Community & Business
29 March, 2023
Picnic connects past with present
Around 100 people converged at Headington Hill to attend the Heritage Acre Picnic on Carey Road.
The Acre is the site of a church built by German settler farmers in 1902.
A group of descendants has looked after the site for 10 years and now has formed a not-for-profit incorporated association with wide local membership.
Anyone who is interested is welcome to join by contacting Jennifer Stehn on 0439 880 121.
Eric Kopittke, a German family history researcher from Brisbane, gave an interesting talk on German migration to Australia in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
He also launched Jennifer Stehn’s book about the Headington Hill site, “One Acre of History” which is now available for sale.
Some families stayed at the Hill in tents and caravans for the weekend.
Others visited on both days.
This year everyone was pleased to welcome a great tribe of Paechs, descendants of Johann Gottfried and Marie Paech who donated the acre to the congregation in 1902.
On Sunday, 19 March there was an ecumenical service led by Rev. Lionel Rohrlach of Pittsworth/Nobby and attended by approximately 60 people.
Greg Kowald, a descendant of another local family, provided musical accompaniment.
The first meeting of the Headington Hill Heritage Acre Association Inc. was held on Sunday afternoon, chaired by Douglas Stehn, a descendant of J. C. W. and Elisabeth Stehn.
Funds raised on the weekend will be put towards the purchase of a ride-on mower for continued maintenance of the site.
The best features of the weekend were the constant exclamations and laughter as people reconnected after years apart.
Childhood friends became adult friends - and it all happens again in 2025!
- Jennifer Stehn
