A HIGH tea at the Bonegilla Hall next month will raise money to give the historic hub a fresh lick of paint.
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In the past two years, a reinvigorated committee have raised about $10,000 to restore a building they hope will capture the community like it once did.
Treasurer Margaret Foulston said it was once a hub for dances and card nights, engagements and weddings; basically every social event in town.
“If you didn’t have a pub, you’d have a hall and it’d be centre of the community,” Mrs Foulston said.
She said the classic town hall was still important to communities like Bonegilla.
“There’s a lot of farming communities out there and you need somewhere to get together,” she said.
On Saturday May 3, the committee will host a high tea from 11am to 3pm with local artist Pat Welch displaying and selling her paintings and a lucky door prize winner will take one home.
Committee secretary and former Wodonga councillor Ed Foulston said the money from the tickets sold will go towards re-painting the hall and further restoration works.
The hall, which was once the children’s ward of the Bonegilla migrant camp from the 1940s, held historical significance.
“Bonegilla is the birthplace of Australia’s multiculturalism and the hall is an integral part of it,” he said.
The committee, whose numbers hovered at about six people two years ago, was reinvigorated by a further 14 people joining and it has plans to extend the land it’s built on so it can host other events.
“The more functions we have, the more people know about the hall and the more people appreciate the hall,” Mr Foulston said.
Tickets for the high tea fund-raiser are $35 a head for tables of six or eight individuals. Phone Marg 0414 840 662 or Amanda (02) 6059 4818.