THIRTY years have passed since Moreton Shire was merged with the Ipswich City Council.
A group of former colleagues have planned a reunion and have put out a call for memorabilia and photographs from that time period.
The former council was made up of more than just its figure heads.
There were labourers, accountants, secretaries and countless other roles filled by local residents.
More recently, some of them began meeting at a cafe for catch up coffees and that’s when the idea was hatched.
“A past employee, a man in his mid 80s, told his wife he was bored sitting at home,” said former Moreton Shire Council worker Jeff Rice.
“She told him to invite some of his friends to the cafe [she worked at], she’d make sandwiches and they could chat.
“He did that and we kept it to a small group of about five people.
“One day we realised it would soon be 30 years since the merger.
“No one believed me because that meant they were getting old.
“We decided to organise a reunion.”
Jeff said the idea snowballed from there and the men began reaching out to everyone they knew from that era.
“Many of us have stayed friends and kept in contact over the years,” he said.
“It was just a case of renewing friendships and getting back together again.
“The majority of us worked together fairly well. There was a lot of fun to be had back in the day.”
A committee of three are working hard to reach as many former Moreton Shire Council workers to the reunion as possible.
Jeff is joined on the committee by Ken Freiberg and Tom Hutton.
“Most of our contacts and what we are working on goes back to the early 1970s,” he said.
“Ken started in September 1972 and Tom in 1985.
“I went in as an apprentice motor mechanic, then into the stores and purchasing side of things.
“I was there for 26-and-a-half years.”
Ken worked first as a labourer, then progressed to machine operator and truck driver.
He was with Moreton Shire Council for 48 years.
“We have about 90 positives on the list so far, and we have about as many who’ve passed away on another list,” he said.
“We are still trying to track down maybe 20 or 30 other people and have put out tentacles. It’s getting harder and harder to track them down.”
Rosewood stalwart David Pahlke is a ‘positive’ on the list.
He was a councillor on Moreton Shire and Ipswich councils and describes the experience on the former council as the ‘innocent days’.
Innocent or simpler, it was different.
Moreton Shire councillors attended evening meetings because they had day jobs.
“Because I was postmaster in Rosewood, I was in touch with the community and had lots of supporters. Still do,” he said.
“When your community is behind you, that drives you to do these things.
“[As Moreton Shire councillor] I worked 25 hours a week and was paid $16,000 a year. I had to have another job as you can’t survive on that salary.”
In 1995, news of the amalgamation tore apart two councils.
On one side were 12 Moreton Shire councillors and on the other, 12 belonging to Ipswich.
“There was only space for 12 councillors, there couldn’t be a council of 22,” he said.
“There was an election, those who wanted to stay ran and those who didn’t, left.
“It wasn’t really an issue because to be councillor you run for re-election, this was just more of the same.”
David ran for re-election and was voted back in.
“The term was five years, until the year 2000,” he said.
“It was a full time job.
“I was working about 70 hours a week for $105,000 a year.
“It was very high pressure, that’s why I keep saying they were the innocent days.”
Thirty years ago, councillors were judged at time of re-election. They knew soon enough how the community felt because they were either in or out.
“Nowadays, opinions are voiced on social media and all you hear are those who don’t agree,” David said.
“I stood for eight elections and won eight elections, so that tells you something.”
On March 22, there will be a reunion for all former Moreton Shire Council staff at the Royal Hotel in Harrisville.
Those who have memorabilia, photographs or memories to share are asked to do so by contacting Tom, Jeff or Ken.
