Gunnedah Day VIEW Club members welcomed ‘one of their own’ when Helen Scott returned to her old hometown to launch her coffee table book, Helen’s Harvest Handcrafts.
Helen was guest speaker at her old club where she was a member for a brief time before moving to Esperance in Western Australia 30 years ago. Helen’s parents Bob and Joyce Bridges, of Highland Plains, Kelvin, had also moved across Australia to the rich farming area. Bob died in 2012 and Joyce in 2018.
At the age of 82, Helen said it would probably be her last trip across the Nullarbor, a distance of 3233km from Esperance to Gunnedah.
“My daughter Georgina and I grew up in Gunnedah, as did my parents, and although I have been away for so long, I still call Gunnedah home,” Helen told members at the luncheon meeting last Friday. “I will forever love the area, the blue mountains, the large gum trees, the summer and winter crops of changing colours, from the black soil plains to red sorghum, yellow sunflowers, white cotton the golden wheat, the green corn and much more,” she said.
“To top it all off I had koalas on our property and sometimes in my garden at Breeza.”
It was on the family property Demeter, at Breeza, that Helen’s interest in straw craft began in 1982, when she taught herself the five-straw plait from a corn dolly brochure brought to her from England. Helen kept developing her skills, attending workshops and developing her skill even further after moving to Esperance. She was soon in demand for demonstrations and as guest speaker at local community groups, making corn dollies for weddings and other events. In 1990 she received the prestigious Master Craftsman Award from the Guild of Straw Craftsmen UK. Finally, her craft was ready for a book so that Helen could share her passion with others.
Members of the Gunnedah Evening VIEW Club also attended to hear the guest speaker talk about her interesting craft.
The trading table was very successful with items donated by Ruth Payne for the club’s five Learning for Life students sponsored under the umbrella of The Smith Family charity. Members also raised funds through a recent very successful soup and damper day held at Oak Tree Village, with eight different soups and delicious slices for after. Next month’s social outing will be held at the Curlewis Hotel on September 11, with the zone gala day in Manilla.
Denise Hockley and Shirley Hall.
Ro Eveleigh and Sue Braby.
Helen Scott with her daughter Georgina at the Day VIEW Club luncheon meeting.
Helen Scott with her daughter Georgina at the Day VIEW Club luncheon meeting
