The Kogarah Bay Progress Association, established in 1921, celebrates a centenary of being a voice for the community this year.
The original name of the Association was the Middle Ward Vigilance Committee, but soon after the name was changed to the Kogarah Bay Progress Association.
Mrs Jane Sinclair McCall and her husband Mr W. J. McCall were instrumental in the formation of the Kogarah Bay Progress Association in 1921.
The Association's first meeting was held at their home and Mrs McCall became the foundation secretary, a duty she combined for 14 years with that of social secretary.
After retiring as secretary, she continued on as social secretary for 51 years (refer St George and Sutherland Shire Leader, Weds Jan 8 1969).
Mrs McCall's community service earned her the British Empire Medal in 1969.
The Association held carnivals at Claydon Reserve featuring a merry-go-round, giant octopus ride, miniature speed car rides, food stalls, and more to raise funds to pay off the mortgage on its Progress Hall.
The Progress Hall was the centre of social activity and the setting for many major events in people's lives including many wedding receptions, engagement parties, Christmas parties, and social evenings.
Initially, meetings of the Association were every two weeks and conducted at various members' homes until the building of the first Progress Hall in 1924 on Ramsgate Road and then at its successor, the larger and more impressive hall at Claydon Reserve that was opened in 1962.
The community raised the funds and donated to build the new Progress Hall, which served the community well for many years, and was a major achievement of the Kogarah Bay Progress Association.
Current President Jeff Powys is the grandson of one of the early Progress Association members and recounts his mother telling him, "I have memories as a child of hearing loud, robust discussions coming from my Aunt's old boat shed in Carlton Crescent during early Progress Association meetings.
"The Kogarah Bay Progress Association has a long and proud history of representing the community that now spans 100 years. Our current executive and members are very proud to carry on with the legacy set by our earlier generations of Progress Association members," Mr Powys said.
"The Association has advocated and achieved many great outcomes for the community in the last 100 years, including establishing the building fund for the construction of the Kogarah War Memorial Pool, the dredging and draining of the tip of Kogarah Bay and the eventual formation of the Beverley Park Golf Course and the building of the causeway, now Ramsgate Road," he said.
"Other achievements include preserving the heritage building of the Sans Souci Convent, lobbying against the increase of hours and usage of the Bay Vista function centre at Carlton Crescent on behalf of neighbouring residents, and lobbying to retain the land of the Carss Park Bowling Club as a community asset for the benefit of the community, rather than be operated for private commercial use."
In the 1980s the Kogarah Bay Progress Association absorbed the Sans Souci Progress Association and became an incorporated body.
The Kogarah Bay Progress Association is a voluntary, not-for-profit, non-political, non-sectarian body of local citizens striving to promote the best interests of the ratepayers and residents of the Georges River Local Government Area.
The Progress Association is planning to mark this auspicious and important occasion with a community event this year, but due to COVID-19 restrictions, it may, in fact, be a 101-year celebration.
Find out more about the Kogarah Bay Progress Association at kogarahbayprogress.org.au
"If you have a local issue you want to raise please join us at one of our monthly meetings, details of which can be found on our website. Everyone is welcome as we move into our next centenary," Mr Powys said.
