PICNICKING – A POPULAR PASTTIME OF THE PAST

Proserpine Museum’s photographic archives contain many delightful old photos of picnics held in the district in the past; picnics that provided families with the opportunity to rest and relax; to meet up with friends and acquaintances and to celebrate special occasions.
The Mill Picnic at Gracemere.
In our files we found several lovely old photos of families preparing to board the cane trucks for the journey to Gracemere Creek/Lake past the Kelsey Creek turnoff. People donned their best outfits – men in suits and hats and ladies in lovely dresses, hats and wearing high heels no less! They flocked to the sugar mill yard and made themselves comfortable for a ride on trucks drawn by a locomotive which took them to their destination.  Ironically, when cars became more plentiful and one would naturally assume that the popularity would grow with the ease of travel, the mill picnics were no more.
Picnics at Cannonvale Beach
In these early days with no bitumen on the road, the journey to the popular Boxing Day picnic at Cannonvale (then called Cannon Valley) was long and dusty. The dust hung in the air and covered the trees, but this did not deter eager locals and hundreds of people made their way there annually.
Another popular spot “out in the bush” of Cannon Valley at this time was a water spot used by schooners of old. It consisted of a fresh water spring below the tide mark, located a little north of the old stone jetty at the seaward end of “Cannon Valley” Beach and is clearly marked today on the boardwalk.
Picnicking on the river banks
The Proserpine River, along with such places as the O’Connell and Andromache Rivers, were frequented by many families on weekends. And sometimes it was just groups of women and children who ventured there for an afternoon tea and the chance to escape the tedium of their daily chores. The accompanying photo of a picnic on the river bank in 1917 is a classic example. No bathers or other “scanty” clothing at these gatherings! And clearly no concern about crocodiles.
School Picnics
And then there were the greatly anticipated school picnics!
The “Proserpine Guardian” (22 December 1934) contained this story about a typical school picnic.
“The Strathdickie School held its annual picnic in the school grounds on December 15th. The kiddies had a wonderful time, the public turning up in great style. The day was a record both in attendance and from a financial point, the weather being ideal. The ladies and the committee got ready early and worked hard giving the children ‘the day of their lives’. The committee kept the sports going merrily, egg and spoon races, skipping, high jumping and vaulting. The little ones racing on stilts was something to watch. The ladies were kept busy - sandwiches, cakes, fruit, soft drinks and lollies all day until the kiddies cried, ‘Enough!’ The presentation of books followed.
Skip [Elwyn] Parker, at the Cannonvale School from 1932 to 1942, remembered the preparations well. “The whole district stopped for the school picnics. The day before, we all brought scrubbing brushes and soap and spent the whole day scrubbing desks, stools, and the floors. They were occasions to be enjoyed by school children, parents and their grandparents.”
Such was the strength of the tradition of break up picnics that, in 1919, the Cannonvale School picnic went ahead even though the school was closed because there was no teacher.  
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Story and photo courtesy Proserpine Historical Museum.

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