The legacy created by women in the Yarrawonga district will be recognised at a book launch this weekend.
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Mothers.Daughters.Friends. represents four years of work by the Yarrawonga and Border Country Women’s Association branch.
Writer Rosalie Ham, the author of The Dressmaker, will attend the book’s unveiling at 2pm Saturday in Club Mulwala.
Book group member Gillian Keppel said the branch wanted to connect people with their family history, but had never tackled such a project.
“We organised some writing workshops, we started with one or two and ended up having over 30, with over 300 attendees,” she said.
“When the people came to write their stories, they didn’t immediately want to sit down and write, they wanted to talk.
“Once they found their voice ... we wanted them to be 500 words in length, well, some of them were so much longer.”
Contributors to the book range from school students to an author aged 104, some writing in the first person, others looking back 150 years.
Ms Keppel said incredible stories emerged about the region’s women, for example the widows who became businesswomen.
“As the lake was being developed there was a great need by people coming into the community for food, for clothing and for accommodation,” she said.
“So these home maker skills, like cake making, they were able to be put to use to often support families.”
Rosalie Ham said the book highlighted creative women, including artists, athletes, nurses, dancers and roller skaters, who ran farms and raised families.
“Mothers.Daughters.Friends. is a loving tribute to the women who pioneered the area, thrived in challenging circumstances, triumphed over hardship and did more than their share to build the community,” she said.
The book was an important historical document and she praised the CWA members “who had a good idea and made it real by sheer determination and team effort”.
“Above all, the collection tells stories that show how valuable women and their contribution are to Australia today,” Ham said.
Ms Keppel said branch members were excited the book was finished.
“The stories and the voices of the women are what we wanted to capture and we’ve captured them to the best of our ability,” she said.
- To RSVP for the book launch, phone 0458798077
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