Salvos mark 90th

By Kath Gannaway
JEAN Clarke remembers Healesville Salvationists as “a faithful and hard-working lot”.
Mrs Clarke and husband Jim were among many former officers who returned to Healesville on Sunday for the Salvation Army’s 90th anniversary celebrations.
The couple were officers in 1958 and 1959 and managed the Army’s Healesville guesthouse, Cranbrook Lodge, for a further five years.
“We enjoyed our time there and, with visitors to Cranbrook Lodge, we had fairly good congregations on a Sunday,” Mrs Clarke said.
Badger Creek pioneers Oliver and Elizabeth Potts brought the Salvation Army to the area when they moved to the area in 1894.
Their grand-daughter, Toolangi resident Pat Biggs, said the Salvation Army had not been in Australia for long when it was embraced by the couple.
“My grandparents started it in their home at Badger Creek until the church was established in 1916,” she said.
Mrs Biggs went to Sunday School at the Salvation Army hall and she and husband Ron were married there.
As part of Sunday’s Celebrations, more than 20 people were recognised for their voluntary work, particularly at the Army’s opportunity shop.
Healesville leader Captain Isobel Thomas said more than 100 people attended the service and celebration lunch.
She said over the years the Salvation Army had played a vital role in the Healesville community.
“There have been a lot of people whose lives have been changed through welfare and through ministries.”
She said Salvationists had also served the community during emergencies such as bushfires, floods and other incidents.
“I even had a couple of letters from people telling me about setting up meals for the police at Healesville railway station when there were escapees from Pentridge on the loose in the area.”