The Lawrence Museum has not re-opened to the general public as yet, however there is still plenty going on behind closed doors.

Lawrence Museum’s vice-president Roz Jones said that their main reason for not re-opened is because of the compliance requirements for COVID-19.

“Most of our volunteers are over the age of 65, with most of them being over 70,” Ms Jones said.

“It’s too much to ask of them to do all the training for COVID-19 and follow all the compliance requirements.

“They are all volunteers, and they don’t get paid for doing this, so why should they take the risk.

“So, that’s a concern for us, however, it has presented us with the opportunity to work on the new displays more quickly than we would have done otherwise.

“We’ve been very busy on the first floor of the new shed creating new displays here.

“We have four rooms which are themed in the 1930s because that’s when the original building here was constructed (it was completed in 1936).

“The 1930s living room has a lovely art deco clock and is tuned in to the 1930s radio. The furniture is from the era and importantly, where possible, it’s local.

“We have two chairs belonging to the Ensbey family which were donated last year, and the lounge suite is donated by the McPhee family. The piano was also donated by the Ensbey family. It was donated a few years ago but hasn’t been on display as yet; it’s now been cleaned up and will be on display in the living room.

“The other rooms are the bedroom, dining room and kitchen. In the kitchen we have a 1930s fridge that was recently donated and was originally in the presbytery of the Catholic Church in Cowper. It went to Brushgrove before being donated to us and our president Rob, has since restored it.

“The kitchen was designed on a 1930s kitchen and while we were closed down (over the COVID period), one of our volunteers Terry drew up plans for it and made it in his workshop at home. The kitchen has an original sink, which has also been restored.

“Other areas on the top floor include: a laundry/ bathroom area, sewing area, a child’s bedroom with toys, a school room which includes the old Woodford Dale School piano and old school desks. There is a large display of china and silverware and display cabinets which were donated by the Harrison family of Lawrence and a gentleman from Maclean.

“There will be an area of sporting memorabilia (tennis, fishing and horse racing – as Lawrence is quite famous for horse racing), along with a medical area which includes an old hospital bed and ambulance.

“Another display area within the museum complex houses an old flood boat, the Cedar Queen.

“We’ve just been given a grant through the Australian National Maritime Museum for the restoration of the boat. So, we’ve been talking to a shipwright, Bill Gleeson from Brushgrove, and he will come and collect the boat over the next few weeks and take it to his workshop for restoration.

“It was originally built from cedar from up around Copmanhurst and has a lot of local history attached to it.

“Other work currently taking place at the museum is the cleaning and renovating all of the display units to bring them back to life. We also have the old Lawrence Printing Press which we’re hoping to get operational once again.

“So, as you can see there is a lot happening here at the museum, behind closed doors,

“We are constantly monitoring the COVID-19 requirements and we look forward to welcoming visitors, when we are able,” she said.