How the Group was formed

In 1989 Andrew Burns and John Henderson called the first meeting with a group of blokes who would like to get together about 3 or 4 times a year to have a bit of fun and talk about their treasures

So we put together a small notice in the local paper and got permission to hold a gathering in the Esperance Golf Club rooms. There were 27 interested people who turned up and it was decided to ask the Esperance show committee if we could have a stand at the 1990 show to see what we could do. we had 57 exhibits so we called another meeting to decide if we would go on with the idea and the vote to carry on was unanimous.

after much discussion it was decided to call the group ‘Esperance mechanical restoration group’ as we had too many sections of items to make individual sections i.e. cars,tractors,motorbikes,machinery, household goods etc. This was our #1 meeting on 17th February 1991 with attendance of 29. membership was $25 per couple. there are 14 members from our first meeting still with us today and 19 deceased names on our remembrance wheel as at 31st march 2013.

meetings were held monthly initially at the golf club then Henderson’s shed,mini railway,sometimes private houses and then at our green shed. we have had a display every year at the Esperance show since we formed the group with a lot of interest from the public.

in 1997 we became an incorporated body and we applied to d.o.l.a. for a block of land in mC lean rd to build on and hold our displays. this site, loc 138 mclean rd was then vested in the shire of Esperance who leased a portion of this land reserve 44921 mclean rd to emrg as a peppercorn lease for 21 years.

we cleared a section of the area and erected a small colour bond shed. soon after len marsh donated material from cbh ship loader and the woolworths rebuild job. we erected a 195 sq m shed and ablution block in between them. over the years the shire,lotteries commission and the general public have been very helpful to our group in many ways. Esperance st john ambulance assn. asked if the group could house their 1954 dodge ambulance,fully equipped and in first class order named “gertie”, as they had no room for it. we agreed and we have since erected another large shed to accommodate this unit as well as many units of overflow from Esperance museum. a lot of members have items of their own displayed in the sheds as well as at their own properties and we use it at our altogether and at many outings.

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  since 1998 Esperance mechanical restoration group have:

  
  
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  had the entire reserve surveyed for boundary guidelines and fenced the entire reserve

  
  
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  grassed this area and planted trees and purchased a ride on mower

  
  
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  kept the grounds in good condition and maintained the firebreaks

  
  
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  reticulated the area.installed a windmill and obtained grants for water storage tanks

  
  
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  constructed 3 sheds and an ablution area with shire approval.

  
  

  our group is a non profit incorporated organisation with membership continuing to steadily increase.our membership consists of both men and women of all ages with financial membership at 94 as at 24th January 2015.

  
  
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