By Jed Lanyon
A new signage project that will honour Dr Annie Yoffa will be unveiled at the Sun Festival at Yarra Valley ECOSS.
Dr Annie Yoffa (1891-1959) was a world traveller, surgeon, psychiatrist, philosopher, student of Sigmund Freud and was the first woman to complete a solo hike of the Warburton Walhalla trail across the Victorian Baw Baw Ranges in 1929.
Yarra Valley ECOSS executive officer Chelsea McNab said Dr Annie Yoffa was a unique trailblazer who devoted her life to the study of science.
“The project’s aim was to celebrate the life of a remarkable woman in our history,” Ms McNab said.
“It was also created to invigorate links between Warburton and Walhalla, with the intention of supporting the campaign to reopen this once famous historical trail, encouraging nature tourism and healthy appreciation of our incredible forests.”
Ms McNab was awarded a Yarra Ranges Council Arts and Heritage Grant for the Dr Annie Yoffa Signage Project.
The project involved Natalie Tuck, freelance writer and photographer researching the life of Dr. Annie Yoffa.
Will Tait and Brendan Jones, songwriters, educators and entertainers from the multi-genre outfit 8Foot Felix, and roving enviro-awareness outfit MOOP Patrol, wrote a theme song for the project.
Ms McNab was responsible for creating the signage for six historically significant locations including the Upper Yarra Museum, Yarra Ranges Council, Walhalla Old Post Office, Warburton Waterwheel, Upper Yarra Reservoir and Yarra Valley ECOSS who supported the project.
Dr Yoffa’s last days were spent living in solitude in the Dandenong Ranges, before being brutally murdered by a stranger.
Sadly, her death is the thing that she is most remembered for, until now.
The Dr Annie Yoffa Signage Project will be unveiled at the Sun Festival on Saturday 21 September at Yarra Valley ECOSS, Wesburn from 10am to 4pm.
For more information, visit: http://www.ecoss.org.au/
