Getting to know your neighbour – Launch of Hidden Gems Collection
A PASSION FOR WORDS AND LISTENING TO PEOPLE’S STORIES HAS BECOME A LABOUR OF LOVE FOR GEMLIFE WOODEND HOMEOWNER GRAEME WOODS WHO IS DOING SOMETHING REALLY SPECIAL FOR HIS NEIGHBOURS.
Graeme, 85 – a resident of four years – has spent more than two years on the Hidden Gems Collection, an anthology that recounts stories of his fellow homeowners at the resort.
With the help of his wife Ros and resort manager, Leanne Boxshall, 38 stories have been collated into a special book with photos, available in the library and for residents to order if they’d like a copy for themselves.
Graeme, a former director at a meat and smallgoods company, said he has always enjoyed English and reading. He runs two book clubs at the resort and looks after the library.
“Before the Country Club was built, we had street parties where I heard so many recollections from different people. I thought about how many more there must be that no one knows about.
I went to Leanne with the idea to write down people’s stories, if they wanted me to, and she was 100 percent behind it,” Graeme said.
“What I do is simply ask them questions such as where they were born, where they went to school, if they had any ambitions, and then follow their life story through.
“I write it up in my style, read it to them to make sure it’s up to their standards, and we get it typed up to fit on one A4 page. The story is then displayed in the library for three weeks before going into the loose-leaf folder to become part of the Hidden Gems Collection – a name we thought was perfect for GemLife.”
The first volume of the hard-cover book was recently launched at a special event at the Country Club, with more than 150 people in attendance.
“The book has been well-received with 51 people ordering one,” Graeme said. “We are in a unique situation here because when you live in a suburb you might hardly know anyone around you, but here there are about 400 people so you’re spreading your story to a vast audience.”
Graeme said he’d heard personal stories which might help people get something off their chest such as their war service. And there is a story about a homeowner saving another man’s life while swimming in the ocean that even his children hadn’t heard before the story was printed.
“I think we might get more customers now after the book has come out,” Graeme laughed.
“Hopefully this idea will take off in other GemLife resorts and I am only too happy to help other people get started if they’d like to speak to me.”
A copy of volume one of the Hidden Gems Collection is available to borrow in GemLife Woodend’s library.