By KATRINA BRANDON
YINNAR celebrated its 150th birthday last month.
March 23 marked the special occasion, and saw a market, Easter activities, and music play out at Yinnar Bowls Club.
Joining the town’s celebration, the Yinnar Historical Society also opened its doors to showcase snippets from the last 150 years.
A 150th dinner was held, which volunteer organiser Sandy Hegarty said provided an opportunity for people to gather and reminisce.
“The 150th dinner celebrates the town. There are lots of different photos and presentations that have been put together to celebrate,” she said.
“It’s just a casual dinner for the locals. It was an invitation for the significant locals who have been here the longest and different people who contribute and volunteer, as well as all the different organisations, the schools, the kindergarten, and the community groups.
“It’s just getting everyone together to celebrate the township and what’s good about Yinnar.”
Hundreds of people came throughout the day for the 150th anniversary.
The 150th differed to Yinnar’s 100th birthday, which was spread out over four days and saw tree plantings take place. Those trees are still there today.
Main organiser for the 150th, Skye Dehommel told the Latrobe Valley Express that the ideas behind the celebrations came from the public.
“I’m on the Yinnar and District Association, and the overall feeling of the community was that they really wanted something to happen for the 150th birthday,” she said.
“In the background, we did a lot of consulting and really tried to capture all of the day’s important elements. So, we should have the Historical Society involved, have free activities for families and children, and then have that town feast to celebrate some of our elders.”
According to the Victorian Places website, Yinnar was originally part of the Scrubby Forest pastoral run, which was occupied from 1850 and then taken over by selectors in the 1870s.
The website also says that the name Yinnar was taken from the parish name, and is an Aboriginal word thought to mean ‘woman’.
History: The original cart from the 100th celebration on show for the 150th.
Community: A market was held in Yinnar as part of the 150th celebrations.