Some new hands are being sought to help steer the Standing Stones Management Board, which holds its annual general meeting next Wednesday, August 27.
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Original members such as Colin Lute – who has been on the board since its inception 19 years ago – feel they’ve done their job and it’s time to move on, and others are required to take their place.
Mr Lute and fellow long-serving board member John Mathew are typical of the keen community members that took up the challenge that grew out of a Scottish bicentennial gift to Australia of a cairn of stones, each representing a province of Scotland. Mr Lute said there was considerable competition, including an application from Glen Innes courtesy of John Tregurtha, for where the cairn should repose but it ended up in Mosman, Sydney.
“That was alright for the Scots, but it spurred the Celtic Council of Australia to explore the possibility of a monument for all Celts, and Lex Ritchie of the tourism office put in a fantastic application,” he said.
Given the go-ahead the community got on board and, after researching other stone arrays overseas, a fundraising effort got underway.
“There are 40 stones in the array and we sold naming rights for $1000 each,” Mr Lute said.
“We thought we’d struggle to sell them, but they were all sold in two weeks.”
Finding the right stones was a challenge, despite being in granite country, but council engineer George Rosynski and retired policeman Bill Tyson are credited with accomplishing the task.
“George was the right man at the right time,” Mr Lute said.
A ‘355’ council subcommittee, called the Standing Stones Management Board, was established and the site opened in 1992. The board also ran the Australian Celtic Festival for its first 12 years, until the growth of the festival demanded a separate committee be formed to oversee its development.
Mr Lute said ultimately the Standing Stones cost less than the price of a house, thanks largely to donations of time and materials.
“It was a community effort,” he said, “a labour of love.
“It’s the first megalithic stone array erected anywhere in the last 3000 years, to our knowledge, and the first in the southern hemisphere.”
Two decades later members of the management board number nine, but can be up to 12.
“Some are hoping to move on, and we’re looking for fresh blood,” Mr Lute said.
The board acts as an advisory board to Glen Innes Severn Council, looking to maintain the integrity of the site, and to offer suggestions and initiatives for its development. It oversees a number of ceremonies including the summer and winter solstices and the patron saints days, and certain official ceremonies during the Australian Celtic Festival in conjunction with the festival’s organising committee. Mr Mathews said the latter includes the street parade, dawn service, kirking of the tartan and the opening ceremony.
Mr Lute would like to see the Standing Stones site illuminated, to pave the way for night-time events and to attract more tourists after-hours. He would also like to see the natural amphitheatre developed, and even perhaps the building of a cultural centre incorporating an observation tower.
“But it all comes down to budget,” he said.
“Economically the site’s a very important asset for the town, bringing busloads of tourists in.”
The Standing Stones Manag-ement Board AGM starts at 6pm at the Glen Innes and District Services Club, following a board meeting at 5.30pm. Mr Lute said anyone interested in joining the board can pre-nominate using a form available at council offices and on-line at http://gisc.nsw
.gov.au/images/documents
/gisc/mig/3410-.Nomination.