At our last meeting we inducted Emma Morse into the Club! Sponsored by her mother, Lion Jennifer Barwick. It is great to see we are recently attracting new members and especially great to see women and younger people join our club!
Last weekend was yet another successful
Orana Luncheon, where we do the cooking for the elderly and infirm. We catered for over 40 people. In the past we also provided food, but following Orana's merge with Baptcare last year a
corporate OH&S decision was made that stopped us from supplying the ingredients.
Our guest speaker for the night was Jeff Matthews. Jeff was deputy mayor in Devonport from 2005-2007 and an Alderman since 1996. He is well acquainted with the needs of Devonport. His baby, a Mersey Bluff Directional Sign, forms part of the proposed Mersey Bluff Headland development. Jeff explained that when people arrive to Devonport they see the lighthouse and the statue and often head in that direction. We really need to greet tourists there with an informative sign. Signage formed part of a Bluff Development which was
passed by council in 2008 and $10K was allocated to the 'directional signage'. The possible total cost of the project could be more like $50K and Jeff is seeking interested community organisations to help the project along.
The signage is expected to be similar to the one at Braddon's Lookout between Forth and Don, and provides lots of local information, complete with historic photos, telling us about the history of the region.
If Devonport likes to retain tourists that arrive we need to alert them to our history, and give them the information. Information that not only shows them how far we are from Melbourne, Tokyo and Amsterdam, but also
interesting historic information about how for instance the
Marconi Company demonstrated a wireless telegraphy service between
Devonport and
Queenscliff,
Victoria in 1906. It was the first radio transmission in Australia, and the Government was not impressed and did not purchase the equipment or approve of the service. Other information includes the history of that Don River wharf where Tasmanian timber was shipped for the construction of Melbourne Town!
It is envisaged that the attraction could be done in an aboriginally styled theme, highlighting the significance of Aboriginal heritage in the area (
Tiagarra behind the lighthouse), complete with aboriginal
petroglyphs and
middens nearby. Devonport needs to enhance its personality, its identity, its flavour, we need to have our heritage proudly on display. Jeff is like a dog with a bone in his own words, and he won't let this one go! Let's hope service clubs like ourselves can come to the rescue!
