Hearty Thanks & Congratulations
to Maree & Ray!
Maree Belyea
It is my pleasure to announce the award of life membership of the Camperdown & District Historical Society to Maree Belyea.
Maree is the Face of the Historical Society in the community.
Her research skills are legendary and she doesn’t leave a stone unturned in her efforts to find as much information as possible for research requests and projects.
She puts in an untold number of hours at the Heritage Centre doing research and working on Historical Society and Community Projects, such as the Lions Club Heritage Trail in Camperdown.
Maree is also one of the Historical Society’s representatives on the Burn’s Festival Committee, along with Bob Lambell, and has made a substantial contribution to the success of the Gala Dinner and the annual Lecture Series presented by our Society.
Going back into the archives, we found that Maree joined Camperdown & District Historical Society in 2007.
The first mention of her role as Society researcher is in 2010, but I am sure she was doing research prior to this.
In 2013 Maree joined the executive committee and in 2015 she took on the role of President for a year, becoming Secretary in 2016 – a position she still holds, together with that of Society Research Officer.
Maree is always helpful and constructive, no matter how busy she is and our Society would be far poorer without the great contribution she has made.
Written by Jan Whamond
Ray Watson
For over 21 years, Ray Watson has made an extraordinary contribution to the progress of the Camperdown & District Historical Society
Ray joined the Society in November 1999 and threw himself enthusiastically into Society affairs. As a recently retired sign writer, Ray brought with him many special life skills. Besides his wonderful sign writing, he is a meticulous designer and planner with great manual skills. Over the years Ray has also shown a keen interest in evolving information technology.
If you want to see Ray’s handywork, have a wander around the Camperodwn Heritage Centre: The excellent external signage and the labelling of rooms, cabinets and shelving are all Ray’s work. A special achievement was his building in of the stage area and his design and construction of the excellent shelving behind the stage which now houses our collection of rate books, newspapers and many other valuable items.
Ray has a life time interest in motor bikes. His knowledge, advice and sign writing skills were much valued during the restoration of our much prized 1926 AJS motor bike.
Ray served for 10 consecutive years on the Society executive committee, from 2010 to 2020. His service included two years as Secretary. He retired from the committee this year.
In recent years Ray has turned his attention to digitizing the Society’s extensive collection of historic photographs. So far he has processed in excess of 3000 photographs and they are now on a searchable database. Ray has also taught himself how to edit photos using the “Adobe Photoshop” program. He has digitally repaired and enhanced 100’s of photographs.
The award to Ray Watson of Life Membership of the Camperdown & District Historical Society is very well deserved. Well done Ray.
Written by Bob Lambell