The Stories of Drouin project is a cooperative venture between The Committee for Drouin, Community Radio Station 3BBR FM and the Drouin History Group. We gratefully acknowledge the support of the Victorian Government and Public Record Office Victoria for funding for stage one and Drouin and District Community Bank for funding for stage two of the project.
It is said that "Life is a story" and it's true. So a town of many lives is rich in stories. This is certainly true of our town Drouin.
In 2015 ‘The Stories of Drouin’ project began with people from three partner organizations joining together to record the stories of their town. Drouin has been a small town for most of its life, having been settled later than other Victorian towns because of the dense forest which covered the land. Pioneers and early settlers arrived in the late 1800s and worked hard to clear the land and establish a community. Life was primitive and hard. Only the resilient survived.
Because it is a relatively young town, there are residents in Drouin who can go back just three generations to the pioneers, and they have wonderful stories to tell. Many people have lived and worked in Drouin or the district all their lives. People knew each other and banded together when times were hard. Farmers, timbermillers, businessmen, school teachers, shopkeepers, churches, sporting clubs, publicans, servicemen and women, shire employees and councillors, blacksmiths, truck drivers, quarrymen, fire brigades, musicians and those who worked for industries such as the Drouin Butter Factory, the flaxmills, plasterworks, and Classic Weaving Mills were all part of the community.
But the town is changing with the population growing exponentially because Drouin is now considered a peri-urban suburb of Melbourne. Thousands of people are moving from Melbourne’s suburbs and much of the town, farmland and community is changing and changing rapidly.
In 2015 when The Committee for Drouin was looking at the ‘assets’ of Drouin, the local people were identified as one of its greatest assets. The Stories of Drouin committee was formed and then spent four years interviewing, recording, editing and presenting the stories of the people of Drouin and the Buln Buln Shire. We hope the stories will do justice to the legacy of those who have come before us and been part of the fabric of our district and we hope the stories will inspire those who now choose to call Drouin ‘home’.
Judy Farmer Committee for Drouin
Lynn Wells Radio 3BBR
Rosemary Blackley Drouin History Group
Keith Cook Drouin History Group and Committee for Drouin
Rob Stewart Committee for Drouin
Wes Dobson Committee for Drouin and Drouin History Group
Diane Cook Drouin History Group