt. Pleasant district.

We were able to use a number of the panels from The Dayboro Story: The First 100 Years museum display which concluded on 16th May, and also the slide show which had been prepared for that display.  Other Mt. Pleasant photographs from our Society’s collection were also used and a lot of interest was shown throughout the day.  Congratulations to Stan Chambers and other members of the Mt. Pleasant Hall Committee for their efforts in organising the day.  Three wonderful paintings by local artist Carol Donaldson were commissioned by the Committee, reproducing photographs of the Cage Dip, Rose’s Sawmill and the Mt. Pleasant Banana Settlement.  The Mt. Pleasant Quilters made a commemorative quilt which also included reproductions of photographs of the hall and others of local interest.  A pitsaw mill was also created especially for the day. 
JUNE PROGRESS ASSN. CALENDAR PHOTOGRAPH:  New Dayboro State School Opening 25th June 1920:  By 1916 the “Hellhole” school building which had been constructed in 1877, was badly in need of repairs and had also become overcrowded with an average attendance of 60 pupils.  A move was made to resite the school to a more central location but the Education Department was reluctant to spend the money until the locals could agree on an appropriate site.  It was decided by a vote of nine to five that the “Heathwood Hill” site would be the best place for the new school and on 28th January 1919 Mrs. A.M. Heathwood signed an agreement for the sale of 5 acres at £45 ($90) per acre.  On 11th July 1919 approval was given for the erection of a new school on this site at a cost of £1086 ($2172).  Eventually the new building, measuring 31ft x 21ft (approx. 9.5m x 6.5m), was built and officially opened on 25th June 1920.  The teacher’s residence was shifted to the new school site, and later the same year the play shed was also shifted to the western side of the school, the cost of this being borne by the School Committee.  The old school building was sold to Mr. Thomas Strain for £55 ($110) and the land acquired by Mr. John Bradley. 
Unbelievably, the new school building was only slightly larger than the old 1877 building it was to replace, which had been 30ft x 18ft,  and in 1924 a new room measuring 21ft x 16ft with an 8ft veranda on two sides was completed, more than doubling the size of the original building.  These buildings still form part of the present-day school complex.
MBRC VISITOR INFORMATION CENTRE VOLUNTEERS:  On Friday 7th May we hosted a bus group of volunteers from the various Visitor Information Centres run by the Moreton Bay Regional Council, providing lunch for them at the Showgrounds and joining them for the meal.  A short talk was given on what we do in running the Dayboro Visitor Information Centre and after lunch they paid a visit to “Dayboro Cottage”, Hay Cottage and the Dayboro Art Gallery which was all time allowed.  Hopefully, with the knowledge gained, they will be able to direct lots of visitors to our town.
SEASIDE MUSEUM:      The new Seaside Museum at Bribie Island was opened on Friday 15th May so if you are “overseas” on Bribie, pay it a visit.  It is open from 10.00 a.m. to 3.00 p.m. Thursday to Sunday.  There is an interesting film on the artist Ian Fairweather who spent his last years on Bribie Island.
HERITAGE TALKS:  On Wednesday 12th May I was the guest speaker at the Heritage Talk at the Pine Rivers Heritage Museum – the topic was of course Dayboro’s first 100 years.  At least 50 people were in attendance which was a little daunting. 
IRISH RESEARCH DAY:  This was held on Thursday 13th May and it was good to have a few non-members attending.  Our guests really appreciated the information that Mary King was able to give them on Irish research.
Carmel Bond, President – Ph: 3425 1717 (h)