Councillor Matters | Cr Karen Probst, July 24, 2026

Published on 24 July 2026

Let's ‘deck the halls’ and celebrate the role small halls play in our communities.  

I’ve been privileged to chair a few AGMs for small halls in our shire and at each event there is always a dedicated group of volunteers who spend the year looking after the buildings to preserve a piece of history and to keep that history alive for future generations. 

Since 2019, Banyena Hall has hosted a Winter Solstice Celebration with Mick Thomas, a Melbourne singer-songwriter of Weddings Parties Anything fame. Banyena attracts crowds larger than Mick’s concerts in Launceston and Swan Hill. It shows that people are drawn to places and events that celebrate community and offer something different; the welcome of fairy lights, campfires to socialise around, a spot to pull up the swag or caravan, a chance to relax and look at the stars. 

Speaking of camping, I often see caravans and the like pulled up at Kooreh Hall and in Stuart Mill, where locals provide clean toilet facilities for desperate travellers. I often stop by these facilities myself on my journey home from different parts of the shire, so from me to you, a huge thank you.  

Emu and Paradise have their community halls available for events and for public hire. Paradise Hall often has fun events for the whole family and Emu helps preserve a piece of history, housing the Emu State School and District Honour Roll that commemorates local students who served in the First World War. 

The one-of-a-kind Pebble Church is now protected for the future due to a determined group of locals who raised money to purchase it a few years ago. The building itself is a reminder of our gold mining past, built from white quartz pebbles collected by miners and their families from their gold mines in the surrounding area. At the recent opening of Kyle Torney’s mural ‘Children of Carapooee’, the past and present are blended with the importance of connections highlighted throughout.  

Have you discovered the hidden gem, our ‘MCG’? White picket fence, green grass, and a welcoming audience every Friday night at the Marnoo Cricket Ground for drinks, nibbles and a meal. 

It's not just the size that counts as our larger halls contribute too. The St Arnaud Cinema transforms the 'small' town hall, that is Macdonald Hall inside the St Arnaud Town Hall building, into a place for fortnightly for movie nights. The newly formed St Arnaud Theatre Group also hosted a very professional performance of The Hanging of Andrew Vair in the 'big' town hall recently, being Stewart Hall in the same building.  

‘Tis the season to celebrate Christmas in July, with St Arnaud Community Kitchen also hosting a Christmas lunch in the 'big' town hall – perfect weather to enjoy a hot roast meal and plum pudding. 

To all the volunteers who quietly contribute their precious time and energy in so many different ways, you make our communities special and provide so many different services and activities that often go unnoticed, so thank you.