Moruya's Norm Moore is in the running to receive the inaugural 2020 Fergus Thomson OAM Heritage Award 2020
The Heritage Award recognises local individuals, groups or organisations who have made an outstanding contribution to our appreciation and awareness of the rich heritage of the
Eurobodalla Shire in the last two years.
There are few more deserving of the award than Mr Norm Moore of Moruya. Norm is an icon in the history of Moruya having lived in the town for nine decades
watching the township evolve from its early roots to the now modern hub it has become.
All the while through the evolution of Moruya Norm has been passionate to ensure locals
and visitors alike are informed of the rich heritage the town has. For decades he has attended local schools offering lessons in local history, covering the earliest days of Moruya
through to its role in the building of the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
He has celebrated the township commissioning an exhibit of the first blacksmith in the area
and using that exhibit to bring to life the rich past the township enjoys.
Disappointed by the lack of history described around the township Norm single handedly
sought to capture and present that history and deliver it in a series of articles he published
celebrating the Louttit family. By way of their history he was able to give life to the history
of the region and the role it played in the birth of the NSW colony.
Norm assembled his articles and produced, at his own cost, a rich glossy book entitled "The Forgotten History of Louttits Quarry and Construction of Captain Cook's Monument" that was launched on March 15th 2019.
Norm is a passionate historian who believes that history should not be locked behind closed doors and in glass cabinets but instead brought to life and made readily available to the public via information boards around the town to inform, include and enrich the cultural
journey of a region he calls home.
If Fergus Thomson was still alive today there is little doubt he would have been proud to hand over the award himself.
Norm worked with Fergus to acquire the famous Abernethy lathe that had turned the Moruya granite columns for many of the stately buildings in Sydney. Both had arranged for it to be installed in a Heritage/Information Centre near Russ Martin Park with animated models of the operators.
Sadly the project and the proposed Moruya Historic Visitor Information centre fell by the by when Norm received a late afternoon phone call from 'a woman' stating "She was instructed by Fergus to ask how much land was required". Norm said "When I gave an estimate - the reply was... "We are not going to give you that amount of land" - and promptly hung up.
And that was the end of the idea resulting in the lathe finishing up in a tin shed at the museum and the Heritage Committee seemingly turning its back on Norm, his vision and the wealth of local history he holds, having lived and breathed Moruya history for ninety years.
There is no doubt that Norm would be a deserving winner of the inaugural 2020 Fergus Thomson OAM Heritage Award 2020 but that will now be put to a panel to decide.
Entries closed on Friday the 30th October 2020. The winner will be announced on Tuesday 8 December 2020.
