Fishing for Dugongs at Amity Point, the Wellington Point oil well and strawberry farming are just some of the stories of the Redlands’ rich history now available online thanks to a new Redland Libraries initiative.

Redland City Mayor Karen Williams said ‘Redland Voices’ was an online catalogue of local stories told by past and present residents that helped keep the Redlands’ history alive.

“These recordings include many important chapters of Redlands local history as they were told in past interviews with well-known local residents,” she said.

“Redland Voices also includes digitised material and historical photographs to accompany the voice-overs, with the stories available online through the social media platforms Historypin and Youtube.

“The Redlands has a proud local history that has been influenced by its residents, so to hear these stories from those who helped forge this history is truly poignant.

“These excerpts provide a fascinating insight into how we grew into the great City we are today such as fundraising efforts to establish the first ambulance services in 1945 and the early Redlands timber industry.

“Other examples include stories of growing strawberries in Redlands, early shopkeeping days at Cleveland’s Despot’s store and memories of local dances where many couples met.”

Council’s Cultural Services Spokesperson Cr Lance Hewlett said Redland Voices was a joint initiative with Queensland State Library.

“Redland Libraries were one of only 10 applicants in Queensland to receive funding to digitise 20 hours of local oral history interviews through the Playback Project.

“The full interviews will be available through the State Library catalogue in coming months, but Redland Libraries has also ensured people have easy access to excerpts online through Redland Voices.

Three of the original interviewees, Merv Genrich, Bob Skinner and Jim Wallis attended the event launch yesterday along with family and friends to celebrate the stories and their ongoing value to the community.

Redland Libraries has also produced a 10 minute digital story entitled: Rail to Redlands- Memories and Recollections of the Cleveland Railway, which will be showcased at the morning tea.

You can access the digitised recordings at http://www.historypin.org (just type a suburb into the search box and click on a photo cluster). The audio excerpts can also be found under “Redland Voices” on YouTube.