The Upper Yarra Valley Historical Society (UYVHS) celebrated 60 years of history preservation with an open day on Sunday 7 December.
The local community attended the open day to explore the Upper Yarra Museum where they were able to view historical artefacts, talk with the society’s members and hear about its plans for the future.
UYVHS president John Bramley said the day was a successful one with around 40 people showing up.
“It all went well, the first thing they noticed was the way the grounds were looking, and they had a look around the museum and they were quite impressed with it all.”
Aside from the public, Mr Bramley said State Eildon MP Cindy McLeish also showed up while representatives from the Yarra Ranges Council made an appearance.
Visitors got to witness the original meeting table the first committee of the Upper Yarra Historical Society used back when it first formed.
When attendees were finished inspecting historical artefacts and reading up on local legends, they indulged in some of the refreshments that had been prepared.
The preparation for the event wasn’t too rigorous but Mr Bramley said a lot of work went into advertising it.
“Before that there was a lot of advertising on Facebook and different flyers we put out throughout Yarra Junction and other areas,” Mr Bramley said.
As the UYVHS moves into the new year, Mr Bramley said the focus was now on next year’s Crank Up Heritage and Community festival in April 2026.
The festival is one of the main fundraising events the Upper Yarra Museum holds each year to ensure it can keep running.
The event is also funded by the Yarra Ranges Council and the Bendigo Community Bank.
The Crank Up festival has been running for 35 years now, only stopping for Covid-19 lockdowns, yet it shows no signs of cranking down.
Mr Bramley said he hoped to continue the work of prior members in preserving the history of the Yarra Ranges.
“The committee members are dedicated and are of great assistance and our team that looks after the grounds and maintenance do an excellent job.
“The archive work is ongoing, and the team are working through the older work as well as new artefacts and documents that are donated,” Mr Bramley said.
Though there are some struggles among many community organisations to engage youth to participate, Mr Bramley was confident in the future of the UYVHS.
“As with other organisations it is difficult to recruit the younger generation to become involved with artefacts and documents they consider are in the past.
“We have advertised for assistance with the archiving work and have received some enquiries and have had two people join to help,” Mr Bramley said.
