Dairy co-operative Norco marks 130 years with time capsules from A.B. Paterson College students
A Gold Coast dairy factory, which bottles 170 million litres of milk per year, and a local school have joined forces to celebrate a major milestone.
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Gold Coast students have written letters to their future selves and buried them in a time capsule as part of a dairy co-operative’s celebrations for a major milestone.
Norco marked its 130 year anniversary with students from A.B. Paterson College at its milk factory in Coombabah.
Norco chief executive Michael Hampson said about 30 students in year 8 wrote letters to themselves about what they hope to achieve in the future, which would be dug up in 20 years at the company’s 150th anniversary.
“They’ve written a lot of heartfelt pieces in terms of what they want for the future of the world,” he said.
“We will look to retrieve that at some point in the future to remind ourselves of this point in time in Norco’s long history.”
The time capsules also included Norco memorabilia and lists of its farmers and workers.
Norco and the college also share a special connection with the dairy co-operative being founded in 1895, the year bush poet Banjo Paterson, the school’s namesake, first composed Waltzing Matilda.
“It’s amazing that Norco was founded the same year Waltzing Matilda was composed and right down the road to our Gold Coast factory is a high school that is named after him,” Mr Hampson said.
“It’s great to be able to share this time with as many people as we can.”
Norco’s Gold Coast factory operated out of Southport from the 1950s before moving to its current location in 1982.
“We bottle 170 million litres of milk at our Gold Coast factory every year,” Mr Hampson said.
“We generate about $500 million worth of economic activity out of our Gold Coast factory and operations across south east Queensland.
“We employ about 300 people at the Gold Coast factory and about 450 across SEQ.”
Mr Hampson said it was incredible to be the last dairy co-operative which is 100 per cent owned by farmers left in Australia.
“The industry used to be dominated by cooperatives but they’ve all gone by the wayside due to various reasons,” he said.
“For us still to be operating, that is something that doesn’t happen often.
A.B. Paterson College principal Joanne Sheehy said it was delighted to be involved in the celebrations.
“It’s fitting that we’ve been able to come together to celebrate this milestone that is very close to home for our students and we’re equally excited to help preserve these memories for future generations with the time capsule burial,” she said.
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Originally published as Dairy co-operative Norco marks 130 years with time capsules from A.B. Paterson College students
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