100 years of CWA energy and support

when the branch was formed and a baby clinic established in the area.

It has been 100 years since the CWA Lismore branch started their good work in the area and members of the public are invited to join in the celebrations.

“On Monday, December 2 we are having a formal luncheon as that is the day the branch was offcially formed,” said Vicki Boyle, Lismore CWA’s Handy Craft Offcer.

“We will be having it at the Goonellabah Sports Club as we can’t ft everyone in our rooms.

“This will be a CWA event but the Saturday before (November 30th) we will be having a family fun day at Spinks Park, near our rooms.”

The family fun day will bring the community together with music and games and a fun day of dressing up.

The third event on the celebration agenda is the display in the pop up museum in Molesworth Street, where the Richmond River Historical Society currently have their rooms.

“We lost a lot of objects in the food,” said Vicki.

“But we have cobbled together a lot of photos and some objects that represent what we have done over the past 100 years.”

Many people may not be aware of the work the CWA has done in the Lismore community, but it started back in 1924

“The frst meeting convened as people were concerned about the death rate of mothers and babies in the rural areas,” said Vicki.

“It was the frst topic on Lismore’s agenda.

“Many mothers didn’t know how to breast feed or deal with childhood illnesses.

“The impetus for health services was the fact that some 60,000 children died during the First World War period, the same as the number of soldiers who died.

“It took some years and much hard work before the funds were raised for the building which was offcially opened in 1935.”

A news article in The Farmer and Settler newspaper in 1924 described the meeting:

There was a large gathering recently at the Masonic Hall, Lismore to hear Mrs RS Perdrian talk on the aims fo the CWA and the methods to be adopted to establish a baby clinic in Lismore.

It was not only a gathering of women, a great number of men… were present.

The work of the CWA continued from there.

“A library was established early on in our rooms with books donated by members and others for those living out of town as there was no municipal library,” said Vicki.

“Fund-raising by selling handicrafts and food items were the traditional ways of making money to bolster the cost of local community projects, though the CWA is so much more than tea and scones.

“We still raise money this way, though times have changed radically since our beginnings.”

As an example, Vicki pointed out that the wool industry was supported in the 1930s as wool was an integral material in the handicrafts, in a time where synthetics were being developed.

“Items created from wool, especially clothing, were the mainstay of our handiwork competitions and sales on stalls,” she said.

“Modern synthetics, easy-care clothing designs and ‘brand labels’ are favoured by an increasingly busy populace, so we need to re-assess our fundraising models and adapt, something the CWA is constantly doing.”

And adapt is what the CWA continued to do.

“During the second world war years, Lismore members made camoufage nets six days a week out the front of our rooms,” said Vicki.

“Thousands of items such as socks, balaclavas, scarves and Anzac biscuits were made as ‘Comforts’ for the Red Cross to distribute to our serving personnel overseas and food parcels were sent to England.

“Lismore CWA took over the 1940 annual Floral Festival to fund-raise for soldier ‘Comforts’.

“We continued our involvement in this festival with other community organisations until it was disbanded in 1980.”

And so the work continues, as Lismore CWA reaches its centenary.

“We are strong supporters of the Lismore Music Festival, last year endowing (them) with a perpetual trophy in the dance section,” said Vicki.

“Large catering events such as the Annual Sportsman Award Ball and Lismore City Council’s Senior Citizens Christmas Party, with up to 600 attendees, were a major fund-raiser as was catering for local weddings.

“Members cooked and delivered meals for isolated and elderly people in what later became the Meals on Wheels Service.”

Lismore CWA continues to support the local Helicopter Rescue Service, protesting loudly to government when this service was mooted to be cut.

“We also support the annual Lismore Show, vital in showcasing our region’s produce and talent and the maintenance and development of community networks,” said Vicki.

In 2016 an evening branch of Lismore CWA started up so working women could join and contribute.

To this day, the CWA’s little caravan Margi is a welcome sight at the Lismore Farmers’ Market every third Saturday and no Lismore Lantern Parade would be complete without their teapot lantern which can be seen in the current CWA Centenary Celebration exhibition at Lismore’s Pop Up Museum in Molesworth Street.

Sometimes our voices are the only weapons we have, and silence can be the killer.

This is the message, in partnership with NSW Police, that Ballina-onRichmond Rotary wants to convey as they hold this year’s Domestic & Family Violence Walk. It will be held on Friday, November 29, assembling at the Ballina Visitor Information Centre for a 1pm start.

The walk will then traverse along River and Cherry Streets to the Ballina Indoor Sports Centre and make sure you wear purple.

Past president of Ballina-on-Richmond Rotary Club, David Harmon, says the work they have been doing to raise awareness is showing results, with an increase on policing lists of domestic violence callouts.

“People are feeling