Bulletin

REMINDERS AND UPCOMING EVENTS:

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 SOLD OUT!    Father Daughter Dinner - Friday 30 August 6.30pm.

The dinner is SOLD OUT - have a great night!

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Tuesday 03 September - 6.00pm - MUSIC NIGHT concert.

In the College Hall - All Welcome - Free Admission (see the flyer in this issue).

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Saturday 07 September - 5.00pm to 7.00pm  BOARDER PARENTS' COCKTAIL PARTY

(see Boarder Lines in this issue)     RSVP TO:   TRYBOOKING.COM/546623

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 Sunday 08 September:   SVC SPRING FAIR   10.00AM-3.00PM

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Monday 09 September - CREATE DESIGN PERFORM (flyer in this issue)

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Tuesday 17 September - MOVIE NIGHT - "Ride Like A Girl"

Tickets:  $16.00 - at the Ritz Cinema, 45 St Pauls Street, Randwick  (All proceeds to the Elisabeth Carey Scholarship).  

BOOK YOUR TICKETS HERE

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SVC UNIFORM SHOP         (see the Uniform Shop article in this issue for updates)

Orders Online  

Monday  8.00am-2.00pm  /  Wednesday 12.00pm-5.00pm  /  Friday 8.00am-2.00pm           

Phone:  02 9161 7979  Email:  SVC@noone.com.au  

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Dear Parents and Carers

Last Sunday the Boarding community celebrated the full initiation of Ms Linda McCabe into the Catholic Church.  Linda has been a long serving member of the St Vincent's College community and a beloved member of the Boarding House.  Linda's decision to join the Church had been a long journey of discernment, and she was influenced and shaped by so many along the way.  It was a joyful celebration in the Chapel with the Boarders excelling themselves by singing Amazing Grace in Afrikan (Linda is originally from South Africa).  Linda was delighted to be joined by family, friends, current staff, ex-staff and current Boarders', Sisters of Charity and Ms Michele Hugonnet (a former Principal of the College and the person who placed the seed of the idea in Linda's mind that culminated in her full reception into the Church).  On behalf of the College I extend our best wishes, and thank Linda for her loving care of many generations of our Boarding students.

Yesterday in very inclement weather, our College Athletics team represented the College with distinction.  I offer my apologies for not being there with them to enjoy seeing them compete, but I had to attend a meeting of Mary Aikenhead Ministries in Melbourne.  Ms Jacobs was, however, posting highlights and photos throughout the day of the stellar performances of our athletes.  I congratulate them all for their commitment to training and their school spirit that carried them onto achieving their personal best.  (Please see our photo of the week above, featuring Ruby Waterlow-Heuston with Iyla Maguire competing at the IGSSA Carnival yesterday).

The College Fair is scheduled for Sunday 8 September, 10.00am-3.00pm.  I appreciate all the generous donations that have started to arrive for sale, raffle or consumption.  In particular, I note the donation of time that so many people have already generously given and more are scheduled to do over the weekend of the Fair.  The Spring Fair is always such a showcase of the community spirit of our College, and, at so many of the enrolment interviews I conduct, the prospective family will tell me that their first contact with the College was via the Fair.  So brush up your pooch for the Dog Show, sort through your book shelves and get your baking tins out!  Each of your contributions to the Fair will be greatly valued.

Happy Father's Day to all our St Vincent's Dads, Grand-dads, God-fathers and Father-figures.  I hope you have a wonderful celebration with your families on Sunday.

Yours sincerely

Mrs Anne Fry
Principal

Below:  Linda's Mass

Our College Pastoral Care program Cura Personalis means Care of the whole person.  Over these next two weeks, Mrs Jo Anderson and the Year 9 CP teachers will be working with Year 9 students who will monitor their sleep hygiene.  The students will experience a workshop facilitated by Lisa Maltman from The Sleep Connection to learn the importance of sleep to the care of the whole person - readying oneself for resilience and achievement.  Whether or not your daughter is in Year 9, you may like to visit the website and look at the resources available:  The Sleep Connection .  Research suggests that approximately 70% of teenagers experience insufficient sleep in Australia.  Mrs Anderson encourages parents and carers to read the following article and consider strategies to support your adolescent seek better sleep habits, and consequently more resilient and productive lives.  

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2019/aug/13/children-social-media-sleep-mental-health-study . 

