Stories shared

Project manager John McGlynn and other volunteers have been toiling away for a year conducting and transcribing interviews with ten local characters.

The interviewees were also asked to donate one item significant to them to be displayed alongside their stories.

Some of the items include a family heirloom toy cradle and a Queanbeyan Cricket Club blazer patch.

"We have interviewed a pretty diverse group but there's lots of people we haven't got to of course," Mr McGlynn said.

"We've only done 10 interviews and there's thousands, about 22,000 people living in Queanbeyan and probably a lot of those people would tell interesting stories."

The Oral History Project was funded by a 'Your Heritage Community' grant from the Federal Government.

Mr McGlynn said they now have the equipment and training to continue the project with volunteers just scratching the surface of stories to be uncovered.

"This project came about because we decided we needed to do something for the 175th anniversary," Mr McGlynn said.

"People don't see what they've lived through to be significant history, they always think about their parents and grandparents. However, in years to come the present generation will be looking for history so we need to gather as much as possible while we can."

Mr McGlynn said the project would be set out as an interactive display to include visual and audio elements.

"When we got the Museum years ago, it had a lot of good articles but didn't have the organisation to present them," he said.

"It's good to gradually transform the Museum into a more modern-looking one not only in terms of presentation but also in terms of the recognition of the growth of Queanbeyan."

n The Queanbeyan Museum Oral History Project will be officially launched at the Queanbeyan Museum Open day on Saturday, September 7 at noon.