The Korumburra Brass Band’s Mace

Written by Dennis Conn

The Korumburra Brass Band was formed during the period of the former Shire of Korumburra Council and was comprised of local and district people, supported by their wives and residents. The band member’s leader – master and president was the late Mr Charlie Baxter, his occupation being the dairy inspector for the Korumburra rural district. He and his wife Esme were ardent supporters of the Brass Band and put a great deal of time and effort into fund raising to support and sustain it, along with the members of its auxiliary and the committee of the marching girls which operated in association with the band. The marching girls leader and committee chair person was the late Mrs Myrtle Wrench.

Shortly after the band formed, they acquired a wooden staff, also known as a mace, usually adorned with metal decorative sections. A mace was not just a decorative item but had a practical purpose. The leader and master of the band at the head of a parade, would use his mace to give directions to those marching behind him, indicating with the mace when to stop, turn left or right, march on the spot and various other movements in tune with the music being played, the mace often being twirled.

Supporters of the band raised money for the purchase of a mace by holding home-made cake stalls and raffles. A magnificent mace, with silver ornamentation was purchased after a great deal of fund raising and effort, it was used for many years as an integral part of the Korumburra Brass Band whenever there was a street parade, social event, or celebrations that were enhanced by the band’s presence.

Unfortunately after many years of service some of the band members due to their age or ill health could no longer continue. Charlie Baxter passed away in 1970 at a comparatively young age, the late Herb Kemp became the band master but membership dwindled and around 1980 the band was no longer functioning.

In 1983 the remaining members of the Brass Band auxiliary and the committee of the marching girls handed over the funds they were holding to the Korumburra Shire Council, a cheque for $1,200.00 which paid for the purchase of a piano for Korumburra’s new recreation centre.

The last visible remnant of the Brass Band, their magnificent mace was also given to the Korumburra Shire Council. A secure glass case was made for it along with a plaque that explained its history, it was displayed just inside the Korumburra Shire Council Offices main entrance as a tangible object of Korumburra’s recent history, an object to be valued.

After council amalgamations, the mace was placed in a corner of what had become the art gallery. A music teacher from the Leongatha Secondary College asked South Gippsland Shire Council to borrow it to be used by his college band on Armistice Day at Meeniyan. It was later returned to the South Gippsland Shire Council, now the legitimate owner of it.

The mace is a valuable item, not only in monetary terms but more importantly historical terms, it may be seen as a portal through which one can catch a glimpse of a vibrant period of our local history.

As a former long – term employee of both the former Shire of Korumburra, the South Gippsland Shire Council and also a life time resident, I have a thorough knowledge of the journey the mace has been on, both in and out of our community. It is a part of our social history, a reminder of an often colourful post war period in the twentieth century. While that period was for most people a demanding time of long working hours, dedication to family and community, the mace was frequently raised during a time that focused on attachment to a mother country through empire day parades, music filled agricultural and pastoral shows, and local festival parades. It has the power to bring back pleasant memories for older residents. The Mace may also introduce new or younger residents and visitors alike, to a period in our community history that had many enjoyable social events and they are no doubt mentioned in records of today’s Historical Society or old local newspapers, events all of which were of Korumburra’s own making. I urge all members of our Historical Society and the general community to prize the Mace as one of the few remaining irreplaceable symbols of our community’s history prior to Shire Council amalgamations and take delight in it being returned home to adorn our most impressive Community Hub, which our society is indeed fortunate to have been given a place in.

The Race for the Mace

After hearing that the former Brass Band Mace was not held at the offices of SGSC but had remained with the Leongatha Secondary College Music Teacher after he had borrowed it several years ago for a one-day program but had not returned it, I wrote a brief history of the Brass Band and its Mace and emailed a copy to Ms Rachel Jones Historical and Cultural Items collections officer. Her reply made it quite clear that there were others who were making a claim upon the mace as, on the 20th October she informed me that she could now see from my document that the historical society’s preference was possibly the Hub, which is certainly a possibility but this needed further discussion with various stakeholders but did not name those stakeholders.

I was alarmed at what was being said as I was under the impression that all arrangements had been made to place the mace in the Hub prior to opening day. I sent a further email to Rachel saying that I had been taken aback because SGSC had not finalised the matter. After informing Helen Comer that it had not been decided to house the mace in the Hub, Helen took the matter up with other staff at SGSC and delivered to the staff who were approached, a copy of my brief history of the band and the mace.

On the 27th October I was informed by Rachel Jones that there had been some confusion about the mace as she had not received documentation that Barbara Look had received prior to her departure from SGSC, when Rachel was not working in her current position in 2021. Rachel apologised for that confusion as she had not seen a letter or emails from our historical society regarding the mace and it being placed on display at the new hub when the building was completed. Rachel informed me that SGSC now held the mace and arrangements were being made to have the glass and its case be repaired and both the case and mace mounted in the hub in time for the opening day.

I believe had it not been for the approach by Helen Comer to senior staff at SGSC, then confusion would have remained and the mounting of the mace in the Hub may not have taken place in time for the opening date or never taken place at all. Even worse would have been a strong possibility that one other party I now know of, may have laid claim to the mace that was a part of our community, by using less than factual claims of entitlement.