Palmwoods
District News

October
1998

Page 4

Woombye Arts hall celebrates century

THE Woombye School of Arts centenary celebration is being held at the hall on Saturday, October 17.

Celebrations will kick off with a street parade at 8.45am, followed by an open craft market at 9am. The centenary fashion parade will be staged at 11am, and entertainment and refreshments will be available during the morning.

A Pioneer Centenary Dinner (invitation only) will be held on Saturday night and a Sunday ecumenical service on Sunday at 10.30am.

Here's a capsule history of the hall:

INITIALLY a travellers’ stopover for those moving between Brisbane and the Gympie goldfields around 1868, the Woombye School of Arts progressed to become a community hall for a thriving community.

Before 1900 the town area was being planned as the residential area to support the industrial area of Nambour.

Many firsts in the Sunshine Coast region eminated from the happenings in the Woombye Hall.

The first agriculture, pastoral and horticulture shows were held there. These commenced in the year 1900 and continued to 1909 when the district show was transferred to Nambour. The somewhat put out community commenced their own agricultural and horticultural show in 1911, which continued until 1933.

The Woombye community had a number of meetings at the hall culminating in the formation of the Alexandra Headlands Surf Lifesaving Club in July, 1924. Many famous surf lifesaving families came from the area, including the Wilkes and Buhk family.

The first hall was build in 1898 and was small, only 25foot by 25 foot, but was very busy with concerts, dances, political meetings, public meetings, and travelling shows. Tom Bartholomew was the first president and Joseph T. Wilson (Woombye School’s head teacher) was secretary. Timber was donated by Bartholomew’s Mill and all labour was voluntary. It was built from round forest timbers and railway tarpaulins and outside the hall was built a show ring.

By 1908 a larger premises was needed, especially with the popularity of the annual shows, and in 1909 the small hall was demolished and a much larger hall was built and opened in May, 1910.

The new hall was 50 foot by 27 foot with a moveable stage, with two 12 by 10 foot anterooms off each side of the stage. A further two rooms, one for the library and a meeting room, both 20 by 12 foot, were added to the front of the new hall. The opening in May 1910 was attended by 300 people.

Outside of minor renovation and repairs, this hall still stands in good stead for the busy needs of the community.

In the mid 1950s, the management committee decided to build a second hall adjacent to the existing hall, and through years of community fund raising (in particular the Nambour Show catering ladies), the second hall was built and opened in July 1958.

Many people have contributed to hall organisation over its 100 year history. The Bartholomew family and Joseph T. Wilson made major contributions in the early days.

In the 1940s and ‘50s three people stood out in the documentation

available: Otto Nielson, Mrs Kuskopf Senior and Tom Garrard.

In the 1960s and ‘70s Jack Kuskopf and his wife Vi, contributed significantly as did Rod Ormes in the 1980s and ‘90s.

Hall centenary celebrations are being staged on October 17 and 18.

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