As the name suggest the majority of the members in the early days were Limburgers and most of the others came from Brabant with the odd person coming from other parts of the Netherlands.
They mostly came from towns or villages where they had enjoyed or at least had contact with the yearly jolly and very humorous Carnaval celebrations.
In the mid seventies Jack and Truus Luyten together with Harry and Toos Vullers had organised a couple of Limburger nights after which they were approached if they could organise a Carnaval function, but as they didn't know to much about it they were rather apprehensive.
They realised that it would be difficult to put on such a function, but they were willing to give it a go.
February 1978 was set for a Fancy Dress Ball to be held in the N.A.Q. Hall in Sherwood with Harry Jeuken as Prince Carnaval.
It was the second time for Harry as he already had that honour in 1960, the first Carnaval function in Brisbane or Queensland.
The night went well but the cost of uniforms, hats, medals and so on made the organisers think it would be impossible to continue as there was no money.
Then out of the blue they met a couple of Germans who wanted to start a Carnaval Club, they only just came back from Germany and had brought back with them uniforms, hats, medals and so on, all they needed was people for the Council of Eleven, and that was no problem.
After a meeting with the N.A.Q. it was decided to have "Prinsen Ball" in November 1978, but when the date came nearer the couple of Germans were no where to be found, they seem to have disappeared.
This gave the organising committee only a couple of weeks to get the uniform outfits ready, there was no chance off cancelling the event, tickets had already been printed, the night advertised and the hall and band booked.
Bill Willems was honoured to become Prince and the Council of Eleven was dressed up in scheepjes, ( the unofficial hat) and a white, blue and yellow sash, the colour of the Limburger flag.
The night was very successful, after the function they were approached by Frank Sluyter ( secretary from the N.A.Q.) who advised them not to give up and get on with it, they should work together, personally he would give them all the support he could.
Then came the question of a name, after a bit of an argument and a lot of fooling around somebody stood up and said you are all a bunch of stirrers, and that is how the name "The Stirrers" was born.
Then they had the lucky break of Jan Razenberg becoming a member, he knew all the rules about Carnaval and had the experience of organising Carnaval functions. In 1980 Truus Luyten and Toos Vullers went to the Netherlands and brought back the first Official hats, bought in Maaseick Belgium, now they are made by some of the ladies in the club.
In the first years of the Stirrers existence it would have been difficult to keep going if it was not for the support of Hans Zwijnenberg (Hans Welding Works) who supplied and made a lot of the equipment and props that were needed.
The Stirrers highlight so far has been their 1 x 11 Anniversary in 1990 when they had 25 Queensland and interstate Carnaval clubs joining them in the Brisbane City Hall for their Anniversary Carnaval celebrations.
The clubs 2 x 11 Anniversary was celebrated in November 2001.
For the first generation migrants who became Stirrers the club was the centre of their social life, meetings to organise the Carnaval functions, come up with idea's for shows, rehearsals, working bees for making props and art and crafts to sell at stalls to raise the money to pay for all these things.
The kids of these original Stirrers usually came along to these activities and did grow up with the Carnaval spirit and in 1999 we had the unlikely occurrence of having three generations of the one family "the Sluyter family" taking part in the same floor show.
However sad to say this is an exception and not the rule as not many of the descendants of the first generation Stirrers are still with us.
The ones that are have had to take on their family responsibilities have a more diverse interest and naturally their priorities are entirely different compared to the older original members.
The type of people who join the Stirrers would have a sense of humour, don't take things to seriously and don't mind having a laugh at themselves, their nationality doesn't really matter any more as long as they have the funloving Carnaval spirit and willing to take an active part.
Over the twenty nine years of their existence the Stirrers have been able to entertain people at their "Carnaval and Spring Balls "as well as at Retirement Villages and Senior Associations.
These functions have always been well attended which suggests they brought relaxation, enjoyment and happiness to people who came to these evenings.
The Stirrers have often been invited by other clubs or organisations to take part in and bring a bit of colour and humour to their events.
They always take an active part in the festivities at the "Holland Festival" usually by bringing in the Official Guest and doing a show.
Over the years the Stirrers have and still do visit many Carnaval clubs all over Australia, however in recent time this has diminished somewhat as many of these clubs have fallen by the wayside due to the advanced age of the members and there not being enough younger replacements.
In 2007 the Stirrers celebrated their 2½ x 11 Anniversary with, as Guest Artists, the "LAVA Group" Artists from Limburg.
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