To keep current with media articles on how vision impaired people, blindness organisations and their activities were reported in the press, books of newspaper cuttings were created. News stories were taken from local, regional and national papers covering a variety subjects.1 red covered notebook with newspaper cuttingswhite cane day

To keep current with media articles on how vision impaired people, blindness organisations and their activities were reported in the press, books of newspaper cuttings were created. News stories were taken from local, regional and national papers covering a variety subjects.1 red covered notebook with newspaper cuttingswhite cane day

Articles in the annual report include: the building of a new library section at Enfield, transfer of Mitchell Manufacturing to Australian Foundation for Disabled, establishment of Orana regional office in Dubbo, talking local newspaper project launched with Talking Daily Liberal (Dubbo) and Talking Wentworth Courier (Sydney) piloted, four graduates of Rehabilitation Teachers course were funded by the Florence Cecily Singer Trust, one studio equipped with second generation voice indexer in conjunction with Canadian inventor, from 1990 all Braille production will be done in-house, tactile Christmas cards produced for the first time in 1989, financial decision made to consolidate accommodation services (Roselands Nursing Home and Burgess House) on the one site, two new donors clubs established (Cassette Club and Talking Book Club), and formation of Junior Black & White Committee.1 volume of text and imagesroyal blind society of new south wales, corporation records

On June 15, 2007 Vision Australia Radio (formerly 3RPH) celebrated its 25th anniversary of broadcasting. Despite earlier broadcasts on community radio stations, a dedicated radio service for people who wanted to listen to in depth information on news and current events as well as serialisation of books had not eventuated. With the support of Commonwealth funding in 1982, stations were permitted to transmit on marine band frequencies in Melbourne, Sydney and Hobart. With the eventual movement of major stations to FM in the 1980s, provision was finally granted for RPH stations to allow them to move to the AM band in metropolitan areas. In the 1990's regional stations were established, later linking to provide the Vision Australia Radio network. Throughout all of these changes, volunteers have supported the radio station in a range of ways, including collating and reading the newspaper articles for broadcast, helping source interviews and program ideas, operating studio equipment as well as presenting programs themselves.38 digital images of the 25th anniversary of VARvision australia, 3rph radio station, vision australia radio, gerard menses, stephen jolley, pam adams, lynne kells, tim evans, roberta ashby, marj west, norm richards, vince september, norm rees, graeme dawson

In 1975 the Melton Fire Station opened in McKenzie Street. In the 1950s with the introduction two-way HF and later VHF very high frequency radio sets. Melton Rural Fire Brigade was part of the Bacchus Marsh Group. Radio sets where located in the Melton Fire Truck, and in the house of the Barrie family at Ferris Road. This was an ideal location to observe a 360 degree view in all directions when smoke appeared on the horizon. An antenna was erected beside the house. The set OX 7 was located in the kitchen and monitored 24 hours by the family. When an electrical fire occurred at the junction of the electricity to the house there was time to radio the fire station and summons the men working in the paddocks, thus saving the house from possible destruction. With the introduction of UHF – ultra high frequency Vinten Radios the signal was clearer and static and interference lessened and radio traffic became easier to read, and reduced noise levels in the household. In 1974 when the family moved to First Avenue, another antenna and a small building were erected adjacent to the residence and used to house the equipment, maps. Radio traffic consisted of regular schedule times and communication with adjoining groups of brigades such as Bacchus Marsh, Mt Macedon and Little River Groups. Many of the brigade and group base radios were situated in private residences and operated primarily by fire fighters wives who held the position of Communications Officer, either registered as a brigade member or informally.Regional News Gazette article about the construction of a new fire station in Melton and an Express article with brigade members at the opening of the station.emergency services

