CDHS Activities

Here is just a glimpse of what you can expect if you decide to become involved in the Chermside and District History Society. Activities include bus trips, book launches, restoration, signage for parks and places and exhibitions.

Bus Trips

Annual day long bus trips are organised to places of historical interest around and beyond the Brisbane area. In future we are planning to run half day trips to places within the Brisbane area. Some of our bus trips have included: 2002 Crow’s Nest Historic Village and a ride in a 1909 Belize, 2005 Jondaryan Woolshed and Westbrook Homestead, 2006 Fassifern Valley and the Scenic Rim, 2007 Bus Trip to Caboomba Homestead, 2008 Carnival of Flowers, Toowoomba and 2009 Gympie Rattler Train Ride.

Bus trip to Jondaryan & Westbrook

Book Launches

Book launches are held in the well appointed meeting rooms of the Chermside Library. Not only do they provide a place to sell books but also an opportunity for reunions of people connected with the books. Some of them have not seen one another in years and people travel long distances for these events. The authors are on hand to sign the books while coffee and tea are provided.

The audience assembled at the launch of Marching to the Trains by Dr. Jonathan Ford which details the story of Chermside Army Camp in World War II. The audience was made up of veterans and their friends and acted as a reunion for many.

The Battle of Milne Bay being discussed by some of the visitors with the aid of the diorama and map of the battle scene.

The History of Chermside State School 1900-1996 drew many teachers and ex-pupils. For some this was a once in a lifetime experience to meet old friends who had moved far away from Chermside.

Restoration

Our Logo is the sketch of the World War I memorial gates to Marchant Park, Chermside/Aspley. Some of the marble plaques were destroyed by vandals in 1972 and almost one hundred names were lost. With the aid of a grant from the Gambling Community Benefit Fund, Qld Government, the Society restored the missing names. The research to find the names, mainly on the internet, took many months to complete.
The Rededication took place on Saturday 30th August 2003 and a report can be found in the newsletter V.6 No. 5 Oct-Nov 2003.

World War I memorial gates to Marchant Park, Chermside/Aspley.

The Memorial Gates were erected in 1924 and widened after 1972. One of our active members, Vivian Heiner, was present at the 1924 opening, as a four year old child. She was present for the rededication in 2003.

Signage for parks and places

One of the best ways of publishing the history of an area is to erect signs which name places and explain the story behind the name. Over the last 10 years the Society did the research to provide the data for the Brisbane City Council to make and erect twelve signs around the Chermside District.

The Heinrich Gerns Park sign commemorates his arrival in 1894 and the foundation of his small goods factory in Geebung in 1895. It is the latest sign and was dedicated in 2008 amid a gathering of about 100 descendants and friends of Heinrich on the banks of Downfall Creek below the factory, still operated by the family, which stands on a hill high above the park.

Exhibitions

The Society regularly holds exhibitions of our archival material especially photos. We do not show original photos but scan them on photographic paper and laminate them using our own equipment. Appropriate textual commentaries are similarly processed. Each of the exhibitions are then catalogued and stored in ring binders and filed for future use.

At an exhibition in Chermside Library mum shows the girls her photo at school when she was their age. They look very interested.

Visitors examining photos at a reunion of Chermside State School ex-pupils held at the old school building in the Historical Precinct.