Whitehaven Coal has donated $5000 to the Gunnedah & District Historical Society.
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The funds will assist in the publication of its latest book – a collection of profiles of residents who have lived and died in the town and district over the last 150 years.
The cheque was presented by Whitehaven representatives Tim Muldoon, Daryl Campbell and Bob Sutherland who said the company is happy to support the community in projects like this.
Sub-titled Triumph and Tragedy, Hope and Heartbreak in the Life of Gunnedah, the publication will literally be a book of obituaries.
It does not cover the lives of everyone who has lived in Gunnedah - that would be an impossibility - but it does include 750 “people pieces” with an accompanying photograph for each subject.
Written by former Namoi Valley Independent editor, Ron McLean, the book is basically a social documentary of how a small to medium-sized country town has developed and grown.
The manuscript of 207,000 words has been completed and with the financial contribution from Whitehaven Coal, composition and page make-up of the book can now begin.
Gunnedah and District Historical Society President Bob Leister expressed gratitude to Whitehaven Coal for its generous contribution to the project.
“We are very grateful to Whitehaven for this donation as it means we can get started on production of the book, which promises to be a wonderful historical record of the contribution made by these former residents to our town,” he said.
“Ron McLean has already written two books for the society, Gunnedah’s Sesquicentenary book, The Way We Were, and another titled In The Line of Fire, recording the service and bravery of locals who served in World War 1.”
The Sesquicentenary books are now hard to come by but copies of In The Line of Fire are still available at the museum.
Meanwhile the society will hold an open day at the Water Tower Museum on Saturday, September 30, with free admission from 10am. Everyone is invited to come along and see the wonderful town collection.