The photo shows members of the School of Arts Committee, Lindsay Brien and Nan Thomas.

 PAINTING AND FLOORS

The painting of two rooms has been completed as has the lifting of the old carpets and the tung oiling of the floors.  One room now has a rug.

 The one unfortunate thing that happened was that when the carpets were lifted the floors were found to have quite a lot of old spilt paint on them.  We wanted to just do a light sand so the original japanning would still show.  Due to the paint and the cupping of the floor boards a lot more sanding was required and some paint spots still show and we have lost most of the japanning.  The rugs will cover most of it and we will scrape off the rest and retung oil the places.  The floor finisher, due to the circumstances did not charge us for the job.

 The other floors, if in the same condition, will require a lot of sanding and therefore will be more expensive and we will lose the original japanning effect.

 For those that do not know, as the carpets and the paint on the walls have deteriorated, they needed to be replaced.  The Conservation Management Plan for the building has guidelines to be followed that require the return to the original structure as much as is possible.  As we are a museum in a heritage listed building this requirement is even stronger and more desirable as it makes the building itself part of the display and shows as much as possible to visitors how it would have been.  This is why polishing the floors and putting in rugs as the building would have had has been the choice of the committee.

 BERRY AND DISTRICT GARDEN CLUB

You will remember the club gave us a grant from the Garden Festival last year which enabled us to paint the walls of one of the rooms and part of the other.  This year we received $1,000 from the Garden Club, which will go towards finishing the floors.   Thanks again to the Committee and members of the Garden Club for your continued support of our Museum.

 Don’t forget to have a look at the Garden Club’s Display in our Special Exhibitions Room.  It will be there till January.  The video of the various gardens is absolutely lovely and well worth a look.

 .GRANT APPLICATIONS

1.MUSEUMS AUSTRALIA has a grant for preservation which we applied for and will hear about in December.  We obtained a quote for fitted boxes for some of our most precious books, including the School of Arts Manuscript Journals just acquired.

 Julie Clough, Nancy Bevan and Jenny Clapham have made some of these boxes already and will continue to do so but we thought we would speed up the process by getting some made as it does take a considerable amount of volunteer time.  The ones we are looking at getting made if we get the grant will cost approximately $180 so it does save a considerable amount of money.  Anyone else interested in learning and helping with this please contact Jenny Clapham at jenny.bmfberry@bigpond.com or 44642446.

 2.THE COMMUNITY BUILDING GRANT run by the State Government has also been applied for in order to do some more of the internal painting.  Those who have been on duty in mid November or have email addresses will already know we are on a short list for this as we needed to fill out petitions to show community support behind the museum.   We should also hear about this in December.

 Thank you to all our supporters who filled in the petition.  It was very much appreciated.

 DR LEWERS

Acting upon a request from member Nancy Bevan the committee has written to council and our ward councillors to see if a plaque can be put on the grave of Dr Lewers and that the grave be restored.  We also requested information on the normal procedure of council on gravestone restoration, signage in graveyards and how the museum can be involved.

 Next Chronograph we will tell you about Dr Lewers and his importance to the history of town and hopefully about the reply from council.

 HISTORY EXTENSION COURSE

Representatives of the museum attended this seminar as mentioned in the last Chronograph.  We have one student wishing to use our museum to research her project.

 We felt that apart from there not being enough time allotted for students to talk to representatives of the museums it was a worthwhile exercise so long as there is follow up in future years.

 We now have a copy of the video made for this.  Each museum has a three minute section on the video.  We will have it playing at the Christmas Party for all who are interested to see it.

 BERRY MERRY CHRISTMAS

 This is being held again on Wednesday 2^nd December by the Chamber of Commerce.  The museum will once again be open from about 5pm through to about 8pm.  We normally have quite a few visitors with a larger proportion than usual of them being locals so we feel it is worth being open for this event and to support the Chamber and the businesses of Berry.

 Any member who would like to volunteer to help for part of this time please contact Bev Stevens on bevgrae@hotmail.com or 44643660.  It has always been a very enjoyable relaxed evening.

 NEW DISPLAY CASES

.We have recently obtained two new display cases.  One from the Naval Museum at Albatross, thanks to Ray Larder and the other through Museums Australia.  The display team will get together with the committee and discuss their use when they have both arrived.

 RECYCLING BINS IN CARPARK

 The recycling bins in the carpark have temporarily been moved up near the museum.  Originally they were to have been along the museum fence.  Quick action by members, consultation with council staff, and meetings between council and members of the committees of the Museum, Berry Alliance and Berry Chamber of Commerce resulted in an agreement that their final resting place would be decided after community consultation.  This has been done through the Berry Town Crier and we are awaiting the results of the community input.

MYSTERY OBJECT

Whilst clearing out the garage and wash room we found the object in the photograph.  It had no accessioning number and we were unable to work out what it was.  The top part spins on the central post.  The Powerhouse made two suggestions.  One was that it was a display stand for something like axes.  The other was that it was a yarn blocker.

Does any one know anything about this item?  If so would you contact Jenny Clapham.

EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST FOR VISIT TO CANBERRA

Is there anyone interested in going to the National Gallery of Australia (in Canberra) to see the following exhibitions:

From the Musee d'Orsay in Paris, Masterpieces from Vincent van Gogh, Gauguin, Cezanne, Monet and others.  This is from 4th December 2009 - 5th April 2010 and we would suggest that we go there from late January onwards. (after school has gone back).

 Also "Emerging Elders" -- honouring senior Indigenous artists. (through to 14th June 2010)

 Contact Bev Stevens if interested on 4464 3660 or email bevgrae@hotmail.com

REPORT ON THE BREAKFAST SERIES ON OCTOBER 29 AT JENNIFER DICKERSON’S PROPERTY

It was a good turnout and a lot of networking was done.  An enjoyable breakfast was had by all.   Margaret Ogle and Bev Stevens attended.

 The last breakfast will be held on Thursday 26^th November at the Café next to the Roxy Theatre in Berry Street, Nowra.

 DEADLINE FOR FORTHCOMING EDITION OF THE CHRONOGRAPH

If you have any items which you feel might interest members of the Berry and District Historical Society could you please send them to the Editor, Anita Chalmers by the following date –

19th January for the February/March issue. 

Berry & District Historical Society

P.O. Box 153 Berry NSW 2535                      Phone: 02 4464 3097

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