Our cameo talk, presented by Win Frankland, one of our society members, is about her family, well known Traralgon residents, the Hehir family, and includes recollections of
Traralgon in earlier years.      

My father, Dennis James Hehir, told us that when, around 1892, he and his cousin brought cattle down from Huntley, in the Shepparton area, on their way to Mossiface, near Bairnsdale, where he had bought or selected land. They got to Traralgon as it was getting dark and decided to camp the night and rest the cattle. Where they camped was near where the R.S.L. Club is now. Dad suggested to his cousin that there could be a little hamlet down at the bottom of the hill and that at day break they should go to have a look.

After he settled at Mossiface, he brought his mother and two of his sisters from Huntley to Lakes Entrance, or Cunningham as it was then known. They bought a guest house, Kia Ora, and a big house beside it, which was a wine saloon. One of his sisters, however, was a bit narrow-minded and wouldn’t have a bar of the wine saloon so they kept it and used it for when they had an overflow from the guest house, which often happened. Dad’s mother passed away when she was quite young but they kept the houses for many, many years. When our son and daughter, Graham and Denise, were young, my husband, Paddy, and I bought the house for holidays.

I don’t know when my mother and her family moved to Cunningham but Mum’s father bought land at Bunga Creek and they lived there for many years. Grandad gave land so that a school could be built. I don’t know how Mum and Dad met but they were the first couple to be married, around 1906, in St Brendon’s Catholic Church. They came to Traralgon in February 1919 and I was born in August that year at 70 Kay Street; the house is still there. Dad’s two sisters, one of them a midwife, were with Mum and they named me after themselves, Winifred Bridget.

When my parents first came to Traralgon, my mum said to my dad, "Don’t unpack much, I don’t like this place, I won’t be staying here long". Many years later, at the suggestion of any of us moving, Mum would say, "Why, what’s wrong with Traralgon?" - it was a standing joke. I think Dad first worked at the old Gas Works; it was near where the swimming pool is now, on the corner of Kay and Breed Streets. He later worked on what was called the Long Bridge, near the Thomson Reserve. He had a fall off the bridge and was unconscious in the old Cumnock Hospital for a few days.

My mother lived here until she passed away at the age of 92 in 1974. My father passed away at the age of 82 in 1954. They had many good years in Traralgon and were involved in many things. Dad would do a lot of gardening and cut hedges at the convent and the presbytery, and he would take them lots of vegies while Mum would bake for the nuns, as was the norm in those days, "poor but honest". They were both keen football supporters and my eldest brother, Bill, was a trainer.

When Bill left school he worked for Stoddart’s Butchers and later became a carpenter and worked on the old hospital. He shifted to Melbourne but one day had a fall off a building and passed away a few days later. He was in the Air force during the war. My sister, Mary, worked at the old Gippsland Trading Company (later Clauscen’s) with Miss Madge Holt doing dressmaking in the back part of the shop. My brother, Jack, also worked at the Gippsland Trading Company in the men’s department. He then worked on noxious weeds, spraying ragwort, and later at the paper mill. He passed away when he was 67 years old. My brother, Din, worked at a bakery when he was young, then he also worked on noxious weeds. They both got emphysema, apparently from the sprays they used. Din was in the army during the war and got married while on leave. When he left the army, he and his wife went to N.S.W. and lived on a station until he passed away at the age of 66. My sister, Agnes, worked at Robinson’s fish and chip shop in Seymour Street and also at the baker’s shop in Franklin Street. I worked at the ‘Snuggle Inn’ restaurant in Franklin Street for Jack and Flo Hunter until they sold out and then in the Johnson’s fruit and lolly shop until I was married in 1940.