General News
13 June, 2024
Rheola’s history in new book
For over 150 years, the Rheola Charity Carnival has created fond memories for thousands of visitors while raising vital funds for the local community, and former Rheola resident Julie Piening has encapsulated that history into a new book, All Roads...
For over 150 years, the Rheola Charity Carnival has created fond memories for thousands of visitors while raising vital funds for the local community, and former Rheola resident Julie Piening has encapsulated that history into a new book, All Roads lead to Rheola.
The 294-page book marked a new experience for Ms Piening, who had never published a book before starting her research in 2019.
Despite the new challenge, Ms Piening said she was motivated to pursue the book for her intrigue in history and her personal ties to the carnival.
“I grew up in Rheola, so I have a strong connection with the town, I love the history of the area and I do a lot of history research in my spare time,” she said.
“My grandfather, Donald Clark, actually did a bit of research for the 130 year anniversary and I was just going to add on to the extra 20 years as a little family project, but as I got researching and got more involved I realised there was so much history.
“The 150th anniversary was supposed to be in 2020 so when the pandemic hit, and the carnival was postponed for three years, it gave me a bit of extra time to do more research and the book just grew from there.”
The book contains newspaper clippings, results, photos and memorabilia from every single carnival dating back to its beginnings in 1871.
While looking through old volunteer lists, many family names and long-serving volunteers become familiar including Ms Piening, who is currently a committee member despite living in Melbourne.
According to Ms Piening, the community’s relationship with the Rheola carnival makes it a special event.
“I have helped out as a volunteer even from a young age, it was like a rite of passage if you lived in Rheola — you started off with lucky dip and other novelty events and worked your way up to the luncheons or the gate,” she said.
“Even though we move out, we all come back as we get older, and I think it’s because we have such a family connection to the event.
“There are so many family names that go right back to the late 1800’s that are still on the committee or volunteer to this day — we want to honour what our ancestors did and carry on what they did.”
To celebrate the book’s launch, Ms Piening will visit the Rheola Hall on Saturday, June 22 from 2 pm.
Ms Piening said it was important to her to see for her hometown enjoy the book, as it is a celebration of the work done by local families.
“Just to share the knowledge and my findings with the community is important to me, they can read about what they have done or even their parents, grandparents or great-grandparents,” she said.
“It is such a unique community, there are hardly any people living there now but on Easter Monday every year, the population just explodes.
“Without all those families, there would be no Rheola carnival so I hope most of the families develop a connection with the book.”
Attendants at the event can purchase the book for $50, only cash will be accepted at the event.
Residents unable to make the launch can pick up a copy at Rheola or Mulgrave and postage is available Australia wide.
To reserve a copy for collection, email Julie Piening at julpine@hotmail.com