A love of collecting and writing oral history has led to a unique book titled History Talking by local writer Helen McAnulty covering reminiscences of people from Gulgong, Mudgee and Orange. In his foreword Alexander Jenkins Professor Emeritus, University of Sydney, says "There is scarcely any aspect of life in those early years that escapes Helen's incisive gaze. Ranging from pioneering life through settlements, natural disasters, railways, communications and foreign war service."

Discover how Orange handled the Spanish flu, about switchboard operators, postal services, women in war time, the days of special deliveries, childhood games, washing days and changes in transport with stories from local residents.

Helen has been collecting and writing oral history for the past 30 years. Her newspaper column History Talking is based on her ongoing gathering of oral history and featured for many years in the Mudgee Guardian and now appears in the Central Western Daily.

In 1992 the Australia Day Council presented Helen with an award for "Achievement and outstanding contribution to the Community" and in 2002 she was recognised with a Premier's Award for outstanding service, both given for her work in gathering oral history Her research was also used by the Australian Broadcasting Commission in the 2002 documentary When the War Came to Australia. This book has been published by the Marsden Memorial Rural History Research Centre and supported by the Oral History Group.

History Talking on Friday 2 December, 11am at Orange City Library Byng St, Orange. Please book your place by calling the Library on 6393 8132.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but often that's only half the story. Sometimes the best memories come from recalling the stories behind the photo. And this includes your family stories!

The Central West Writers' Centre and ABC Open are inviting you to share your stories behind your favourite photos. Select three of your best photos and come along to the workshop to learn how to upload your photos to the ABC Open website and tell the story behind the images. It can be a family holiday pic, a photo of your ancestors and their story or just a favourite snapshot.

Maybe you vividly remember the moment it was taken, or maybe there is something captured within the image that speaks volumes about that time in your life. Whatever the image and story, we want to know about it. Select a couple of images to be emailed or brought along to the workshop:

Central West Writers' Centre

Orange City Library

Byng Street, Orange

Thursday 3 November

2.30pm – 4.30pm

Please book your place by calling Jasmine at the Library 6393 8125 or Luke at ABC Open 6393 2542. Free. For more details about the project go to abc.net.au/open

The Local Studies Room was buzzing with people keen to learn more about researching family history when Orange Family History Group and Orange City Library hosted its Family History Australian Records Workshop during Library and Information Week. It was a fantastic atmosphere as people had brought in their problem research questions and we set out to help them. There were many research breakthroughs during the workshop. Orange Family History Group members were on hand to assist people with their enquiries and took everyone through simple steps to help trace their ancestors. It was exciting to watch people discover information they had not been able to find out before. The evening event also renewed enthusiasm for family history research for several people. Group members were also able to offer alternative ways to search the internet when other avenues had been exhausted. It was a great night and we thank everyone for coming along.

Join Orange Family History Group at Orange City Library when we present a workshop to help you find the information you need for your family history project. The event is part of Library and Information Week 2011 and its theme "We find Stuff!"

Family History Australian Records Workshop

Thursday 26 May

7pm – 9pm

Orange City Library, Byng Street, Orange

Bookings on 6393 8132

Members will be on hand to assist you with your research enquiries. We assist with research requests all the time and can help with accessing things like Births, Deaths and Marriages Records on line and on CD Rom. There are also cemetery records, internet resources and State Records we can help family historians with. This is a follow up workshop to the highly successful Tracing your Family History – Beginners Guide held last year. Please book on 6393 8132 and bring along your research questions.

Family historians are invited to meet local author Elisabeth Edwards when she talks about her research into her latest book - a medical history of Orange titled In Sickness and in Health How medicine helped shape Orange's history. The project was supported by Orange City Council, Pinnacle Health Care and Orange Regional Arts Foundation to coincide with the opening of the new Orange hospital located on Forest Road. Learn more about the stories behind the book and her extensive research to record Orange's medical history. Meet Lis, hear her talk and ask questions at Orange City Library on Thursday 5 May at 5.30pm. Please book your place by calling 6393 8132.

Family historians were among the audience who joined in our Seniors Week Workshop on How to create a photo book supported by Officeworks (pictrued above) yesterday. Pictured below is Local Studies Librarian Peter Douglass with Sophie and Kristy from Officeworks. The first part of the workshop was led by Peter who went through easy steps to put together your own life story or family story. He talked about the importance of planning, using timelines and research and showed a wonderful example of a photo book used for family history. The second part of the seminar featured Sophie and Kristy who explained how the Officeworks photo book program works, costs, pages and what can be created using documents, images and text. Thank you for eveyone who came along and we hope you enjoy creating your own photo book.

Everyone has a story to tell and why not make it even better by creating it as a Photo Book. Seniors are invited to Making the Most of your Memories: Creating a Photo Book Workshop to be held from 2pm – 5pm on Thursday 24 March during Seniors Week. Learn to organise your information, personal stories, photos and documents to create your own book or perfect gift. Easy steps will be provided on how to plan your photo book as well as expert advice from the team at Officeworks. The workshop is free but bookings are required. Photo books are an exciting new way to record your family history including documents, certificates, photographs and personal stories and they make a great gift. Come along to Making the Most of your Memories: Creating a Photo Book on Thursday 24 March from 2pm – 5pm at Orange City Library, Byng Street, Orange Book your place on 6393 8132.

Many people were encouraged to learn more about their family history during Sunday's Experience Orange! Expo organised by the Rotary Club of Orange Daybreak. Orange Family History Group members helped many people with the starting blocks to begin family history research. The group was just one of 130 local community groups in Orange respresented at the Expo! Pictured are Marj and Shirley during a rare break in enquiries.

As the second largest employer in Orange the woollen mills played a very big role in the economic and social life in Orange. Email/Electrolux was the largest employer though established at a later date.

On Wednesday night (22nd September) at the Gladstone Hotel past employees will give an account of their experiences many of them over a long period of years. The main speakers will be Kate Malloy Armitt who was a textile examiner in the final inspection section and David Huck who was foreman in the weaving room. Jack Brown (born 1921) can remember the mill being built in 1925 and has a recording of the final blast of the Mill steam whistle when it closed in 1987. The meeting is the fourth in the Made in Orange series being run by the Orange and District Historical Society.

The meeting takes place at the Gladstone Hotel function room on Wednesday, September 22nd at 7 for 7.30pm. Everyone is welcome. There is a small charge of $3 for members of Orange and District Historical Society and $5 for non-members, to cover costs. Light refreshments will be served. If you have any inquiries or would like to attend the meeting, please RSVP to Phil Stevenson on 6362-3257, mobile 0402 412 188 or email ibiswines@bigpond.com

Guests gathered at both Blayney Library and Orange Libraries on Thursday to join in History Week celebrations with author and family historian Pamela J McGlinn. This year's theme for the History Council of NSW's History Week was Faces in the Street that shaped our past and present. Pamela McGlinn is a direct descendant of Henry Warburton and Mary Seaton, well known names in the Blayney and Spring Hill districts. After researching her family history she was so fascinated by their story, Pamela wrote a fictional account of their pioneering struggles titled A Distant Dream which won a NSW Writers' Centre Award for self-published fiction. During her visit she shared her family history information with interested guests, many also had connections to the Warburton and Seaton families. Pam McGlinn's fictional novels of the Warburton and Seaton families are available directly from her website: www.adistantdream.com and Collins Bookshop, Orange. A History Springs to Mind is a factual account of the history of Spring Hill written by Kerrin Cook and copies are available for sale through Central West Libraries and Orange Family History Group.