When you’re into your 176th year as St Patrick’s College is, heritage is your middle name.
But St Pat’s, as everyone in Campbelltown knows it, had to be content with sharing the 2016 Heritage Medallion with another “ancient’’ educational institution.
Campbelltown Public School is celebrating its 140th anniversary this year, which makes it just 36 years “younger’’ than St Pat’s.
But 140 years is still a substantial contribution to the heritage of Campbelltown and quite rightly judges shared the 2016 honour between the two grand old schools of the town.
The winners were presented with their medallions at the Campbelltown Arts Centre, which hosted the 2016 Campbelltown Heritage Forum on Wednesday.
The forum acknowledges the area’s history and journey from a small country township to a growing, vibrant city.
The biennial forum included the announcement of a record number of Heritage Medallion awards, highlighting the contribution of nominated individuals and organisations who have actively promoted, preserved and celebrated our community’s heritage.
Mayor of Campbelltown, Cr Paul Hawker, said that in response to the extremely high calibre of nominations received this year, four nominees were presented with awards.
“Together with the two shared winners of the 2016 Heritage Medallion, which is a first for the awards program, a further two nominees were also recognised with Highly Commended awards this year.
“Congratulations to the joint winners of the 2016 Heritage Medallion – St Patrick’s College and Campbelltown Public School. Both schools have recently celebrated significant milestones, boasting a combined 315 years of operation within the Campbelltown community, and the activities embarked on to document the history of each school have helped build an enduring image of our local identity that will be invaluable to future generations,” Cr Hawker said.
In acknowledgment of the role individuals and community groups can play in the preservation of our city’s historical buildings and shared history, Highly Commended awards were presented to local musician David Vassallo, and the Campbelltown Veterans Recreation Centre.
“The award recipients are a great example of our community’s commitment to promoting and preserving our heritage. It gives me great confidence in the future of our city, and I wait with proud anticipation of the many things we can and will achieve together as a community, while maintaining a strong connection to our past,” Cr Hawker added.
JOINT WINNER – St Patrick’s College
The college proudly celebrated its 175th anniversary in 2015. Having been established in 1840, it is recognised as one of the oldest independent schools in Australia. In celebration of this historic milestone, the school and its students have undertaken important research with the aim of documenting, preserving and promoting the history of the school and the Campbelltown area through oral history projects for students, the collection of archival material and fostering an awareness campaign to teach students about the college’s heritage. The school is acknowledged for its important educational contribution to the Campbelltown area, and to raising awareness across the wider community about the significance of the school within the historical landscape.
JOINT WINNER – Campbelltown Public School
Campbelltown Public School is celebrating its 140th anniversary this year, and was acknowledged as a joint winner of the Heritage Medallion in recognition of the enormous efforts that have been put into collecting and digitising oral histories, photos, newspaper articles and school memorabilia, to create a timeline of the school and the region’s history. This information is now permanently available to the school and the community, and the archives will continue to provide a strong and positive sense of local identity.
HIGHLY COMMENDED – Mr David Vassallo
David was acknowledged for his commitment to the local community of more than 25 years. He has been passionately involved in the ongoing preservation of Raith House in Bradbury, has served as one of the main organists of the Our Lady Help of Christians Parish, and plays the pianola monthly at Campbelltown and Airds Historical Society, and also at special community events such as the Festival of Fisher’s Ghost. He continues to attract new people to these sites through his passionate playing and detailed demonstrations of the instruments to community members.
HIGHLY COMMENDED – Campbelltown Veterans Recreation Centre
The centre was acknowledged for its ongoing support of the local community. This is a non-profit service located in historic Dredges Cottage, providing activities and assistance to returned military personnel and their families, as well as operating a museum on the grounds. The centre has undertaken a number of activities designed to preserve the memory of those who served from the Macarthur area, including refurbishing old photographs of significance for display in the museum, and engaging a local historic researcher to accurately record the names of military personnel for preservation on a series of plaques installed in the Memorial Wall on the grounds of the cottage.
