Centrally situated on the busy Eyre Highway is the Yaninee Institute, established in 1916. After concerted fundraising, in 1917 a temporary pre-fabricated building arrived by train, was erected and in use within a week. A more substantial stone building was erected in 1924 and in more recent times a toilet block and kitchen facilities have been added. The Hall and its surroundings, including beds of geraniums and chrysanthemums are very well maintained.
The Institute celebrated the centenary of its main building early this year with a district family reunion, and people came from across South Australia and from interstate. To promote this the Hall Committee ran a ‘Dear Yaninee’ collecting stories and tales. They also sought pictures and printed memorabilia for the ‘Hanging our History’ to decorate the Hall’s interior walls.
They also plan another project ‘Commemorating the Chrysanthemums’ to again stage annual Chrysanthemum Shows which had once been a feature of the Institute’s year. No doubt, the Hall Committee will also be entering specimens from their garden.
The Hall Committee have set a number of projects for completion by 2036 and have costed the works to around $60,000. On two corners of the building are noticeable cracks and in those cracks are pieces of paper with $15,000 will repair this crack!’
Yaninee may have a population of only eighty, but they intend to live up to the slogan on their letterhead, ‘Our buildings are our legacy, they will speak to us long after we have gone. Well done and Good Luck with achieving the target.
Jim Lowden