May I please remind parents and carers of the process for contacting the College when your daughter is sick.  Please phone Student Services by ringing the new number 8324 6630 to notify of absence.  Please also email collegesecretary@stvincents.nsw.edu.au to provide the written documentation required to explain your daughter’s absence. Alternatively, a medical certificate or written letter may be brought to Student Services by your daughter upon return to school.  Such explanations are also required for students who arrive late to or leave early from school.  We appreciate the efforts made to ensure specialist medical appointments occur outside of school learning time as much as possible.  

Finally, may I please encourage you to keep your daughter home for another day of rest when she is too unwell to be at school and if persistent, please make good use of your GP.  I thank Mrs Fiona Culligan for her work as College Nurse, who is a great asset to our community and a calming support to students.  Students have been reminded at College Assembly that they are not to make direct contact with parents and carers when they feel unwell at school; instead they are to present to the Health Centre where Fiona as Nurse will contact you providing you the good knowledge that a skilled adult has the face to face contact that you cannot, and consequently will determine the need for your daughter to be collected from school. 

Mrs Elizabeth Brooks
Deputy Principal, Pastoral Care

Courageous Women in Action

Last Monday evening our learning framework was truly alive and breathing in one courageous young woman of action’s intelligent and insightful articulation.  This student was Bibi O’Loghlin, who together with our College co-captains, Emily O’Brien and Rosa Blakemore, and Millie Welling from Year 11, attended the episode of the high school edition of the Q&A at ABC studios in Ultimo.  The panel discussion extended to protesting for action on climate change, music festival strip searches, Alan Jones and socks, funding inequity across schools and Greta Thunberg.

Bibi’s question was selected to be posed to the panel:  “16-year-old climate change activist Greta Thunberg’s activism has been discounted by people who refuse to take her seriously because of her age and her diagnosis with Aspergers and obsessive-compulsive disorder.  We are frequently encouraged to create positive change as the future generation but when young people like Thunberg attempt to do it, they are patronised and ignored.  How are we supposed to create positive change when we are likely to be disregarded?”.

Other questions submitted by St Vincent’s College students included:

1. The feminist movement has significantly contributed to women creating great change locally and globally through grassroot movements.  However the representation of women in parliament is only 33.2%, ranking Australia 48th in the world.  Do you think the treatment of women politicians by the media is a deterrent, such as Alan Jones' recent comment about New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern? 

2. Due to the limited representation of women in parliament, do you feel the pressure of representing the variety of Australian women? (To the female politicians on the panel - NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian, and Senator Kristina Keneally).

3. What role do you think youth activism plays in influencing Australia's political landscape?

4. Due to the growth of youth activism in encouraging political and policy change, does the panel think Australia's voting age of 18 should be lowered?​

5. With the Australian Government being ranked 46^th out of 189 countries in terms of their gender representation within parliament and almost all female politicians legitimacy being questioned both by the media and their fellow MP's, how do you believe young women can be confident in choosing a political career without the scrutiny you have faced?

This episode of Q&A illuminates the relevance of our young people’s voices in political decision making and it is why at SVC we empower our young women to be

Independent IN THOUGHT

Compassionate IN ATTITUDE

Confident TO ACT.

Mrs Jasmin Mano
Director of Teaching and Learning

Please view via the iLink below:

IVIEW LINK

At the start of this year our Uniform Shop operations were taken on by Noone.  Since then uniform items have been reviewed and a number will be tweaked to improve them.  There will be changes to the quality of some fabrics and to the cut of some items to improve comfort.  Currently the Uniform Shop has reduced the cost of some items in order to clear stock on hand:       

Water polo and swimming costumes  $20       

SVC sports bra tops $10      

11-14 Sports socks -  two for $10       

Large size wash bag $8.

In Term 4 there will be new swimming costumes and swimming caps.  There will also be a change to the design of the College cap.  

Further information will be circulated towards the end of this year.

Mr Christopher Zielonka
Business Manager

The Gift of Spirituality

This weekend we celebrate and give thanks for fathers and father-like figures in our lives.  This weekend I will spend some time reflecting on the many gifts that my Dad gave me:  My love of the outdoors and kneading bread; the joy of smelling a good red and tasting a light rose; the delight in whiling away winter days with family over a long lunch.  I also give thanks for the gift of spirituality that both he and Mum gave me and my siblings.  Without necessarily naming it, Dad’s way of living his faith was one of action and contemplation.  He loved helping others and was an integral member of community and Church groups.  He also loved sitting in quiet contemplation listening to Gregorian chants or immersing himself in the words of literary giants. 

