Below are the recollections of Reginald Walker (excerpt from Dulci Tomes No. 17, August 1996: 1-4)
It all began in 1981 on a cold winter’s day in a park at Berrima in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, approximately midway between Sydney and Canberra.
A small group of enthusiastic carillon players had come from Canberra to join with a small group of enthusiastic carillon players from Sydney, and we met in the park sitting around one of the picnic lunch tables. Perhaps I should say not sitting, but huddled, in view of the cold day and the icy westerly wind. Some of us had spouses, and all of us had wind jackets and cold weather gear. We shared hot coffee and conversation, and it was in this situation that the gestation of the Carillon Society of Australia took place.
We elected our initial officer bearers – John Gordon, “father/grandfather” of us all naturally was our first President; Vice-Presidents were myself from Sydney and George Howe from Canberra. Sue Magassy, whose initiative and enthusiasm had a great deal to do with bringing into being the Carillon Society of Australia, was appointed as our first Secretary. We set in train the process of preparation and adoption of our first constitution
Two other meetings took place under these wintry conditions. The weather on each of the three occasions did nothing to dampen our enthusiasm and our determination to establish the Society. We agreed to meet twice yearly, with the meetings evenly divided between Sydney and Canberra.
In 1982, at the time of the World Carillon Congress in Løgumkloster, Denmark, our Society was accepted as one of the members of the World Carillon Federation.