To fill you in on the history of the centre and of Belair we will be including exerpts here from Hub of the Hilltops : a history of the Belair Community Centre Inc., 1953-1993 by Dene Cordes. Follow us on Facebook for updates!
Here’s the Introduction of the book:
Many successful community projects start from a humble beginning. There is inevitably a person, or a group of people who possess the vision and dnve to inspire others. And then those who become inspired will often provide the practical expertise that augments the foresight of the visionaries.
Belair, a small community at the top of the hills above Mitcham, possessed men and women who were visionary, practical, energetic and persistent. They worked tirelessly in a united push to have a community centre erected. They were highly supportive of each other. Some of their ideas for fund-raising were brilliant and novel, whilst the traditional schemes were implemented. The community of Belair rallied to the cause, loaning personal debentures to augment the public fund-raisers.
Not only did this major project succeed in having a handsome community hall become a reality, in a remarkably short time, but it brought together the residents of Belair (both long-term and recent settlers), into a closely knit community. While people were organising, convening or attending the many fund-raisers, they came to know each other and a lifelong respect was cemented. Some of the founders of the hall are now deceased, but others still support it and take pride in it, and each other, forty years later.
The Belair Community Centre grew out of an existing Young Men’s Club and a Young Women’s Club. The main visionary and instigator was R. Winfred Lyon, who was President of the Young Men’s Club at the time. It was fitting that he later laid the foundation stone of the partly constructed hall, and later became the first Life Member.
Others who met to talk of the possibility of a new hall in the area, were Gordon Brown, Bob O’Neill, along with Mark and Rosemary Mehrtens, whose home was the venue.
When the new centre was opened, on 22 November, 1958, it brought together the local organisations which now had a central meeting place. Previously, they met in the Church of England Parish Hall and the Kindergarten Hall at the back of the Methodist Church.
A local newspaper “Community News” was a product of the drive for a community hall. This, too, fostered a spirit of “country community” which, remarkably, is still evident in 1994. Today, the Belair Community Centre is well maintained, frequently used, and it still gives the greatly expanded suburb of Belair, a hub and central point. The youth groups out of which the hall project grew, still prosper under the name of the Belair Community Centre Gymnastic Club.
This publication honours those unselfish, tireless planners and fund raisers of the early 1950’s, who were masters in proper procedures, in the many small events that accumulated major revenue, and in the skills of motivating people to rally to the cause. Their reward is the community centre, far more than a hall and playground, that, in 1994, stands as a monument to a proud community – past, present and future.
Dene. D. Cordes, P.S.M;
B. A (Hons. History).
1994