Memories of Nabowla’s heart
Barry Orchard and Rowena Simons at the centenary celebrations for Nabowla Memorial Hall.
The Nabowla Memorial Hall came to life once again on Saturday as about 150 people turned out to celebrate the building’s centenary.
Descendants of former locals joined with those currently living in the little hamlet to reminisce about the special role the hall played in their lives.
From dances to dates and dinners, there were plenty of stories to tell of times gone by.
Scottsdale’s Lindsay and Shirley Walters met at the hall during a games night one Wednesday in 1958 and they were married on March 28, 1964, which meant they got to attend the centenary event and also celebrate their 62nd wedding anniversary on Saturday.
“I used to stay with my older sister Betty to attend games nights and I saw a nice looking fella and we got chatting. I was too young to go out with him because I was only 13 so he went home to wait until I was old enough,” she recalled.
Games night consisted of battington (like badminton but with a cork bat instead of a standard racquet), quoits, cards and carpet bowls.
“There were about 250 people living in Nabowla back then. It was a very happy place and everyone got along,” she said.
“It used to have good wood chopping carnivals and dances, not that Lindsay danced!”
Lindsay lived up the Nook at Nabowla until he was about 22. He recalls having to ride a bike 3-4 miles to Valentine Rd to where the school was, with his older sister Edna his first teacher.
Mr and Mrs Walters joined with Dorset Mayor Rhys Beattie, hall committee member Janett Watts and long-time resident Betty Rainbow, 85, to cut the cake.
Betty spent more than 60 years of her life up the Nook on the family farm belonging to her parents Bruce and Daisy Rainbow before moving into Nabowla to her brother Bob’s house where she still lives independently.
Laughter was aplenty as friendships were rekindled and attendees reminisced in a true show of community connection.
There was Pat and Warren Ricketts who won a CWA Dance competition at the hall in 1957 and were voted the “most attractive couple” according to paper clippings the time.
Rowena Simons moved to Nabowla with her husband and children to work on a farm and was head teacher at the school from 1967 to 1989 when it closed and pupils had to relocate to Scottsdale for their education.
Barry Orchard lived in the area as a farmer working with his brother Dale until 1986 before moving to Bridport and he remembers “incredible” suppers held a the hall.
There was dairy farm owner Marg Watson who is nearly in her 90s and was there with her two sons, Rod and Dane, and grand daughter Rachel.
Peter Riggall grew up and still lives nearby on Bridport Back Rd and was proud to help organise the vintage car show which included a 1925 Metallurgique belonging to Mick Peart from Nunamara.
Jenny Bicanic recalled how her father turned 21 on the day the hall opened and would have been in attendance.
Roy and Sylvie Purcell, who lived in Nabowla, had two children and then moved to Victoria where they had six more. Six of the eight children were at the centenary.
Dorset Tasmania History Society prepared a history of Nabowla to share on the day and spoke to many locals about their lives to ensure their stories will never be forgotten.
“The opening of the Nabowla Memorial Hall represented the culmination of a significant community effort, including considerable fund-raising by the local ladies,” history society president Nigel Mercer said.
“The hall became the hub of the local area, with fortnightly dances, occasional balls, farewells, fairs, and other public events and meetings. “For many years an annual Anniversary Ball was held, honouring the hall’s role as the central gathering place for celebrations and civic life.”
Mrs Watts thanked the committee for putting the event together with the assistance of a Dorset Council grant.
She also put out a call for anyone who might want to join the hall committee to ensure the it remains part of the community into the future.
