Dean Hall & Mechanics Institute

02/09/2026

02/09/2026

A (very overdue!) recap of our BIG SPUD Dinner back in June!

What a fantastic night it was! There’s something very special about seeing our little country hall full of people, plenty of laughter, great food and everyone getting together after a good season.

Of course, we can’t recap the Big Spud without mentioning our winners! 🏆
Big Spud Competition – The Maher Kids, Kingston
Best Hot Spud Dish – Courtney Mahar
Best Cold Spud Dish – Laura Cummins

Congratulations to you all — and thank you to everyone who got involved and brought along their big spuds and exceptional dishes.

A very special thank you to our guest judges Jane McNaught, Peter Ford and Michael Hennan for taking on the very important job of judging our cooked spud competitions! Thank you to Sam Montano for expertly weighing the Big Spud entries. And an extra big thank you to Jane, who also did a wonderful job MCing the night and keeping everything running along.

Thank you to Red Rock for the fantastic live music and to Jess from Painted Perfect for the wonderful face painting - always a huge hit with the kids.

We were also so grateful to St Mary's Clark's Hill for providing the kids’ table, St Augustine's Primary School Creswick for the amazing desserts, and Creswick Country Bakery for their very generous donation of bread.

A huge thank you also to everyone who came along, bought raffle tickets, helped behind the scenes or supported us in any way. Every dollar raised goes back into the Dean Hall & Mechanics Institute, helping us continue to care for and improve our beautiful old hall.

We were blown away by the generosity of the local businesses who supported our night with donations and raffle prizes:

Elders • Swiss Mountain Hotel by Frangos and Frangos • Black Cat Truffles • Smeaton Hotel • O'Connors • TB White & Sons • The Farmers Wife • Landpower • RB Sellars • Jasmine Beauty Therapy • Shayne Reese Swimming • PETstock Delacombe • Bunnings • Ballarat City Motorcycles • Flemo’s Milkbar • Creswick Pharmacy • Krackerjacks • Davies & Rose Rural & Hardware • Nutrien • Schnitz

We are incredibly lucky to have such wonderful local support.
The night was made even more special when we were able to share some very exciting news — Dean Hall & Mechanics Institute was successful in receiving a $50,000 Tiny Towns Fund grant by Regional Development Victoria to refurbish the exterior of the hall. 🎉

This is a huge step forward for our little hall and the work we’ve been hoping to achieve, and we were so pleased to be able to share the news with our community on the night.

And to everyone who joined us this year — thank you for making the night what it was. We’d love to see you all back again next year, along with plenty of new faces!

Bring your family, bring your friends and start growing that winning spud…😉

See you at the BIG SPUD in 2027! ❤️

29/08/2026

Calling all local artists!

Newlyn Primary School are hosting their biannual Art Show at the Dean Hall on Wednesday 9 September, 2026. We are inviting any local artists who would like to exhibit an art work at our show to send a message to us. We will work with you to ensure your Artwork is installed safely. Art works can be delivered to the school by Monday 7th September, 3.30 PM

Please reach out, we would love to share the artistic talents of our community alongside our students work.

Also, feel free to pop in to view the exhibits any time between 10am and 8pm (noting that we have a $10 entry fee for our Gala evening between 5-8pm which includes supper!)

15/08/2026

The pies are hot and coffee's ready to go at Dean Hall & Mechanics Institute until 1pm

13/08/2026

I've had a last minute change of plans which means you'll now find me at Dean Hall & Mechanics Institute THIS Saturday!
I'll be serving up the usual coffees, cakes and pies from 9am-1pm. See you then!

14/06/2026

A very big thank you to wonderful families at St Mary's Clarkes Hill for another great year providing the 'kids table' at last Friday's Big Spud Dinner!

12/06/2026

A VERY big thank you to all wonderful business who have supported our fundraiser tonight! We couldn't do any of this without you and we are beyond grateful.

Special thanks to TB White & Sons for their generous cash donation towards the upkeep of the hall. Community support like this helps make our event even more special, and we are incredibly grateful for your contribution.

Come along on the night for your chance to win one of these great prizes donated to our raffle and prizes! Doors open at 5:30PM.

12/06/2026

Thank you to the legends at O'Connors who have kindly donated this VERY cool tractor to our raffle tonight! You have to be in it to win it, get your raffle tickets on the door tonight.

$5 for 1, $20 for 5!

Cash and eftpos available.

12/06/2026

Our Big Spud Dinner & Competition is on TONIGHT! 5:30pm at the Dean Hall...

Join us from 5:30pm with your 'Best Cooked Spud Dish', Big Spud and support our hall's biggest fundraiser of the year.

Dishes need to be registered by 6:30pm for judging and weigh in for Big Spud begins at 7pm.

Tickets available on the door. $70 for a family, $30 single person. Raffle tickets to be purchased on the night, $5 each or 5 for $20.
Drinks at bar prices.

Cash and EFTPOS available.

11/06/2026

Our Big Spud Dinner & Competition is on again... TOMORROW NIGHT!

Get down to the hall from 5:30pm with your 'Best Cooked Spud Dish', Big Spud and support our hall's biggest fundraiser of the year. Our raffle and competition prizes are looking a good as ever with generous donations from local businesses such as Creswick Country Bakery, Krackerjacks, Davies & Rose Rural & Hardware, The Farmers Wife, Flemo’s Milkbar, Smeaton Hotel, Swiss Mountain Hotel, Creswick Pharmacy, Black Cat Truffles and many many more....

Dishes need to be registered by 6:30pm for judging and weigh in for spuds begins at 7pm.

A big thank you to our special guest judges this year: Peter Ford, Jane McNaughton & Michael Heenan.

Tickets available on the door. $70 for a family, $30 single person. Raffle tickets to be purchased on the night, $5 each or 5 for $20.

Drinks at bar prices.

Cash and EFTPOS available.