Kathleen Hutchison (with her husband Keith on their honeymoon at Sydney Central Station in June 1948):
I was 21 years old and living with my parents and two younger sisters. My older brother was serving in the forces. I vividly remember the day WWII ended. It was 15th August, which was the feast of the Assumption. I went with my girlfriends to mass in Griffith, a four mile bike ride from my home in Hanwood.
After mass we heard that the war had ended. We didn’t have to go to work as the shops had closed for the day. People gathered around the town, it was an exciting day. A wealthy man in Hanwood had been preparing for the end of the war and held a huge bonfire where everyone gathered to celebrate. Mr McWilliams of McWilliams Wines provided the wine for the festivities. Soldiers started coming home soon afterwards. The war years were very sad with many families losing family members.
I also remember food coupons being used to purchase the basic foods. Soldiers would travel by train from Temora to Griffith from all around the place and the girls loved going to the “two bob dances”. The soldiers were great dancers.
Warwick Tom:
Friday, 14th August 1945. I attended Parkes Primary School as usual and was in year 6, the year before progressing to high school. The school had installed radios for class lessons but this morning was to be a special broadcast, the announcement of the end of the war. We had already absorbed the fact that Japan had been hit with two atomic bombs but the announcement that they had surrendered still came as a surprise. The whole school paraded out on the playground cheering as many of the bells around town rang out. For a 12-year-old it was quite a day, needless to say we all had the rest of the day off.
Sue Ridley: I’ve been in Parkes all my life. It is just quieter and not a rat race. My extended family are here too.
Jack and Carmel van der Helm: We are originally from Parkes, but have been living in Melbourne for the past 47 years. We enjoy the peace and quiet, clean air and close proximity of everything in country towns, as well as cheaper real estate.
Kerry Buerckner: You could never pay me enough money to live in a city! It is more relaxed in the country. City people are so rushed. I was born in Parkes and love it here.
Dorothea Tom OAM: Out on the farm life went on as usual pretty much, but I did a lot more cooking and reading. I love reading and as the library was closed, I got into all the books I haven’t read for 30 years!
Bruce Prior: I kept on doing my two shifts per week on Valley FM, and ‘the bride’ and I did a lot of behind the scenes work at the Henry Parkes Historical Museum. It was a different kind of trip, as we will not be pulling the caravan out this year.
Rosemary Prior: I spent most of my time at the Henry Parkes Historical Museum where we had lots of archived ‘Pandora’s boxes’ to be opened and sorted. We found some amazing treasures, including a beautifully preserved sheep skin vest worn by a digger in World War I. This will soon go on display.
Geoff Anderson: The current events in the USA are driven by separation and degradation of knowledge of people’s culture and a loss of cultural understanding of where people are from. This has led to many years of tension festering to a point of this eruption. Here in Parkes we teach our students the history of Australia and around Parkes. The students understand the history and whether they are Aboriginal or not they all understand and respect the land and the culture. By teaching language and culture, you’re teaching respect.
Sean James Cassidy: Help each other and acknowledge the past – the bad and the good.
Helen Huntly: I have a studio at the back of my house. I found when I really worked at making time for myself, I lost track of time and got into that lovely place of creating, which is a place of comfort and peace.
Annette Witherow: I really missed our weekly Parkes Painters gatherings, as that is what inspires me to pick up my paint brushes. We also missed out on our annual exhibition to put our work on show. So, I’ve not been painting much at all, but I did spend a lot of time in my garden.
Margaret Marshall: It did 100%! I completed six paintings. I have really enjoyed total isolation as I could spend time on my art every day without any interruptions. I was able to give it my full concentration and enjoy doing it guilt free.