Leone Stibbard, Micke Melino, Leonie Lane and Cynthia McKeough with the display showing how Italians made salami.
Susanna Freymark
Leone Stibbard and Cynthia McKeough are busy at New Italy Museum making fake lemons for the fake lemon tree.
Then they cut long sticky strips of paper to make fake sugar cane.
The two women laugh – who would have thought they’d be making props for the migrant stories to be featured in the upgraded pavilion at New Italy.
Their prize prop was the salami made out of foam for the butcher display.
Cynthia McKeough and Leone Stibbard make fake sugar cane for a display.
Someone thought they were real and wanted to buy one, Leone said.
Cynthia lives at Broadwater and her grandfather was a doctor.
“This involves Italy. I enjoy it, it’s a real pleasure to do it,” she said.
One of the displays at the entrance.
Leonie Lane is leading the fit out of the Italian Pavilion. She has experience in graphic design and designed interpretative signage when she was working at Southern Cross University.
She lives at Clunes and travels to New Italy to work on the pavilion.
The new Italian Pavilion is still being fitted with displays.
“I’ve grown up with Italians in the Northern Rivers,” Leonie said.
She said volunteers like Leone and Cynthia make the task fun.
The volunteers in front of one of many murals.
The initial displays at the new pavilion came from a 1988 expo in Brisbane by Floriano Volpato.
The pavilion is divided into alcoves featuring regions of Italy and aspects of Italian life such as business, agriculture, market gardens and daily life in the kitchen, sewing, music and games.
Leonie Lane with a dress made in 1955.
The centrepiece is a carousel of old suitcases that show what Italian migrants brought with them on their journey to Australia.
“This is a 20th Century display and it represents the New Italy community,” Leonie said.
Leonie Lane stands in front of one of the main murals.
This was one of the few Italian farming communities, she said and the slogan – New Country, New Italy is featured on a mural.
Famous Italians.
Every week, Leonie and her small group of volunteers spend all day getting the pavilion ready for public viewing. They start at 7.30am and they’ve done a lot, but there’s still more to do.
Create NSW funded the upgrade with $250,000 after the 2022 floods.
The cafe at the New Italy Musuem.
“Because it was post flood, we couldn’t get a builder, “ Leonie said.
The upgrade didn’t start until 2024.
The present New Italy Museum covers the 1880s to 1950s.
The Italian Pavilion.
The pavilion exhbit is from 1988 onwards.
It features cafe owners from Lismore and farmers and families. 
The displays give a sense of life for Italians living in Australia.
Leonie thanks the regular volunteers: Cynthia McKeough, Leone Stibbard, Micke Melino, John Barnes, Lisa Farrington, Nancy Gava, Dot Randle and John Sauer.
The New Italy site has a museum, shop, cafe and glass workshop.
There is no completion date yet. The Indy will let you know when it officially opens.
An accordion player outside the pavilion. Photos: Susanna Freymark