As I found my way in the world, I was gifted with a variety of spiritualities that have helped shape who I am.  A Josephite sister gave me an Ignatian Examen as I was moving to volunteer with the Christian Brothers, to complement my practice of Benedictine spirituality that I learnt as a new teacher in a Good Samaritan School.  This invitation to explore Ignatian spirituality set in motion a life-long commitment to build relationships that are deep and diverse.

Twilight Spirituality

In Term 4 Sr Anne Taylor and I will be offering a six week experience of Spirituality for Year 9 and 10 students during the first 6 weeks of Term 4.  Students will gather for afternoon tea and a meditation before then breaking into their Year groups to explore different aspects of Ignatian spirituality.  The sessions will run on Wednesdays from 3.00pm-4:30pm (except during the Assessment Activity Week).  The last session on 20 November will conclude at 7:30pm to allow us to share a meal and extended conversation.  Students are invited to sign up for these sessions using the link for each year group: Year 9  and Year 10 

Today in our Father's Day Liturgy, we heard the wisdom of Marnie and Victor Gomes, who reflected on what it means to be a father and child in today’s world.  Spend some time thinking about your life as a child and how that evolves as you age.  This weekend, may you all find space to nurture that inner-child and delight in the gift of fathers and father-like-figures in your world.

Ms Rachel McLean
Director of Faith and Mission

BOARDER PARENTS/CARERS - PLEASE RSVP VIA THIS LINK:   TRYBOOKING.COM/546623

Reminder about the Boarders' Stall for the Spring Fair!

Ms Maryanne O'Donoghue
Director of Boarding

SPELL FOR ST JUDE - LEARNING SO OTHERS CAN LEARN!

We are in the middle of the Education Perfect Language Championships for 2019.  This competition is the platform for our Year 8 social justice initiative “Spell for St Jude”.  We ask you to support and get behind our Year 8 students who are participating in this competition as part of their class work in their French and Italian classes, whilst learning about The School of St Jude which was founded by ex-student Gemma (Rice) Sisia (Class of 1989).

Our sponsorship over the years has helped students like Manti to graduate, and supports the learning of students like Dainess (in her final two years of secondary school), and Johnson (in the equivalent of Year 4).

Year 8 Languages students have been asked to ‘pledge points’ in during the Language Perfect competition; in return for reaching these points, students are asked to collect sponsorship money.  All donations go a long way to making a difference in the lives of the students at St Jude’s.

Students in other years are also invited to join Year 8 and set themselves a points goal to achieve by the end of competition:

    500 points = Credit

 1,000 points = Bronze

 2,000 points = Silver

 3,000 points = Gold

 5,000 points = Emerald

10,000 points = Elite

Congratulations to all the students who have earned certificates so far.  There is still plenty of time this weekend and until Tuesday 3 September to participate and earn points for the College, and certificates.  The competition is open to ALL STUDENTS from Years 7-10.  It is an easy self-guided learning tool, so brush up on your previous Language studies or start learning a new Language today!  Our results in the NSW Championships last term were fantastic, so let’s compete with that same Vinnies spirit!  I look forward to publishing our results next week.

Remember you we are learning so that our friends at The School of St Jude can also have the opportunity to learn!  Fight poverty through education!

HSC ORAL EXAMS

The HSC Language oral exams are continuing, and this Saturday we would like to wish Ilaria Marsella all the best as she completes her Italian Beginners oral.  It's a great commitment taking a Language in her senior years of high school, adding to the select students in NSW who leave high school having studied a second Language.

           "To learn a language is to have one more window from which to look at the world".    Chinese proverb

Ms Maria Manitta
Head of Languages

University of Notre Dame

Getting to Know Nursing Day 

On 24 September, 5.30pm at 160 Oxford Street, Darlinghurst (corner Victoria Street).  To explore the University of Notre Dame’s Darlinghurst campus and learn more about what to expect from UND’s  Bachelor of Nursing degree.  For more information please use the following link:  https://www.notredame.edu.au/events-items/getting-to-know-nursing

AIE Information Evening:  Animation and Games Design

On 19 September AIE is holding an information evening on their Sydney campus where students can discover the courses designed to get them started in game development, 3D animation and visual effects.  The evening will include presentations on different areas of industry to get into as well as information about AIE full-time and part-time courses and entry requirements.  Student work will be on display and teachers will be available to speak and field questions.  For more information and to register:  https://aie.edu.au/aie_event/information-evening/

Careers in Agriculture

If any student is interested in a career in Agriculture, students should check out the Career Harvest website, a project of the Primary Industries Education Foundation Australia.    https://www.careerharvest.com.au/

Ms Helen Marshall
Careers Adviser

Tuesday 03 September - College Hall - 6.00pm

Monday 09 September  4.30pm-7.30pm

The Semester 1, 2019 edition of Scientia cum Religione has been published.  A digital version is now available on the College website at https://www.stvincents.nsw.edu.au/our-community/scientia-cum-religione/ for your convenience.

