Sydney Lithuanian chronicle, 1950

Written by A. Auga

Published in Australis Lietuvis 1950 sausio 23 p.11-14

Twenty years earlier and far from Lithuania the first arrivals were pioneers.  There were nine first initiators of the group, J. Vedrinaitis, A. Skerys, P. Kazlauskas, V. Dapkus, J. Jasiukevičius, J. Geryba, M. Marcinkevičius, O. Marcinkevičienė and J. Zeleniakas.   On 27 October 1929, the ALD (Australijos Lietuvių Draugija) was formed.  The society kept ties with Lithuania, organised various national celebrations and family gatherings and tried as much as possible to strengthen the name of Lithuania and Lithuanian matters in local Australian press.  They attempted within the community to maintain the Lithuanian language and keep the ties with Lithuania alive.  ALD from its very early years involved itself in Lithuanian press, books and newspapers.  It created ties with the American Lithuanian society and press.  In 1933 a society library was established which was in the home of Antanas Baužė.  Some books were donated by Lithuanians in various ways, some were obtained from Lithuania.  Until the second world war the Library received  daily and weekly newspapers. 

The first president was J. Vedrinaitis, later came Kazys Brazauskas and Antanas Baužė.  The society’s statute was written by V. Dapkus and J. Jarinkevičius.   As the statutes were applied to a small group of Lithuanians coming together in one neighbourhood, the arrival of exiled Lithuanians to Australia in large numbers of and the growth of the Society necessitated reassessing the statutes.  On the 30^th  December 1948 at a meeting, members undertook a new statute project.  It was published on 26 January 1949 when the society began to publish its newspaper Mūsų Pastogė (Our Haven).

1949 was a year of growth, the ALD branched out where there were large Lithuanian groups.  Ten clusters were created: Adelaide, Bathurst, Beechworth, Bonegilla, Brisbane, Canberra, Greta, Melbourne (1948.IX.11), Sydney and Woomera.   At the 30 December 1949 meeting it was decided to adopt the World Lithuanian Community constitution and join the World Lithuanian Community.  ALD through 20 years in Australia held onto a lively Lithuanian spirit and were happy to meet the new arrivals who strengthened and broaden their ties.  ALD united all Lithuanians into one national unit.

Translated from Lithuanian.