The new curator of the Sunshine and District Historical Society, Alan Dash, standing in front of panels depicting the area’s history, located inside the former HV McKay offices in Devonshire Rd. 75316 Picture: DAMJAN JANEVSKI
By Alesha Capone
WHEN many people retire, they look forward to relaxing as life slows down a little– but Alan Dash is no such person.
After retiring as principal of the Sunshine Harvester Primary School in October last year, in November he became the new curator of the Sunshine and District Historical Society.
Mr Dash spent 44 years as a teacher, administrator and principal in state’s education system, and said his enthusiasm for the “excitement of learning” has aided his new voluntary role.
After the historical society was given a Community Heritage Grant of $4400 from the Federal Government last year, Mr Dash travelled to Canberra for a three day intensive workshop to learn about identifying and preserving community-owned, nationally significant heritage collections.
His ambition is to create digital records of the memorabilia held by the Sunshine and District Historical Society.
“As I did the course and took the job, I suddenly realised what an incredible task we had ahead of us. The historical society and everyone in the community all have a part to play,” Mr Dash said.
“With items, often the story that attached to it is more important than the actual object or photo.
“My personal desire is to have more space to display some of these things and we also need storage containers so we can save them inside forever.”
He has appealed for anyone in the community who can help achieve this aim, and praised the hardworking historical society’s volunteers, who are dedicated to preserving Brimbank’s heritage.
Mr Dash said it was important to record Sunshine’s past, from HV McKay’s Sunshine Harvester Works through to the area’s agricultural history, industrialisation and immigration.
One significant event from Sunshine’s past was the 1907 decision in the Federal Court of Conciliations and Arbitration, where Justice Higgins ruled HV McKay’s workers should be paid a basic wage which guaranteed a standard of reasonable living.
“I genuinely believe the pivotal role this community played in Australian and world history is not fully grasped, such as in Sunshine, the first-ever concept of a fair day’s work for a fair wage was played out,” Mr Dash said.
The Sunshine and District Historical Society meets at the Hunt Club, 720 Ballarat Rd, Deer Park, contact 9361 6612 for more details.
