Welcome every one, to the Oberon Museum's launch and publication of the "More Oberon Treasures Project." A special welcome is given for our newly created Oberon Treasures. Most of them are here today. I am glad you could make it. We also have the Mayor and a number of Oberon Councillors present, thank you for coming along today to support this community local history project.

Many of you will remember the book published by the Rotary Club some 25 years ago called "Living Treasures". This book had fascinating caricatures drawn by Mick Joffe and the stories of some 40 Oberon senior citizens. It makes great reading, and captures recollections and experiences growing up and living in Oberon in the early 1900s.

See also: Book Review - "Living Treasures of Oberon" by Mick Joffe

Nearly all of these Living Treasurers have now passed on, but thanks to the Rotary Club and Mick Joffe their memories live on in a book that records their stories for their family for their relatives and for their great grand children to read about.

In the 25 or so years since this publication many people who are treasures have also died. All of us can probably think of people whose interesting stories have been missed.

Some nine months ago the Oberon District Museum put together a committee to plan and undertake a similar project which we have called "More Oberon Treasures".

We decided the best way to do this was to sit down and record chat sessions with prospective candidates. Chatting with the first few Treasures was a huge learning process for us, and as of today we have recorded and edited the stories of some 20 of our senior citizens.

Each recorded chat session has been transcribed by a software program into text. Our team of editors then works with the text to provide an interesting story using the Treasures' actual words.

The edited stories are then handed back to the Treasure to add, subtract and or approve their story. We particularly wanted every "Treasure" to be happy with the end product, which is after all their story. We have also sought their permission to publish their story, as copyright is an important component of publishing.

Anyone who has published a book will know that proofing is the hardest and longest part of publishing. So if you happen to find a spelling or punctuation error please point it out to us. Digital copy is easy to correct. These days there are options in the way we "publish" a story or book. The museum has opted to publish "More Oberon Treasures" on the internet as digital copy. This will mean that no one needs to buy a book to read these stories. They will be free and accessible to everyone on the Oberon Museum's website. We have also made two printed copies of the stories which are here today for you to see. They will be available in the future at the Library and at the Museum.

You should note this project will be ongoing as there are many more Treasures out there in the Oberon community whose stories we would love to capture.

I would like you to meet the "More Oberon Treasures" Committee. They are Maree Arrow, Julie Cutbush, Shirley Arrow, Janet Gidley-Baird, Denise Arrow, Pam Dellow and Heather Jamieson.

I would now like to invite our Mayor Andrew McKibbin to launch the "More Oberon Treasures" project.