The Bugle 15 July 2017
A fortnightly celebration of people and places on the Upper South Coast of NSW
Serving the communities of Kiama, Gerringong, Jamberoo, Kiama Downs, Minnamurra and Gerroa and now at www.thebugleonline.com
Rededication of memorial to the first of the fallen A memorial to the first Australian soldier to die on active service, Robert Weir, has been restored, with a rededication service on Saturday 15 July. Robert Weir was living and working at the family farm, Bush Bank on the Kiama Bends, when in 1885, along with four other
Kiama men, he enlisted to go to faraway Sudan as part of the New South Wales Contingent to help quell a rebellion. It was the first time soldiers from a self-governing Australian colony participated in an Imperial war. Private Weir died of illness contracted while there and
The newly restored monument at Bombo Cemetery
was buried in the Sudan. He was just 21, and unmarried. Public subscription raised the money for the sandstone memorial, and a community war memorial grant from the NSW Department of Veterans Affairs has funded its restoration by local stonemason, Brad Rimmer. When the monument was first dedicated at Bombo Cemetery in 1886, Mayor Mark Honey’s great uncle was the local militia captain and was in charge of the unveiling. “Over 100 horsemen paraded from Kiama town down to the cemetery along with about 200 residents,” says Gary McKay, VicePresident Kiama – Jamberoo RSL Sub-Branch. “That was a big turnout indeed given the date and population of Kiama at that time, when a lot of people worked on Saturdays.” Links through the ages abound, with over a dozen members of the Weir family, the Mayor and the Kiama Light Horse attending the rededication. “Apart from its local significance, this monument is important in that it commemorates the death of the first Australian to die on active service,” says Gary McKay. “An explanatory plaque has been placed next to the memorial giving a brief outline of the significance of the monument.”
Inside this issue Tourism Manager appointed p3
Speigeltent on way
CMRI Gerringong prepared for Jeans for Genes Day p3 Kiama is to have a destination arts venue unlike any other, thanks to a novel agreement between Kiama Council and Laughterhouse Entertainment, run by locals Dave Evans and Tamara Campbell of KISS Arts Festival fame. They built the 14 metre wide wooden walled and floored tent three years ago as a venue for performances in the Assembly Gardens precinct of the Edinburgh Festival. Now the plan is to ship it out from the UK to provide Kiama with unique, semipermanent theatre venue. “Council has agreed to pay the transportation cost, and in return it will be available to be used for all types of community events when it is not being used by Laughterhouse at festivals and events around the country,” explains Dave.
“It seats 150, and we have a few modifications planned which will upgrade it to a mini-speigeltent.” Speigeltents are Belgian travelling entertainment tents, constructed from wood and canvas and decorated with mirrors. He sees many uses for it, from cinema and live theatre to music and cabaret. “It will be an opportunity to get bigger names to come to Kiama, as everyone wants to play in a speigeltent,” he says. “It will be a great attraction for people to come down and visit for a show. “It will also be a great resource for locals who have lacked a theatre venue.” Exactly where the tent will be located is still to be decided, but Dave is hopeful the art deco inspired tent could be available for use as early as the Christmas holidays.
New air service for Albion Park p8
Invite to Kiama’s Death Cafe p9
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