Brinkworth, South Australia
Brinkworth, South Australia
Brinkworth Memorial Hall
The Brinkworth Memorial Hall Committee is responsible for the maintenance and development of the facility and ensuring that it is accessible for use by the community and other organisations and individuals.
The Hall can be hired for all types of functions.
The first Hall Committee was formed in April 1895 when residents met to discuss building a public hall. Construction commenced in 1900 and in 1905 the public hall was affiliated with the South Australian Institutes Association, and a library and reading room established at the rear of the hall.
The building of the memorial front to the hall was commenced in 1919 to honour the servicemen in the First World War. The foundation stone was laid by Hon H N Barwell, the Attorney General in February 1920. In August 1920 the property was transferred to the trustees of the Institute.
In 1962 it was felt that the facilities were inadequate, so plans for a new hall were drawn up. R. Steele Hall MP laid the foundation on 25 May 1962 and the building was opened on 21 September 1962 by the Institute President E C Wundke.
The affiliation with the South Australian Institutes Association ended in 1985 when the Institute Committee disbanded, the library transferred to the primary school and the Brinkworth Memorial Hall Committee was formed in its present guise .
Throughout this whole period there have been committees which have guided the development, maintenance and use of the hall. They are the forerunners of the present Brinkworth Memorial Hall Committee. Over the many years of operation of the Memorial Hall Committee and its predecessors, the majority of local families have had representatives serve extended periods of membership on the committee.
In 2016 a new sub-group was formed, intent on developing an un-used room as a Community Room.
Youth from Brinkworth and adjoining towns have been energetic and enthusiastic in cleaning and renovating the room and have already held a movie night and a Hawaiian theme disco as fun ways of raising more funds for the project. Plans are afoot to obtain and install gym equipment in the room for anyone to use.
On Saturday, March 25 2017, the Brinkworth Memorial Hall came alive with the Harvest Dance and the grand opening of the new Gym and Community Room by Frome MP Geoff Brock who attended to cut the ribbon for the official portion of the night.
The committee and its many helpers have worked hard over the last couple of years to bring this idea to fruition.
What started as something that really seemed like a bit of a wild idea in the beginning has now been realised.
The Community Room is still a work in progress as we source IT equipment and other necessities but is now a useable space where it was once a muddled storeroom.
The Gym is now operational after some renovations and an extension to what was once a small meeting room and on its first day open had 12 members join.
Thanks to a generous grant, many hours of hard work and some blood, sweat and tears, equipment was purchased and new carpet was laid throughout the Gym, Foyer and Community Room.
We celebrated the success of this venture with much dancing and frivolity to the great tunes pumped out by party band Off Ya Trio. Local singer Nancy White also joined the boys on stage to belt out a couple of well known tunes to much applause and audience participation.
A wonderful supper was provided by the Hall Committee and others who generously brought plates of food, and the drinks flowed freely throughout the night.
Everyone got into the fun of the night with most having a turn on the dance floor regardless of age (or dancing ability) and the whole building was full of laughter.
What a great way to spend an evening!
Surveillance cameras and new keypad locks have been installed for extra security on the building and this also eliminates the need for regular users to collect a key during business hours, prior to use.
The Hall Committee have many more plans for regular events at the Hall including movie nights, more dances with live music, the Annual Art Exhibition, a Town Fete and Ute Muster among other things.
The Brinkworth Memorial Hall is a well-appointed venue with lots of potential and we are very lucky to have this major asset in our town.
Bookings and enquiries: Natalie natweath@bigpond.com
ART EXHIBITION 2018 A GREAT SUCCESS!
The 4th Annual Brinkworth Art Exhibition was held at the Soldiers Memorial Hall from the 6th to the 10th of April.
We transformed the Hall into an art gallery with the addition of picture rails on the walls and the proprietory 'Ramm Wall' down the middle, with lots of space and comfortable seating. Our hall looked magnificent!
We displayed 90 works from around 20 local and regional artists. Over a hundred people came through the doors over five days (from as far afield as Adelaide and Whyalla). A number of paintings sold and will by now be adorning the walls of local homes. There is nothing quite like having an original artwork on your wall!
The Exhibition commenced with an opening ceremony on a warm Friday night where local artist, Anneliese Krieg, spoke of her journey into the creative arts and performed the honours before a dedicated band of locals. All who were there agreed it was a pleasant evening, the kind you sometimes get in a country community.
Over the following four days we had some major hot weather and strong dusty winds. Ironic, considering we moved the date this year from February to April to avoid these things! The Hall, luckily, is provided with good air conditioning and is well designed for these conditions (we only used the air conditioners for several hours in total) and it didn't seem to hold back the steady stream of visitors who came through the doors.
We had a special display of etchings and lithographs by artists whose names are part of international art history. It was a particular privilege to share the experience of some of these with the children of Brinkworth. Never let it be said that living in the country is living in a cultural wasteland - not when you can see Turner, Matisse, Hogarth, Miro and Chegall at your local art show. The 'Northern Argus' agree, judging by the article they published on April 11!
Events like this only happen with a lot of community support. Besides the ever hard working Hall Committee and their families we had numerous contributions of time and energy from nearly twenty other townsfolk! A big thankyou to all of you, and particularly Paul Williams for the loan of some of his valuable works, and Bob and Raelene Green and the people at Cafe for Ewe who helped us fund our picture rails.
The planning for next year's exhibition will get underway shortly. It will probably be around the same time of the year. We hope to build on this year's success and aim to draw more artists and more viewers to our town and all that it has to offer.
Community Gym Now Open at the Memorial Hall!
Brinkworth Community Gym is now open at the Brinkworth Memorial Hall.
The Gym has a wide variety of equipment that caters to all fitness levels. It is an unmanned Gym as many local Community Gyms are, but we do have a number of members and helpers who have a background in fitness or have been regular Gym users previously that are willing to offer basic advice in the operation of the equipment to those just learning.
If you would like some assistance to learn how to use the equipment you just need to ask. The Gym also has written instructions for the use of each machine posted on the walls.
Use of the Gym equipment is at your own risk and persons using the Gym must be 14 years of age or over. 14 - 17 year olds must be supervised by a parent or guardian at all times when accessing the Gym and its equipment.
The Gym opening times are currently: 5am - Midday 5pm - 9pm 7 days a week These hours are an initial trial but can be extended to other hours if there is enough interest. Also, given enough interest by members, there may be an option in future to have formal paid group exercise classes with instructors in various disciplines.
If you have any suggestions of what type of classes you would like to see happen at the Gym please let the Committee know.
Gym membership can be obtained by contacting the Committee. Fees to join are:
Weekly $7
3 Months $70
6 Months $130
12 Months $240
Student/Pensioner discount fees are: Weekly $5
3 Months $60
6 Months $120
12 Months $220
Gym membership allows you access to the Gym during opening hours and you can train for as long or short a time, as often as you would like, during those hours. Come along and check out this great new addition to our town.
Committee Members contact details are:
Mark Kernich 8846 2243 (Chair)
Natalie Weatherall natweath@bigpond.com
Like the Tardis, the Hall is 'bigger on the inside', in fact, it won't fit in a single photo!
A tiny sample of Anneliese Krieg's work.
Google "Art from the Heart" to see more of her paintings.