A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE HALL AND AN OVERVIEW OF THE CURRENT USER GROUPS
Callala Bay Progress Hall is not just a venue for activities, but an essential part of the history and community identity of Callala Bay. When still a small community in 1963, local pioneer families of the area formed a Progress Association. The small community held fund raising activities to buy the land for the hall, and con
tinued fund raising later to build the hall and fire shed. Building, which involved a lot of volunteer labour, commenced in late 1969, and the hall/fire shed was officially opened in March 1970. Further extensions were made in 1979 and 1984 (including building the tennis court), funded again through vigorous local fundraising and state and government support. To avoid hefty rates and taxes, land ownership was transferred to Council in 1967 and placed in trust to the Callala Bay Progress Association for the purposes of building a hall. From the beginning, this hall has had a proud sense of community ownership. Its history is also entwined with the history of Callala's Bush Fire Brigade. The hall is rich with stories and deserves heritage listing. A sense of strong community ownership persists. The current committee is made up of dedicated volunteers. Volunteers also do all the hall cleaning, and we have regular working bees for the inside and the grounds. The committee has begun to gather some of the hall's history for the FaceBook page and to display in the hall itself. ACTIVITIES
The hall has a wide variety of use. Many comment on the ambience and special features the hall has to offer, especially its wooden floor and wooden panel lower walls. It is great for dancing, yoga and tai chi, and has terrific acoustics for music. Regular users include the following:
• craft group ( a foundation group since the hall was built)
• folk dancing group - this group has been going for 15 years.
• Yoga - this group has been meeting regularly in the hall for 12 years.
• Kids yoga- occasional workshops
• worship group
• Tai Chi – has been meeting for 3 years
• Over '60s Fitness Classes
Pre Covid there were music nights and dance classes. A group is waiting to start a rock 'n roll dance class, and others want to start music nights again. The hall is regularly used for childrens' birthday parties (the playground is a bonus for this). A Callala Bay-based indigenous catering company wishes to hold pop-up dinners. In addition, baby showers, adult birthday parties, weddings and wedding anniversaries, private garage sales and fund raisers are among some of the other many and varied uses of the Hall. Apart from the actual hall, we should not forget the tennis court (opened in 1985) which attracts regular users. This is popular with younger residents and also visitors to Callala in the summer. Two young residents organised a highly successful tennis clinic for children last summer.
