December 2010
Dear friends and relatives,
This year has sped along far too quickly. It has been a challenging year for me, and has been characterised by many visits to the dentist for” the new teeth”. The specialist has helped me greatly with my (expensive) treatment plan.
It has been a year of travel– Wagga Wagga on January 7-8 to see an old family friend of my parents ; to Perth on May 14-16 to see my Aunt, Uncle and cousins and to stay with Ann in her new duplex near Freemantle; August 5-7 by car ,with Eileen, to Coffs; September 18 –19 to Coffs with Eileen; September 27 –October 1st to Shoalhaven Heads with Christine and then Harold; November 1-2 to Melbourne with Margaret for the Melbourne Cup; November 5-7 to Perth to stay with Ann, and to catch up with my Aunt, Uncle and cousins; and to Coffs November 12-13- Tricia drove from Tweed Heads to join me for the weekend.
The Frequent Flyer points have been adding up …… hopefully this will provide a trip to London in the future. Harold received a phone call from a Sheffield University Lecturer some months ago. He is writing the history of Harold’s Colliery Football Team in Yorkshire. There may be a reunion of the surviving members of the football team in Wakefield / Leeds (Yorkshire) in the future.
Theatre visits this year have been limited to the Guild Theatre with Ralph and Marilyn. On February 27 Eileen and I travelled to Canberra .I visited the Art Exhibition-Masterpieces from Paris:Van Gogh, Gaughin, Cezanne and Beyond and she visited the National Museum. We caught up with my cousin Mike,and his wife Jenn, at the National Portrait Gallery for lunch.
On April 14 I did a behind the scenes tour of the Westin Hotel during Heritage Week. On June 13 Ralph , Marilyn and I attended the lights in Macquarie Street, which recognized 200 years since Macquarie was Governor of the colony. On August 22 Kathlyn and I attended the State Library to view the Macquarie Exhibition.
And on October 5, Christine and I went to Melbourne for the day to visit the Titanic Exhibition. My cousin Prue joined us for lunch at the Melbourne Museum-she had recently returned from Canada, and had visited the cemetery in Halifax where the Titanic victims were buried. The Titanic Exhibition was wonderful and was worth the effort to go.
Race meetings and early morning trackwork at Randwick Racecourse have been interesting this year. On April 6 Phillip and I attended trackwork at 6am-we had a great time. Phillip , Ken , Hayden , Mr Di Leo and myself attended trackwork at 6am on September 21 at Randwick. The AJC has started to allow members to visit trackwork twice a year. Whilst I have attended a few meetings at Rosehill and Randwick this year, the highlight of the racing year was the 150th running of the Melbourne Cup at Flemington.
I took my Dad to the Cup in 1988, and he backed the winner Empire Rose. Margaret and I attended a luncheon in one of the stands at Flemington, and had reserved seating near the winning post. We had a great day, and the VRC are to be congratulated for their excellent organization.
The weather was inclement, so outside I wore my late father’s raincoat over my fashionable outfit (which was a deep purple dress , purple and black ¾ length jacket, navy blue Italian straw hat with antique lace and feathers on it , navy blue shoes and handbag) . I backed the first and second place getter , which is no mean feat in such a tough race as the Cup. I believe that there was divine intervention from my late father… …..
Formal Dinners and awards have varied throughout the year. On February 10 the Noel Seiffert Award was presented by Councillor Lesa De Leau, on my behalf. On February 25 I attended Councillor Moselmane’s maiden speech in the Upper House of the NSW Parliament ; on March 8 I attended an International Womens Day function at Parliament House. I had received a community nomination for the NSW Woman of the Year. Joanne and I attended the special occasion at Parliament House.
On March 17, I again attended Parliament House for the first Women in Rotary Dinner. In mid -June Cheryl Kernot, ex -politician was the guest speaker at BPW and was excellent. Cheryl is now a University lecturer at a Sydney University in Social Policy. My Rotary Club hosted a meeting with a number of other Clubs on May 11. It was my job to obtain a speaker. Deborah Locke, who was an ex- Police Oficer and who had been portrayed in Underbelly, the TV programme, agreed to be our guest speaker.
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On November 20, I attended the Ron Rathbone Local History Awards. Two young people wrote my political history as a Councillor at Rockdale 1991-1999, and this was submitted as an entry. There was an impressive number of entries from young people this year . Ron would have been very pleased.
Sadly, the year brought a number of deaths of people with whom I have been associated over many years- Sam de Bono in March, Barry Shepherd in April , Christina Magnusson in May , Mrs Paino and Gil Woellner in. June.
The World Cup entertained Christine, Harold and I mid- year. Christine and got up early and attended the June 14 telecast of the Germany against Australia match at a local club.This was followed by a hearty breakfast provided by the club. We watched other matches as well as the final. We were decked out in the appropriate Socceroo jumpers and scarves. In British soccer ,Christine follows Manchester United and Rangers, Harold follows Leeds and I am an Arsenal supporter ; we understand the global game!
On July 2, an ex- student from 1980 called into school to see me. She was visiting from Hong Kong for the week, and took the opportunity to show her two children her old school . On October 9, I was invited to attend a reunion of girls from Connie’s year. The reunion was held in an inner city hotel and was a wonderful night . I recognized some of the girls after thirty years …..
School life has been busy, as always, this year. I shared the organization of the School Mock trial team with a younger member of our faculty. I have run the team for 17 years, and have contributed much time and effort over the years to this interesting but demanding competition . This year was my last of running the team.
The staff ,who are to retire at the end of this year, were farewelled at a function in early December. One of my teaching colleagues , Helena had a baby girl, Sophia on January 3.
I am back to my Moorefield research. Mid -year I purchased a lap top and will continue typing notes onto it. In the January school holidays I will return to the Minute books of the 1950’s. The horses are still running………
I look forward to more breakfasts, lunches and dinners with friends next year.
I wish you a pleasant Festive Season, a Happy New Year and good health and happiness in 2011.
Kind regards,
Anne
