In March 1979 a meeting was called in Tallangatta with the aim of establishing a cottage industry centre. Unbelievably, less than two weeks later was the grand opening!
Pat Greig had been appointed Community Education Officer, closely associated with the local high school. She was full of enthusiasm as well as expertise and was the wonderful backbone of the project.
I was there at the first meeting and eagerly paid my $10 to join. My membership number was CW12. Over forty years later new members are still joining with their numbers being well over 600.
NW3 was Noreen Wood who was a scout leader and made leather belts. DF4 was retired Dulcie Franks who knitted extraordinary jumpers with self-designed patterns. We knew they wouldn’t sell. Then we had some visitors from Melbourne. They snapped them up!
Pat contacted some of her artistic friends from nearby towns and they happily joined and put their more professional goods up for sale. But while they certainly attracted customers, the members I remember were locals who had been knitting or sewing for years. They tentatively put a baby jacket in the shop and, when it sold, were so surprised and delighted that someone would want their homemade article that they rushed home and got out the needles to begin the next treasure.
The Winkler family saw a way of supplementing Dad’s pay packet. What could we contribute? Jam was a good start and we decided to specialise in marmalade. We began with Sweet Orange and Four Fruits but then launched out with Carrot and Lemon, Apple and Lime, Cumquat, Chunky Lemon and Pineapple. Don made some little racks, Michael did some marmalade research and wrote a leaflet (did you know the word comes from the Portuguese ‘marmelo’ which is a quince conserve?) and we put the racks, leaflets and an assortment of marmalades together. They sold well.
That was the beginning. We found a woollen mill in Castlemaine that sold material at a reasonable price and added cushions and kettle holders to our wares.
But one of the most loved projects was making hand-made paper. We saved boxes of old paper, pulped it, pressed it and packed it. As we became more experienced we imprinted leaves on the corner of the paper.
If you spent a day a month looking after the shop, The Hub took 10% commission. If not, it was 25%. So, of course, one day a month was a pleasant change from the housework. Later with other commitments, I continued to contribute to The Hub with photo cards.
We never made a lot of money but 43 years later, we have made a lot of friends, sold over 1,000 jars of jam and 2,000 cards and had wonderful family fun together.
I’m going to sadly end my membership in June now that I live in Benalla. ‘The Hub’ has been one of the special things in my life. I’m not particularly creative but it’s amazing what you can do when you try.
Carmyl Winkler
Pat Greig had been appointed Community Education Officer, closely associated with the local high school. She was full of enthusiasm as well as expertise and was the wonderful backbone of the project.
I was there at the first meeting and eagerly paid my $10 to join. My membership number was CW12. Over forty years later new members are still joining with their numbers being well over 600.
NW3 was Noreen Wood who was a scout leader and made leather belts. DF4 was retired Dulcie Franks who knitted extraordinary jumpers with self-designed patterns. We knew they wouldn’t sell. Then we had some visitors from Melbourne. They snapped them up!
Pat contacted some of her artistic friends from nearby towns and they happily joined and put their more professional goods up for sale. But while they certainly attracted customers, the members I remember were locals who had been knitting or sewing for years. They tentatively put a baby jacket in the shop and, when it sold, were so surprised and delighted that someone would want their homemade article that they rushed home and got out the needles to begin the next treasure.
The Winkler family saw a way of supplementing Dad’s pay packet. What could we contribute? Jam was a good start and we decided to specialise in marmalade. We began with Sweet Orange and Four Fruits but then launched out with Carrot and Lemon, Apple and Lime, Cumquat, Chunky Lemon and Pineapple. Don made some little racks, Michael did some marmalade research and wrote a leaflet (did you know the word comes from the Portuguese ‘marmelo’ which is a quince conserve?) and we put the racks, leaflets and an assortment of marmalades together. They sold well.
That was the beginning. We found a woollen mill in Castlemaine that sold material at a reasonable price and added cushions and kettle holders to our wares.
But one of the most loved projects was making hand-made paper. We saved boxes of old paper, pulped it, pressed it and packed it. As we became more experienced we imprinted leaves on the corner of the paper.
If you spent a day a month looking after the shop, The Hub took 10% commission. If not, it was 25%. So, of course, one day a month was a pleasant change from the housework. Later with other commitments, I continued to contribute to The Hub with photo cards.
We never made a lot of money but 43 years later, we have made a lot of friends, sold over 1,000 jars of jam and 2,000 cards and had wonderful family fun together.
I’m going to sadly end my membership in June now that I live in Benalla. ‘The Hub’ has been one of the special things in my life. I’m not particularly creative but it’s amazing what you can do when you try.
Carmyl Winkler
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