Community
12 February, 2025
Timboon prepares to celebrate 150 years
THIS March will mark 150 years since land was selected to develop the town known today as Timboon – and the members of a committee planning a celebration hope the festivities will be as big as the milestone.
The committee, featuring a small band of dedicated members of the community, have recently unveiled the historic celebration plans.
President Enid O’Connor, secretary Leeanne Whitehead and publicist Corry Kerr recently sat down with Western District Newspaper to discuss the weekend-long event.
“The idea of the whole weekend is to make it Timboon-focused with its sporting club, hospital, butchers, pub, organisations, distillery - all the different places in Timboon, to show they’ve all got something to show and tell,” Mrs O’Connor said.
“We hope that all the businesses will have windows with displays and the school is invited - St Louis, the kindergarten, we’ve tried to encase everybody into it.
“It’s a community event - we began back in March of last year and have had three community meetings to inform, and be informed from, the community to make this celebration come to pass.
“After the three community meetings, an executive was informed, and from there, we have run with the ideas and the input of what we got from the meetings.
“So far it’s been very good, it has had its challenges, but we’re now in February and it seems to have had some credibility and strength.”
Mrs Kerr said there would be plenty on the agenda for everyone to enjoy.
“We’ve got a program of events which includes the unveiling of a time capsule, a historical display, and what we think will be a highlight of the display is a model of early Timboon which features the trestle bridge and also the railway line with the train,” she said.
“It’s quite a large, it’s over two metres long and 1.6 metres wide, so it is something well worth coming down just to have a look.”
One of the main events for the day will be the Amplitude Energy street parade, but the committee is still looking for floats to fill the spots in the parade.
It doesn’t have to just be floats as trucks, people walking, or people riding their bikes are also welcome, as long as no animals are involved.
When night time falls on Saturday, March 8, the picnic cabaret will open to a crowd at Timboon and District Hall, featuring the Lakes and Craters Band.
“They’re going to have music themed right through the decades,” Mrs O’Connor said.
“The highlight of Lakes and Craters is that two of the people who are part of it are local in Timboon.
“One is a previous paramedic, and the other one is his daughter who is a flautist.
“We’re going to have 30 musicians on our stage, which will be the most unique picnic cabaret anyone’s ever been to because usually you only have four or five musicians.”
There is currently a hub open on Main Street in Timboon where visitors can access more information about the celebrations, which has proven popular with the community.
“Since we’ve had the hub open, it’s just been constant - people calling in, dropping off information, talking about it, or booking tables for the cabaret, which is really good to see,” Mrs Kerr said.
Mrs O’Connor said the community involvement with the event has been “fascinating”.
“Even this morning, we had a lady come in and ask to be added as a volunteer,” she said.
“We’ve had people from all over Australia letting us know that they have once connected with Timboon, or they still are or they want to be.”
Mrs Whitehead said working together with such a unique, small group of people had been an “extreme learning curve”.
“The group being formed comes from different dynamics completely,” she said.
Developing this celebration of Timboon has required a lot of input from people all throughout the community, and Mrs O’Connor said she couldn’t thank them enough.
“I’d like to thank the volunteers, the ones who have put their hands up, and in anticipation, the ones who are going to put their hands up,” she said.
“We have to give recognition to the post office next door and newsagents, they have allowed us to have this room from November last year to the end of March.
“Of course, you can’t have anything without sponsors, and we have many sponsors, which you can see displayed in our hub window.
“Timboon is for the community, and I’d like to think the community is for Timboon.”
Celebrations for Timboon’s 150th anniversary will commence on the evening of Friday, March 7 at the Timboon Golf Club, with the main events taking place on Saturday, March 8 and Sunday, March 9, ending with the Heytesbury Pony Club reunion on Monday, March 10.
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