Take a stroll down memory lane and step into the story of Beaudesert

The opening waltz during the Official Opening of the Beaudesert Shire Hall, 1962, photographed by Wilfred Moss, Moss Studio.

An exhibition inviting the Scenic Rim community to take a stroll down memory lane and step into the story of Beaudesert will be a highlight of the town's 150th birthday celebrations this year. 

Come on a Journey - Beaudesert 150 Years - opens this week at The Centre Beaudesert and tells the town's story through residents' recollections, evocative images, newspaper articles, and objects to mark its sesquicentenary. 

Scenic Rim's Community, Arts and Culture Portfolio Councillor Kerri Cryer said the exhibition provided a visual perspective of Beaudesert. 

"Visitors to the exhibition will see Beaudesert as a special place in our Scenic Rim region, a vibrant home to generations as well as new families, with a rich history and some fascinating stories to tell," she said. 

Among those is the story of Billy Drumley, one of the first Aboriginal people in Beaudesert to own land, and who bought 0.8 hectares (two acres) in what is now Drumley Street. 

Known as a kind and generous man, he taught many young Indigenous men of the district about their culture and the importance of a good work ethic, including Neville Bonner who stayed with the Drumley family for many years and went on to become the first Indigenous member of the Australian Parliament. 

Another first for Beaudesert was the Imperial Picture Theatre. With an exquisitely panelled façade and a large neon sign that sparkled in a myriad of colours, it gave Beaudesert in the 1930s a city ambience and was the first provincial theatre in Queensland to screen films in the Cinemascope format. 

Enrights, which opened as a small general store in Beaudesert in 1884, became one of the largest country stores in Australia and operated as a bank on Saturdays, making it a target for thieves. 

The store was renowned for selling a wide variety of goods including dynamite which, in the 1960s, was used by thieves to blow Enrights' safe and steal cash which was never recovered. 

The store was sold to Walter Reid and Co in 1976 and was eventually destroyed by fire in 1995. 

Disastrous fires are a recurring theme in Beaudesert's history.

The landmark Grand Hotel, built in 1906 entirely of timber from the owner's Kerry property, had 25 rooms, including bathrooms, two parlours,14 bedrooms and a magnificent staircase leading to the upper levels.  

Following the addition of a huge ballroom in 1939, it became one of the town's most popular meeting places but burnt to the ground in 1963. 

"I am sure the stories and artefacts in the exhibition will spark many memories and the Postcards to Beaudesert community wall invites everyone to be part of this display by adding their own recollections to the stories," Cr Cryer said. 

The exhibition runs from Saturday 3 August until Saturday 5 October and will be opened with a free Community Celebration High Tea on Friday 9 August at 10am, when locals and historians will gather to reminisce and share their stories about Beaudesert.  

Registrations are required for catering and bookings can be made online at creativescenicrim.com or by phoning 5540 5050.