30th anniversary celebration of Yarns Artwork in Silk 

On a windy Sunday afternoon in March, over 50 ‘Yarners’ met to celebrate and renew old friendships at the Great Western Tiers Visitor’s Centre.

Niecy Brown, artistic director for Yarns, welcomed all to the happy event. She acknowledged and thanked Vicki Pryer and the GWTVC volunteers, the men and women who created the artwork, and those members of the original Yarns Committee who were present, including Connie Bennett.

Local artist Tony Smibert paid tribute to Mr Ned Terry, the instigator of the community project over 30 years ago. Ned was acknowledged for his vision, foresight and tenacity – and skill as a fisherman. Tony shared a memory of Ned arriving at his doorstep with a large trout – and a request for advice on one of the panels!

Next, Jenny Seaton, a member of the original Committee and contributor to the Autumn panel, shared her thoughts about the history and value of needlework to society over the centuries. She pointed out that while the women who made Yarns will not live forever, the beautiful work they produced and their contribution to the social networks in the Meander Valley will live long after us. She mentioned that the making was not always plain sailing and that there were issues that required diplomacy to resolve, explaining that that was one of Yarn’s triumphs – the building of respect across widely differing sectors of the community, for the views of others.

The final speaker was Lexie Young, who spoke warmly about her joy and pride in assisting with the making of Yarns, and the value to all of the lifelong friendships formed. She also had a story about Ned’s penchant for fish gifts when he was seeking to interest Niecy in changing a certain aspect of one of the panels.

The third and final fish story was shared by Niecy, saying “Dear Ned also had a very very big fish that he presented to me on a Xmas day, when the family was about to consume a turkey with all the trimmings. He was still on the trail of having that pesky banner removed from the summer panel.” The banner in question (Save Old Growth Forests) was in fact barely visible and remains to this day, due to the united voice of the women in the workroom. They felt that it was just as much part of Meander Valley’s history as the representations of logging, tree plantations and pine forests.

By this time, the sun had come out, the wind had dropped, and the fine array of scrumptious food brought by the Yarners was happily tucked into. The buzz of conversations mounted as reminiscences were shared and friendships renewed amidst the now calm surrounds of the beautiful GWTVC gardens.