By Richard Emery
A few weeks ago at the Community Centre, a visitor came in to enquire about the Honour Board displayed in the Dereel Hall. The enquirer was young and “a bit of a nerd” (self-described as it turns out) but so enthusiastic. Carissah Cain-Sultana is one of three children in a Ballarat pioneer family. It was perhaps inevitable that she would turn to history as a hobby, business and passion. Carissah says she loves to “jump in my car on a Sunday just to find churches” and “most of my friends are 80-year-old from WWII”
The Spark
Carissah’s passion for researching honour boards began with a Grade 6 excursion to the Australian War Memorial. Looking at the Wall of Honour she saw Thomas Rufus Rumble from Cape Clear.
When the Australian War Memorial (AWM) could not give her any information, Carissa searched for some facts when she got home. Finding quite a bit, she wrote to Brendan Nelson Director of the AWM providing her research.
Current Research
So far Carissah has researched over 30 Honour Boards and she was commissioned by the Ballarat Council to “do” the Avenue of Honour names. Now at University, Carissah is doing a thesis on the
Honour Board at Mt Egerton which features 260 names from both WWI and WWII. You may have met Carissah if you came to the Dereel Community Day. If not, Carissah is participating in many of the Dereel history activities and you can contact her via the History of Dereel Facebook Page.
Dereel Spokes Newsletter 
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