SPORT STAFF CONTACTS FOR TERM 3 2019

Co-ordinator of Sport:  Ms Jacinta Jacobs: 0418 416 663 / jacobsj@stvincents.nsw.edu.au

Ms Laura Wiggins:     0418 329 929 - Hockey
Ms Vanessa Brown:    0404 777 518 - 5-a-side Football
Ms Jacinta Jacobs:      0418 416 663 - Athletics
Ms Molly Macqueen:   0448 882 121 - Netball.

Website details:    https://www.stvincents.nsw.edu.au/learning/sport/

For all draw and venue information visit the College website. 

IGSSA NETBALL

Netball this week saw SVC2 play a nail-biting game against Brigidine who sit at the top of the ladder.  The girls played an exceptional game of netball, implementing their game strategy learnt at training.  A big congratulations to SVC 2 for coming away with a win!  Well done to all the other teams for their effort this weekend and for the season so far.  It has been fantastic to see your skills developing at training and strengthening your games.  A reminder that SVC netball has two rounds left of the competition.  You can check the Week 5 standings on the AHIGS website under Netball  https://www.ahigs.nsw.edu.au/IGSSA-Sport/Netball

SVC NETBALL PAGE http://www.stvincents.nsw.edu.au/ learning/sport/netball/

Above:   Netball 2nds

5-A-Side-Football

There is only two weeks left for five-a-side football, and once again it has been a wonderful season with fun had by all teams.

SVC 1-5 will play seven rounds determined by a first past the post ruling.

SVC 6-8 will start semi-final and final rounds in the coming weeks. 

Please note: All teams will have a game in the seventh round.  The current draw and results tables can be found via the following link:

https://scheduler.leaguelobster.com/586447/5-a-side-football/term-3-2019/

Below:   SVC 5 (junior firsts)

Below:   SVC1 (senior firsts)

TERM 4 SPORT TRIALS

Trials are for all girls who registered to play IGSSA water polo, touch football, Santa Sabina basketball, Santa Sabina volleyball or indoor football (futsal) and will be held over the next few weeks.  Please email Ms Jacobs if you cannot attend for any reason.

BASKETBALL: On College courts - before or after school

Juniors (Years 7, 8 and 9):  Thursday 19 September - 3.15pm-4.15pm

Seniors (Years 10 and 11 and 12 and invited juniors):  Monday 16 September - 3.15pm-4.15pm.

• PLEASE WEAR BASKETBALL SINGLE IF YOU HAVE ONE OR PE UNIFORM.

TOUCH: Rushcutters Bay - before or after school.

Juniors  (Years 8 and 9):  Wednesday 04 September - 3.30pm-5.00pm                 

Seniors (Years 10, 11 who missed the first trial):  Wednesday 04 September - 3.30pm-5.00pm.   

• PLEASE WEAR TOUCH SINGLET IF YOU HAVE ONE OR PE UNIFORM.

WATER POLO:  UNSW Indoor Pool - Saturday 31 August.

Year 7:  Saturday 31 August - 2.00pm-3.00pm.

Juniors (Years 8 and 9):  Saturday 31 August - 2.45pm-4.00pm.

Seniors (Years 10, 11, 12 and invited juniors):  Saturday 31 August - 3.45pm-5.00pm.

•  PLEASE BRING GOGGLES AND CAP FOR TRIALS.   The pool is off High Street, Randwick, enter Gate 2 to pay park.

VOLLEYBALL:  On College courts - before school or lunchtime.

Juniors (Years 7, 8 and 9):  Monday 16 September - 7.25am-8.25am

Seniors (Years 10, 11 and 12 and invited juniors):  Thursday 19 September -7.25am-8.25am.

• PLEASE WEAR PE UNIFORM TO TRIALS.

FUTSAL:  On College courts - lunchtimes (please wear sports shoes to the Trials).

