Celebrate Heritage Week in Whitehorse

Commemorate the centenary of the Gallipoli landing during Council’s annual Heritage Week program, which will be held from 10-17 September 2015.

Whitehorse Councillor Andrew Davenport said this year Council would be celebrating the ANZAC Centenary by commemorating the involvement of Whitehorse residents in World War I.

“Residents can discover stories of those who fought overseas or contributed to the war effort from home and witness the impact that WWI had on the Whitehorse community,” Cr Davenport said.

The Heritage Week program includes two historically significant exhibitions, a WWI cemetery tour, Gallipoli film screening, a heritage family day at Schwerkolt Cottage, an 80th birthday afternoon tea at Box Hill Town Hall and much, much more.

“This is a fantastic program of events that caters for a huge range of interests, offering locals the opportunity to connect with our past and learn about the heritage of the area,” Cr Davenport said.

Heritage Week 2015 highlight free events:

Australia Calls
10 September - 14 October
An exhibition at Whitehorse Artspace that examines the impact of war on Whitehorse, including a fascinating collection of diaries, photographs, newspaper extracts, poetry, artefacts and memorabilia.

Schwerkolt Cottage Heritage Family Day
13 September
Bring your picnic rug along to this day for the whole family with old-fashioned games, guided tours and activities and enjoy traditional WWI-era refreshments served by Blackburn Red Cross.

Free events:

  • Enjoy a matinee screening of the wartime favourite film, Gallipoli
  • Discover the story of Mary Schwerkolt at Schwerkolt Cottage
  • Learn how to access WWI military records relating to your ancestors thanks to the Australian Institute of Genealogical Studies
  • Discover a new online database at Nunawading Library, that details the experiences of those who took up an allotment under the Discharged Soldier Settlement Scheme (FREE)
  • Take a guided tour of the spectacular bushland reserve and wildlife corridor Yarran Dheran
  • Find out about the resources used to identify local volunteers who served in WWI by Shirley Devery, author of For God, King and Country
  • Learn how the design and location of WWI memorials prompted debate over the most appropriate ways to remember war in a talk by author Steve Cooke

Other events:

  • Take a tour of the Box Hill Cemetery, reflecting on memorials and graves of WWI nurses and soldiers
  • Celebrate Box Hill Town Hall’s 80th birthday with an afternoon tea and admire the grandeur of the building’s art deco features
  • Listen to retired history teacher Graham O’Rourke discuss the Conscription Debate

For more information on Heritage Week visit City of Whitehorse or phone 9262 6478. For the full Heritage Week program visit www.whitehorse.vic.gov.au/HeritageWeek.html