By Callum Ludwig
The Upper Yarra Historical Society’s Crank Up event is back next month, bringing the community together for a celebration of history.
The two-day event will be held on Saturday 25 and Sunday 26 March from 10am to 4pm each day at the Upper Yarra Museum.
Upper Yarra Historical Society president Lee Pannett said Crank Up is one of the longest-running events in the region, having run for over 40 years.
“Crank up started off as just a one-day event just with a small group of enthusiasts back in the day back in the day and has gradually become a two day event for the community,” he said.
“It’s important for the community to be involved in these events and realise the importance of these facilities that we hold, and as a community, we see the appreciation of the locals when they come and realise just what an asset the museum is.”
Throughout the weekend there will be displays of historic engines, working draught horses, donkey rides and a jumping castle for kids, food and drink stalls and the museum will open up its collections for all to peruse.
On Saturday, there will be live music and a show and shine car show and on Sunday, a wood-chopping competition will take place.
Mr Pannett said knowing your local history is important because you can’t understand where your local area can go if you don’t understand where it has come from.
“You need to understand how the area has progressed until today before you bring further changes and of course, from a historical perspective, it’s very important to preserve the history that we have because often history is one of those things that people don’t realise is important until it’s too late,” he said.
“The Upper Yarra has got an unusual history because it is so wide and varied. It’s not just a single industry area, where most areas are quite often tied to whether that be timber or agriculture. The Yarra Valle, through history, has always had a variety of businesses, whether that was berry growing, which led to sawmilling which led to farming.”
Tickets for the event are $10 for adults and free for kids under 15.