Happy days for raffle winners

AS part of celebrating their 100-year history, the Miners’ Dispensary was proud to announce the winners of their raffle. 

Shoppers were able to enter the draw to win three incredible prizes valued at thousands of dollars. Evie Bergin took out the first prize, a brand-new E-bike valued at $2300 purchased from local business Wheel Heat. 

Shelley Applebee received a 12-month membership voucher donated by Voyage Fitness, among other prizes valued at $1300. 

Holly Parker won a travel voucher purchased from Hello World to the value of $1000. Holly was recently married, and the newlyweds are yet to have a honeymoon, so the prize was collected at the perfect time.

Dispensary showcased

The centenary celebrations ended last Friday at the Wonthaggi and District Historical Society Annual Dinner, which featured the Miners Dispensary. 

Guests were able to peruse a display of dispensary memorabilia set up by the Historical Society. President of the society, Fay Quilford was Master of Ceremonies for the evening. 

A number of guests were asked to speak including Sam Gatto, author of the recently published book ‘One of A Kind’ a short history of the Wonthaggi Miners Friendly Society’s Dispensary 1922 to 2022.

Rodney Beech, a long-standing Board member spoke of the committee history. 

Followed by pharmacists, Peter Loughran and Sally Cairnduff, who spoke of the changes in pharmacy regulations and training requirements since the dispensary opened in 1922. 

The audience were amused by the stories Peter told regarding practice of pharmacy in the 1950s and 1960s. 

Pat Piasente, Maureen Loughran and Carolyn Thomas discussed the progress the dispensary has made over the one hundred years from the perspective of pharmacy assistants. 

The night concluded with a roving microphone run by Sam Gatto and Irene Williams, secretary of the Wonthaggi and District Historical Society. 

A number of members from the audience told amusing stories about the dispensary in years gone by.

As the centenary celebrations draw to a close, the dispensary would like to thank the Wonthaggi community for their support.

In particular, we would like to thank the Wonthaggi and District Historical Society for their invaluable assistance in centenary preparations. 

A special thankyou to Jenny Churchill, Irene Williams and Fay Quilford who donated much time researching the early years of the dispensary and planning our activities. 

We are also grateful to local historian, Sam Gatto who has authored a fascinating book ‘One of a Kind’ a short history of the Wonthaggi Miners Dispensary. 

We want to thank local artists Jim Barritt and Dennis Leversha, who are still working tirelessly on the centenary mural located in Wrench Lane and to the Bass Coast Council who have approved a community grant to contribute towards the mural project. 

We should also thank the major sponsors of our afternoon tea for mine members, the Mining and energy Union. 

Again, we thank Wayne Moloney, Larry Hills and the Bass Coast Chorale for their uplifting entertainment at our members afternoon tea. 

A final thankyou to the Workmen’s Club, who hosted the mine members afternoon tea and the Wonthaggi Historical Society dinner.