My Blood’s Country

My Blood’s Country began as an idea to capture and print the stories and photographs that have made Birchip what it is today.    

The Birchip Business and Learning Centre sourced Grant funding from the Department of Planning and Community Development for an Images of Age project in 2007. Fortunately for us, this project coincided with Anne McClellands retirement from teaching. Together with Glenys Rickard who was the photographer for this project, Anne dedicated an enormous amount of time and passion to make sure My Blood’s Country is a book that the Birchip community is very proud of.

Anne interviewed local identities, and travelled as far as Sydney to interview some ex-locals to record their stories. Anne was struck by the positive vision the people of the Birchip community have of their world.  Even those Anne interviewed who have left Birchip say the same things. They still perceive Birchip as ‘home,’ somewhere safe and familiar.

The interviewees were quite articulate about what Birchip means to them and how they view the changes and evolution.

They all speak about the generosity of spirit, courage, diversity, responsibility, and passion. And everyone reflects on the deep sense of community: where everyone knows, and everyone cares.

The book celebrates Birchip’s attitude and achievements. It includes stories on how projects like the The Mallee Bull, the BCG and the Leisure Centre evolved and stories past students wrote about significant events in their life in Birchip.

One we love is written by Andrew Ryan when him and his twin brother Brad, meshed their fathers headers together when they were in year 7, racing to finish harvesting the crop and there father was less than impressed. Anne has interviewed the contributors of these stories and got their perspective now that they are much older.

 The book is highlighted with some amazing photos of the region, some beautiful landscapes, sunsets and local scenes. Many of these Photos already existed, but they were tucked away in personal photo collections or on slides and never saw the light of day.

Glenys Rickard scanned hundreds, maybe even thousands of these photos that represent the places and the people of our community and she has taken many more.

The street walk photos that Glenys captured were a true reflection of Birchip at that time. The photo of the school students in front of the baker shop after school is still very representative of students today and the locals at their place of work show a good cross section of the Birchip Community.

Unfortunately, many of the characters who made Birchip unique, and whose stories were told in My Blood’s Country have died, which makes it even more special.

 My Blood’s Country is sold out, but you can see a pdf version here