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Volunteer Expo, an exceptional networking event

The Volunteer Expo at Julia Reserve Community Centre, Oran Park, NSW, showcased local community organizations during National Volunteer Week. The event aimed to promote volunteering and featured 36 organizations. The expo provided networking opportunities and highlighted the importance of social capital and storytelling in building community resilience. The Camden Council played a vital role in organizing the successful event.

Agave · Camden · Camden Park House and Garden · Camden Story · Cawdor · Cawdor Road · Collective Memory · Colonial Camden · Colonial frontier · Cowpastures · Family history · Folklore · Frontier violence · Ghosts · Legends · Memory · Mysteries · Newspapers · Pioneers · Place making · Sense of place · Stories · Storytelling

Agave on Cawdor Road, a part of local folklore

The agave plants near Cawdor Road, Camden, have become part of local folklore, with stories spanning murder, historical colonial gardens, and Indigenous conflict. These slow-growing succulents have sparked controversy and conjecture, with their true history and significance remaining a mystery. Despite attempts to uncover the truth, the agave's legend endures across generations.

Aesthetics · Art · Artefacts · Artists · Belonging · Camden · Camden Story · Craft · Cultural and Heritage Tourism · Cultural Heritage · Ephemera · Families · Family history · Fashion · First World War · France · Grief · Heritage · Local History · Memorial · Memory · Place making · Placemaking · War · War at home · Wartime · Women's stories · World War One

An embroidered silk postcard for Millie at Christmas 1916

A postcard from Frederick for sister Millie During the First World War, local soldier Frederick Kelloway sent his sister, Millie, an embroidered silk postcard to celebrate Christmas and New Year at home in 1916. The front of the embroidered silk postcard that Frederick Kelloway sent his sister Millie in 1916. (KCordina 2023) Millie’s great-granddaughter Kellee… Continue reading An embroidered silk postcard for Millie at Christmas 1916

Art · Artefacts · Artists · Collective Memory · Crafts · Cultural Heritage · Embroidery · Families · Family history · Fashion · Fashion History · First World War · France · Heritage · Hope and loss · Local History · Local Studies · Memory · Storytelling · War · War at home · Wartime

Embroided handkerchief, memories of home at Christmas on the frontline in 1916

Christmas during wartime is a period of hope and memories of home. This embroidered silk handkerchief is full of meaning and memories for an Australian soldier at the front in 1916.

20th century · Aesthetics · Architecture · Attachment to place · Belonging · Biography · Built heritag · Camden Cottage · Camden Story · Campbelltown Art Centre · Campbelltown Mid-century modernism · Campbelltown Modern · Campbelltown Modernism · Collective Memory · Community identity · Cultural Heritage · Cultural icon · Domestic Architecture · Family history · History · History of a house · Hope and loss · House history · Housing · Housing styles · Lifestyle · Living History · Local History · Local Studies · Macarthur · Macarthur region · Memory · Mid-century modernism · Modernism · Peri-urban region · Placemaking · rural-urban fringe · Social History · Stereotypes · Storytelling · Symbolism · Urban development · Urban growth · Urban history · Urbanism

‘Fibro Majestic’: A Celebration of Mid-Century Housing at Campbelltown Arts Centre by Catherine O’Donnell

The "Fibro Majestic" exhibition at Campbelltown Arts Centre celebrates the historical significance of fibro housing in Australia, highlighting its role in post-war society. Artist Catherine O'Donnell's work reflects on the nostalgia, memories, and social contexts surrounding these humble structures, transforming perceptions of an architecture once deemed unattractive.

20th century · Anzac · Art · Attachment to place · Belonging · Camden Story · Craft · Crafts · Cultural Heritage · Cultural icon · Cultural plantings · Design · Family history · Festivals · History · History of Emotion · Living History · Local History · Local Studies · localism · Memorial · Memorialisation · Memorials · Memory · Metaphor · Military history · Modernism · Monuments · Patriotism · Place making · Propaganda · Second World War · Sense of place · Sewing · Stereotypes · Storytelling · Symbolism · Uncategorized · Volunteering · Volunteerism · War · War at home · Wartime · Women's diaries · Women's history · World War One

Red Flanders poppies, a field of memories

The red poppy carries a lot of symbolism in cultural mythologies from remembrance to sacrifices. The simple flower triggers outpouring of emotion, memories and commemorations on Anzac Day and Remembrance Day every year.

20th century · Adaptive Re-use · Aesthetics · Architecture · Attachment to place · Belonging · Burra Charter · Camden Story · Church History · Churches · Collective Memory · Commemoration · Community identity · Cultural Heritage · Elderslie · Families · Family history · Farming · First World War · Genealogy · Heritage · History · Living History · Local History · Local Studies · Memorial · Place making · Placemaking · Sense of place · St Mark's Church Elderslie · Urban development · Urban growth · Urbanism · Village · Wartime

St Mark’s Church Elderslie, the little church on the hill

St Mark's Church Elderslie tells the story of a small farming community that has disappeared through the mists of time. The history of St Mark’s church is the history of Elderslie, and the church was a special place of community celebrations and commemorations along with family celebrations, traditions, and events. The church has been a gathering place, a sacred site.

Aesthetics · Art · Attachment to place · Belonging · Camden · Colonial Camden · Colonial frontier · Colonialism · Commemoration · Cowpastures Bicentennial · Cultural icon · Dharawal · Family history · Festivals · Frontier violence · Governor Macquarie · Heritage · Historical consciousness · History · Living History · Local History · Local Studies · Memorial · Memorialisation · Memorials · Memory · Monuments · Place making · Public art · Settler colonialism · Settler Society · Tourism · War

Cowpastures’ memories in monuments, memorials and murals.

Many memorials and monuments across the Cowpastures landscape commemorate its history and sense of place, with a recent nostalgic turn focusing on the pioneers and European settlement. War memorials are a ubiquitous form of memorialization in the Macarthur region, and public art, historical sites, and cultural heritage also play significant roles. These commemorations can be controversial, especially considering Australia's dark history, and evoke different memories for different people. Additionally, the landscape of the Cowpastures is interpreted in various ways, including as a colonial frontier, government reserve, and English-style landscape. Various memorials, artworks, and historic sites dot the region, contributing to its identity and history.

Attachment to place · Belonging · Biography · Colonial frontier · Colonialism · Community identity · Cultural Heritage · Cultural icon · Family history · Farming · Gothic · Heritage · Historical Research · History · Landscape · Local History · Local Studies · Myths · Placemaking · Sense of place · Settler colonialism · Settler Society · Stereotypes · Storytelling · Uncategorized · Victorian · Women's history · Women's Writing

Rachel, a great yarn of the bush from colonial New South Wales

Jeff McGill's Rachel is a ripping yarn about the colonial frontier and the role of women in colonial New South Wales.

Attachment to place · Belonging · Cultural Heritage · Dress history · Family history · Historical consciousness · Historical Research · Historical thinking · Historiography · History · History of a house · History theory and practice · House history · Living History · Local History · Local Studies · Media History · Medical history · Memory · Military history · Modernism · Music history · NSW History K-10 Syllabus · Place making · Placemaking · Schools · Sense of place · Storytelling · Women's history

We need new ways to tell stories of the past

We need new ways to tell local stories in the face of fake news, the search for 'the truth' and a host of conspiracy theories. Stories about our past need to based on evidence from a range of credible sources. There is a need to be a historical detective.