War memorial for the Melton Community Regional articlewar

"The Mechanics Institute movement flourished in Victoria from 1839 to 1950. It was based on the development of Mechanics’ Institutes in Scotland and England from the 1820s, which were intended to educate and enlighten the working classes. The term ‘mechanic’ in those days meant an artisan, craftsman or working man, especially those who had moved from rural areas to work in new city factories during the Industrial Revolution. The early Institutes were usually equipped with a reading room, a library and a lecture room. Although enjoying mixed success in Britain, they contributed to the development of public education and library services. The movement was adopted more enthusiastically in the colonies. It began slowly in Victoria but its expansion after the gold rushes population influx was rapid, especially in rural areas. Every suburb and town wanted to have a Mechanics’ Institute. During the 1850s approximately forty Institutes were established, with even greater growth in the period 1860 to 1900. By 1900 there were 400 Institutes in Victoria. The establishment of a Mechanics’ Institute was often a great achievement for a local community, requiring organising committees to raise substantial funds for a building site (where this had not been granted by the Government), and the building. Once built, the committee then had to purchase books, provide a caretaker or librarian, and finance the ongoing use of and improvements to the building. ‘The history of many Institutes is a story of tremendous community effort, and often, financial difficulties’. In addition to being monuments to local enterprise and community life, the Mechanics’ Institutes played a vital role as an intellectual forum, and in contributing to an informed and participatory democracy in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. They provided journals and other reading matter on local, state, national and international issues, and hosted of lectures and held debates about wider issues such as Federation, colonial nationalism, defence, female suffrage, the price of land and labour. With the development of the school and technical education in the latter part of the nineteenth century, the need for community technical and adult education declined. As a result of the introduction of government library grants in 1867, many Mechanics’ Institutes incorporated a free library in their buildings to finance collection of their books. By 1884-85, there were 257 free libraries in Victoria. However, government support and library grants dropped off in the 1890s depression. Entertainment took on a greater role in the 1890s, with the introduction of moving pictures, billiards rooms, games rooms (chess), concerts and dances. The First World War had a devastating impact on many rural communities, and some Mechanics’ Institutes were no longer viable. On the other hand the early twentieth century was also a time of agricultural development, and many country towns were growing in this period. The 1930s depression further limited growth of many libraries and reduced grants substantially. In response many Mechanics’ Institutes were renamed, for example as memorial halls, in order to retain and attract more patrons (eg at nearby Sunbury). The diminishing role for Mechanics’ Institutes and the preference for larger and better appointed halls (with supper rooms, cloak rooms etc) resulted in demolition of some small Institutes. The advent of cars, radios, and television also provided other opportunities for recreation, learning and entertainment. The greater role of municipalities in providing library services also eroded the need for free libraries. While over 500 Mechanics’ Institutes or halls are extant, very few of these retain their original role as ‘diffusers of useful knowledge’. Most are still available for community purposes, as venues for meetings, socials, civic occasions etc, while others are employed as museums, shops and theatres. Most buildings are on Crown land, and managed by a delegated committee of management, who are responsible for raising revenue to maintain aging buildings. Many of those which were originally established on private land, such as Melton, have since reverted back to the Crown, and municipal Councils. The most common Mechanics Institute building form is the simple weatherboard gable building with iron roofs, notable for their ‘honest simplicity’ rather than as ‘monuments of the ancients’. At the other extreme there are some magnificent two storeyed brick and stucco structures with elaborate ornamentation (as was apparently envisaged by some in Melton in 1905-10)". The future of Melton Mechanic Institute Gazette articlelocal architecture

Newspaper clippings of the homesteadlocal architecture, local special interest groups

Tom Thumb production advertised in the Regional News Gazette local identities, misc

"On 5 July 1936, locals in Melton South saw a plane emerge from behind clouds above the railway station, in heavy wind and rain. Engine roaring, the plane went into a spin and disintegrated into pieces in mid-air, before crashing to the ground near Arnold’s Creek. The pilot, young Australian aviator Jimmy Melrose, and a passenger, Alexander Campbell, were killed.Jimmy Melrose was a popular figure in international aviation, having been the youngest and only solo pilot to finish the London to Melbourne Centenary Air Race in 1934. His death, at the age of just twenty-two, caused an outpouring of sorrow. He was honoured with a state funeral two days later at St Paul’s Cathedral in Melbourne, which was attended by thousands of people. Locals Maisie Arthur, Ted Wickham and Bill Cahill gave eyewitness accounts of the accident to the authorities, and an inquest found that it was the result of structural failure and poor weather. A cairn erected by locals near the scene was reconstructed by the Melton and District Historical Society in Brookfield, opposite the Melrose Memorial Reserve, on the 40th anniversary of the crash in 1976".Regional Gazette article of a cairn erected by locals near the scene of the plane accident which involved Jimmy Melrose, and passenger, Alexander Campbelllocal significant events, landscapes of significance

James Oddie is an archetypal example of the young men of British origin who came to the Ballarat diggings hoping to make their fortune during the Gold Rush and stayed on to establish the foundations of the regional centre that became the modern city of today.James Oddie witnessed the Eureka Stockade and played a significant role in the formative years of Ballarat's development.Part of a single newspaper sheet, folded, yellow with age.Nonechartists, eureka stockade, geelong, buninyong, doctor lang, foundry business, storeman, licences, estate agent, benefactor, ballarat benevolent asylum, rachel riding, female refuge, ballarat bank, mount pleasant observatory, electric light, trams, ballarat botanical gardens, railways, ballarat art gallery, john garner collection, gardens, ballarat

The men in the photograph are former councillors and they are at an ordinary meeting of the Shire of Bulla council, which took place on 15th July 1974 at the Old Shire Offices in Bulla. Council usually met at the Council Offices in Sunbury but there were times when they met at the Old Shire Offices in Bulla. The people are from L-R: M.Donovan, J.Watson (Deputy Shire Secretary), John Kelly (Shire secretary), C.E.Cook, J.P. (Shire President), John McKerrow ( Shire engineer), D.W.Dumbrell, A.V.Mitchell (Deputy Shire Engineer - Standing), J. Kelly, Eric Boardman (Regional News Gazette - Back to Camera) A non-digital black and white photograph with a cream border, of ten men seated around a table conducting a meeting in a room.Information about the event is filed with the photograph in the pocket.shire of bulla, old shire offices, bulla, councillors, council meetings