"After my uncle passed away, I visited family in Cessnock and found an old frame
with a hand-coloured photo of my pop, Jared Hill. He was born in 1917 in Durham, northern
England, and learned to play the trumpet as a young boy. When Pop, his three brothers, and
my great-grandparents migrated to Cessnock, he kept up his trumpeting and joined a local
Salvation Army band, where this photo originates.
When I was given the frame earlier this year, it was coated in thick layers of cracked,
golden paint that I knew I wouldnt be able to remove myself. I'm so grateful to the Men's
Shed for the hours they spent restoring the frame back to as close to its original condition as
possible.
Pop continued to play the very trumpet he's holding in the photo until his passing in
1990 and I'm so pleased that I have the opportunity to hang this piece of family history at
home in better condition than I could have hoped for.'
Thank you so much to Donna Sloan for these kind words, and the chance to work on
such a significant part of her heritage.
And there’s a lesson here. Underneath all that crusty gold was delicately veined
timber and fragile plaster cornices. Softly, softly, we scraped and probed, sanded and rubbed,
filled and polished. Timber glowed as it drank up oil, the plaster rewarding us with each
whorl revealed.
Are you like this frame? Or perhaps someone you know, hiding beneath life's
troubles, evident in a sad face, a bent back, or a harsh reply. We can all help get those yucky
layers off, a little at a time, and help the real person come out.
Come to the Men’s Shed and see what we can do together.