GEORGE NEWS - A lovely brochure to commemorate George’s bicentenary was launched by the Outeniqua Historical Society last week.

The brochure, entitled Historic George 1811 - 2011, is colourful and gives a synoptic overview of the establishment and development of the town, supported by a delightful collection of pictures from the archives of the George Museum. It was a labour of love by three members of the Society, who worked within financial constraints. Despite this, they did an admirable job. The brochure was funded from a bequest made by Charles Sayers, founder of the George Museum, to a group of people who established what became the Outeniqua Historical Society.

A good selection of pictures (from thousands) was made to depict, amongst others, different modes of transport, historical roads and buildings, dress codes from the Victorian era, a street scene or two and examples of the famous Volkwijn chairs. There are short descriptions of several major historical moments including the implementation of the Group Areas Act, the establishment of facilities for aviation and the arrival of telegraphic communication in George.
The three Society members responsible for the brochure are Chairman Allen Duff, Lynne Thompson, who is a researcher at the George Museum, and Chris MacKay.

Speaking at the launch, Allen said there are a good deal of buildings in the brochure, partly because buildings are tangible entities of our historical heritage. He lauded Lynne for the "astronomical" amount of research she has done on George’s buildings and Chris who has scanned all the museum’s photos, a "mammoth" task that took him years to complete on a voluntary basis.

CD format available for schools
The colourful brochure is in an A2 broadsheet format, folded to a size A5. It is available from the George Tourism Office.
"It was envisaged that content should not only be commemorative, but also educative for young learners in their school curriculum. The brochure is therefore available to educators in a CD format too," said Allen.
Schools who wish to obtain a copy, may contact Allen at theredhouse@intekom.co.za.

ARTICLE AND PHOTO: ALIDA DE BEER