The more than 100-year-old Araluen Federal Hall survived the Black Summer bushfires but the building was at the heart of a community rocked by the constant fear of a beast at its doorstep.
"There were losses of infrastructure in the surrounding farms, stock losses and building losses including one family home," resident Margaret Stone said.
"The village of Araluen was spared but the ongoing effects of the fires is still felt by those who fought the fire and those who lived through those days."
The restoration and extension of the hall, a gathering place in one form or another since the 1860s, was already in the planning, but the bushfires of 2019-2020 solidified the project, the need for a place to feed and rest weary firefighters emphasised during the disaster.
And so, five years after the project started, in the wake of COVID and the bushfires, the newly restored and extended Araluen Federal Hall was officially opened on Saturday, a place now not just for emergency gatherings but for weddings (there was one last weekend), book club meetings, yoga, whatever is needed by the little village of [officially] 120 residents south of Braidwood.
Among the locals at the opening was 97-year-old Thelma Raynolds, who was born in Braidwood and lived in the Araluen valley with her husband Pring from 1949. To see the hall restored was very special.
"I'm overwhelmed. It's beautiful. I'm so grateful to everyone who helped," she said.
Mrs Raynolds remembered the dancing in the hall in its early days - and the supper afterwards.
"To boil the water for tea, we had a big copper out the back and we had a fire underneath it," she said. That copper had more recently, until the restoration, been a hideout for snakes.
"Probably," Mrs Raynolds said.
Her son Tim helped to open the restored hall, with fellow local Clem Wilson, 88, who moved to Araluen as a three-month-old to live in the local hotel, built by his grandfather.
He was also thrilled to see the hall back to its former glory, praising the two local women, Sally Robinson and Laurann Yen who lobbied, cajoled, persuaded governments to fund the project.
"It wouldn't have happened without them, I can tell you," he said.
Ms Robinson and Ms Yen, took on the mammoth task of applying for funding to upgrade the old hall, pull down the old annexe and construct a new addition with a commercial kitchen, disability toilets and shower and surrounded by beautiful gardens.
The original part of the hall was brought back to life as well, not least its Queenland tallowwood floors sanded and sealed. There are still plans to develop a the gardens further for functions such as weddings.
Ms Robinson said they ended up with $530,000 from five different federal or state grants. And the locals pitched in.
"Every time we needed something done, people came. People came with tractors to move things and trailers to take rubbish away. It was an amazing effort on behalf of the whole community," she said.
The Araluen Progress Association and trustees of the hall supported the project, specifying that timber from the original annexe be used in the new extension, with beautiful sliding doors created from the salvaged materials.
"There were seven halls in Araluen and this one is the hardest one to know how old it is," Ms Robinson. "But there's certainly references to the Federal Hall in 1901. But there was another hall on the other side from the 1860s but the age of this building is really unclear."
In a tribute to all their hard work, Ms Robinson and Ms Yen were announced joint winners of the Braidwood Citizen of the Year on Australia Day. They were glad to see the project brought to fruition.
"At the end of the day, the hall had stood for 100 years and we wanted it to stand for another 100 years," Ms Yen said. "And a hall that is going to retain that feel of country, a local country hall. It's a delight for everyone who uses it."
Ms Robinson said the hall was owned by the community.
"We had a wedding here last week and 100 people came," she said. "There's film club, there's yoga, all our community organisations have meetings here. There's wakes, there's funerals. I'd say something will be held here a couple of times a week."
Local children, Alexis Bryden, Isobel Harrison and Kit Marsh, also helped in the official opening, a nod to the building still being there for future generations.
"We want it to be here for them," Ms Yen said.
