Fundraising Stalls and Christmas Dinners
Over its twenty-Seven year history, the Port Melbourne Historical and Preservation Society has had many stalls and displays serving the dual purpose of raising funds to assist the work of the Society and to provide historical information to Port Melbourne residents and visitors alike.
1996 and 1997 saw us at the Christmas Arts and Crafts Market in Gasworks Park and we were always at the Port Melbourne Community Festival. Although a different type of event, we usually have a presence at the Neighbourhood House Festival in Liardet Street. In recent years we have had a Christmas stall at the entrance to Coles which always attracts a lot of interest.
The image above shows one of our earliest stalls at Station Pier on 9 November 1994 to coincide with the visit of the Replica Endeavour. Working the stall we have three Port stalwarts – Lorraine Hall in PMHPS windcheater, Heather Wale in a white shirt and Jessie Edwards on Heather’s left.
Our records don’t show who took the photograph but we reckon it may have been the person who donated it to the Society, Pat Grainger (speaking of stalwarts).
We’ve also had many Christmas get-togethers. For several years we met in the private room at the Albion Hotel and we had a very enjoyable meal in first floor function room of The Local in Bay Street although stairs are a problem. In 2014 we ventured down to Cafe Limani at Station Pier and the past couple of years has seen us at Ciao Cielo back in Bay Street.
In 2020 despite our COVID-affected year both traditions are due to continue. We’ll have a stall at the Artisan Christmas Market on Bay Street organised by the Port Melbourne Business Association for Saturday 12 December and on Sunday 13 December we’ll have our Christmas Picnic at Edwards Park, weather permitting.
Edit: We have confirmed that Pat Grainger is the photographer of the photograph featured in this article.
