Snapshot of the past - Longwarry dance

A photograph of a dance held at the Longwarry Public Hall on June 1, 1935.
Serving as the social hub for small towns across Australia, public halls were often referred to as The Mechanics' Institute.
This name predominately dates back to England where they began as educational establishments. They were originally formed to provide adult education, particularly in technical subjects, to working men in Victorian-era Britain and its colonies.
However, in Australia, they quickly became the venue for community events such as games nights, fundraising, community meetings and receptions for weddings, debutante balls and parties.
One use of these halls was for town dances, a regular feature in the life of the community. The music was generally provided by local residents, sometimes just a piano player and sometimes with a community band.
By the early 1900s, Longwarry was no different. The Mechanics' Institute was used for all of these activities, but perhaps the most well received were the regular dances. Locals could gather and the young men of the town could get together socially with the young women and, in many cases, find a future husband or wife.
In fact, Longwarry has a long history of dances in its hall, which continues to this day with Monday night dancing and regular monthly Saturday night events.
Possibly the only period of time when dancing disappeared was in the early 1950s when the Longwarry Mechanics' Institute burnt down.
However, the local residents refused to take this set-back lightly and, by 1953, a new, bigger brick building - the envy of many neighbouring communities - was built.
Since then, a large supper room has been added, a library - now a community meeting room - and the RSL rooms that opened in 1961.
The forethought of the community hall committee to build such a large structure has been evident ever since. The facility has hosted functions of all types, large and small, and has been hired by many other neighbouring town organisations.
To have such a wonderful facility no doubt enabled Longwarry to host the pinnacle of local dances during the late 1960s into the 1970s.
Many locals still remember it as the place to go on a Saturday night. Apart from locals enjoying a night of music and dancing, buses were charted to bring patrons from as far away as Moe and Pakenham to enjoy a night in the Longwarry Hall.
Crowds of 600 people were common and even larger crowds attended when pop stars and recording artists from Melbourne were booked to perform.
The one night that so many remember was when "Daddy Cool" came to play in 1971. Booked much earlier in their career, before they rose to star status, the band honoured their contract and thrilled nearly 3000 patrons who paid for tickets to hear them play.
In fact, not all of those who had tickets could fit into the hall, and many stood outside to listen to the band.
The hall is still very much a community hub today. The large supper room is currently the home of Longwarry Lions Foodbank, and dances and receptions are still held. The RSL, senior citizens, history group, an informal coffee group, community lunches and community information events are all a part of the very busy schedule at the Longwarry Public Hall.
Photograph and information courtesy of Longwarry and District History Group.
The group is dedicated to preserving the history of the 3816 postcode, including Labertouche, Longwarry North and Modella.
For further information, visit longwarryhistory.org