Medallion's test of time

THE world’s only Sydney International Exhibition bronze medallion for crocheting sits in a hand-made wooden box in a locked drawer of Glenda-Rae Parker’s home.

Glenda-Rae Parker of Caniaba with a 1879 Bronze Medal awarded to her great-great-great-grandmother Sarah Townsend for crocheting and a photo of her mother Joyce Lillian Coy who gave her the medal. Picture: David Nielsen

THE SAYING big things come in small packages certainly applies to one Caniaba resident’s century old medallion.

The world’s only Sydney International Exhibition bronze medallion for crocheting currently sits in a small hand-made wooden box in the locked drawer of Glenda-Rae Parker’s home.

The one-of-a-kind medallion has been passed through four generations of Mrs Parker’s family after her great-great-great-grandmother Sarah Townsend won the medallion back in 1879.

Mrs Parker is extremely proud of the family heirloom’s heritage although she admits she is not a crocheting expert herself.

“My great-great-great-grandmother won the medallion in a craft exhibition in Sydney for a crocheted quilt she made,” Mrs Parker said.

“Ever since then it has been passed down through my grandmothers, then my mother passed it on to me 20 years ago.

“It was a tradition back in those days for the women who had babies to crochet and I think it is something very special. It is very intricate, like a work of art.

“When my daughter was born I crocheted a blanket for her but that was 21 years ago and I haven’t done anything since,” the 55-year-old said.

Mrs Parker remembers being taught the priceless value of the medallion at an early age when her mother showed it to her when she was six-years-old.

Even though the medallion has been traditionally handed down through Mrs Parker’s family, the Caniaba resident is a little reluctant to continue the tradition.

“Young ones don’t seem to hold the same things to heart,” Mrs Parker said.

“I think young people should stop and talk to there family about there heritage and they would be pleasantly surprised.”

Originally published as Medallion's test of time