Verner Kentman Sound Shell - Wangaratta, Victoria, Australia
S 36° 21.581 E 146° 19.506
55H E 439449 N 5975944
This sound shell is in the corner of Merriwa Park near the King River, in the picturesque cathedral city of Wangaratta.
Waymark Code: WME94M
Location: Victoria, Australia
Date Posted: 04/21/2012
Views: 5
The grassed seating area in front of the sound shell has room for an audience of several hundred.
The Merriwa Park Soundshell is named in honour of Verner Kentman, who was born in Estonia in 1903.
His father was one of the two church dignitaries controlling the Lutheran Church in Russia and held a position at the Imperial Court in St Petersberg. The 1917 Russian Revolution brought danger to the Kentman family. Verner, who was fifteen, was the first to escape from the new Bolshevik regime and eventually the whole family were re-united in Estonia.
In 1955 Verner and his wife Trudi became the first migrant family to be naturalised in Wangaratta. They were active members of the Good Neighbour Council, Lions Club of Wangaratta and many other worthwhile organisations in the city.
Verner was also a Migrant Councillor and established the Migrant Housing Commission where a total of over 470 migrants were helped to purchase homes.
Verner died in 1988 aged 85.
The path visible to the left of the Wide View photo leads to the start of the Kaluna Park Bushland Walk, which follows the King River from behind the sound shell.