Hilldene Fire Brigade has had a makeover.
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Many hands make light work recently proved true in the second home of Hilldene CFA’s dedicated volunteers.
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For a small, country brigade, volunteer Jake Williamson said the Hilldene members are “very lucky” with the space they have.
It was, however, time for a freshen up of the nearly 15-year-old station, and who best to turn to than the community?
The works, which spanned a period of 18 months, involved repainted walls, fresh carpeting and upgrades to the kitchen, which Mr Williamson said proved to be the greatest challenge.
The improvements to the station were the result of a massive community effort, where many local businesses, including some of the larger corporate bodies in town, got on board to offer their time and materials.
The updated space looks towards the future, while also paying homage the past. Photo: Jake Williamson
Mr Williamson said the true heroes were Choices Flooring, Marshall Cabinets, Regrained Timber Creations, Bunnings Seymour, Taubmans, Monarch Painting, True Magic Carpet Cleaning, Weldtron Fabrication, Tempest Electrical Solutions and the Seymour Masonic Lodge.
“We’re a small brigade, we don’t have a township to fundraise from. We have to try to draw on the community when we can and when they’re willing to help,” he said.
“With these great local companies - small local businesses and even bigger companies like Bunnings, Taubmans and Monarch - it was great that they were so willing to come to the party and help.”
Mr Williamson said the upgrades were about looking forward.
“It was just sort of future-proofing for us, and making it more user-friendly,” he said.
“We hold CFA courses, and we hold our own events there - we hold all sorts of different things.
“Now that the kitchen is more usable, we can do more ourselves for all of those events, and just make it a more usable space.”
Despite this future-focused mindset, a vital part of the revamp involved paying tribute to the history of the brigade.
The shelf below the TV, for example, has coins on it, each depicting a different era of the CFA, with the outer two coins having been made last year to celebrate the brigade’s 100-year anniversary.
The walls are also painted with CFA red and blue, the colours of the off-duty uniforms.
“We are big on paying homage to those before us in the brigade because there’s quite a bit of history,” Mr Williamson said.
“We want to start shining a light on it instead of hiding it all away because we’re obviously proud of our history and where we come from.”
There are still more plans to come for the station, including hanging photos of the brigade’s life members in a display of past and present.
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