Volunteers go down memory lane | Northern Rivers News | Local News in Northern Rivers

Volunteers go down memory lane

4th February 2010

LONG-term Red Cross volunteers were given the opportunity to revisit the past at Alstonville’s Crawford House Museum last week.

MEMORIES: Red Cross volunteers (from left) Pat Steeles, Mavis Strong, Daphne Noble and Elsie Johnston at the opening of a display on Red Cross at Crawford House Museum which runs until the end of March.

LONG-term Red Cross volunteers were given the opportunity to revisit the past at Alstonville’s Crawford House Museum last week.

Three volunteers who have racked up 70 years were among the guests invited to the opening of the latest display at the museum, Our life blood: Red Cross volunteers, put together by the Alstonville Plateau Historical Society.

Elsie Johnston, from Alstonville, Mavis Strong, from Fernleigh, and Pat Steeles, from Ballina, all joined Red Cross as teens and served during the World War II years, and continued to volunteer with the humanitarian organisation.

Elsie, now aged 94, has been a volunteer for 71 years, first joining the branch at Lynwood, a rural community south of Alstonville.

She remembers packing goodies into packs to be sent to the defence personnel overseas, and lots of knitting and cooking.

“It was hard work,” she said.

Mavis Strong, 82, is a member for Clunes branch, but lives at Fernleigh.

She has been a volunteer for 70 years.

“All your young soldiers, you knew their families – you felt by being a Red Cross volunteer and doing things you were doing something to help,” she said.

But Red Cross isn’t just about supporting troops during war.

Both Elsie and Mavis helped out during times of natural disasters, like flooding in Lismore.

The display at Crawford House Museum features many photographs and Red Cross memorabilia. It will run until the end of March.

Crawford House Museum is located at 10 Wardell Road, Alstonville, and is open Fridays from 10am to 4pm and Sundays from 1pm to 4pm.
 
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