Year 7 and Juniors (Years 7, 8 and 9): Tuesday 10 September - lunchtime - 12.40pm-1.10pm

Seniors (Years 10, 11 and 12 and invited juniors):  Wednesday 11 September - lunchtime - 12.45pm-1.15pm.

• IF YOU CANNOT ATTEND YOUR PARTICULAR TRIAL, YOU MUST BRING A NOTE IN TO SPORT STAFF OTHERWISE YOU WILL NOT BE PLACED IN A TEAM.

TILDESLEY TENNIS TRIALS

Any tennis players interested in trialing for this prestigious two day tournament played at Pennant Hills in March next year, are to come to the trials on Tuesday 24 September and Wednesday 25 September - on the College tennis courts - 3.15pm-4.45pm.  A squad of singles and doubles players will be chosen to prepare for the tournament.  Please contact Ms Jacobs if you have any questions.

IGSSA ATHLETICS CARNIVAL

The IGSSA Carnival was held at Homebush Athletics Stadium on Thursday 29 August.  Our team did extremely well, particularly our junior team.  We made nine finals and came second in our division. 

Congratulations to our finalists:

Lara Roets:  14 years 90m hurdles 3rd.  100m 4th; 200m 5th and junior relay 7th.

Madeleine Chubb:  1st intermediate discus.

Imogen Gill:  15 years long jump - 2nd.

Ruby Waterlow-Heuston with Iyla Maguire assisting:  2nd 100m AWD.

Aisha Marten-Coney:  14 years shot putt.

Isabella Mackay:  14 years long jump and junior relay.

Laura Rapisardi:  Junior relay.

Anika  Gamertsfelder:  Junior relay.

Above:  Madeleine Chubb - gold medal - discus

Below:  Ruby Waterlow-Heuston with Iyla Maguire

Above:  Junior relay team - Anika, Lara, Laura, Isabella
Below:  Imogen Gill - silver medal - long jump

SPORT STARS OF THE WEEK

Congratulations to Zoe Fitzgerald and Janda Collins-Widders, both Year 10, who play club soccer for Queens Park under 17 girls, for team Barcelona. They won their semi final against Pagewood 1-0 last weekend.  The girls go into the grand final on Father’s Day playing Maroubra at Heffron Park at 7.00pm.  Good luck girls!

Please keep the Sport staff informed of any good sporting results held outside of the College.  Information and photos can be emailed to jacobsj@stvincents.nsw.edu.au

Ms Jacinta Jacobs
Co-ordinator of Sport

"Ride Like a Girl"

MOVIE NIGHT:   Tuesday 17 September 2019

Tickets:   $16.00  (All proceeds to the Elisabeth Carey Scholarship)

In my career as a Principal I have worked at many wonderful schools, and one such school was Loreto College, Ballarat, Victoria.  During my time there, one of the students was Michelle Payne, who went onto be the first female jockey to win the Melbourne Cup.  Her extraordinary story has now been made into a movie which will be released on 26 September.  We have been given an opportunity to have a private screening and to raise funds that will support the Elisabeth Carey Scholarship.

I hope that you will be able to join us on 17 September as we celebrate a story that will have resonant for everyone in the audience.  I will watch it with great pride, and some amusement, as the character of the Principal is played by Magda Szubanski (they have, with poetic license, also turned the Principal into a Nun).

I commend our Year 9 students for their leadership of this event.  The work they will soon commence in their CP classes will complement their organisation and leadership of this initiative.  I encourage your support of the evening as I believe the movie includes pertinent issues for us all to consider.

Please book your tickets via TryBooking HERE .

Yours sincerely

Mrs Anne Fry
Principal

(Our Book Reviewer - Ms Suzanne O'Connor, after a brief holiday at home has returned to volunteering with the Loreto Sisters in Timor Leste)

A RECOMMENDATION WITH RESERVATIONS

I have previously written a completely positive review of Jeff Zentner’s novel, The Serpent King.  For this reason, I disobeyed my self-imposed rule and ignored my growing list of books to read and bought the Kindle version of another of his novels, Rayne and Delilah’s Midnite Matinees.

There is so much to like about this story.  For example, it is set in the modern south of America where the author lives, so his dialogue seems to be perfect and none of the “you’alls” seem out of place.  Rayne and Delilah are actually two girls in their last year of high school.  They are outsiders, best friends and have a late night television show on a free-to-air television station.  Their show is made up of screening really awful horror movies with their commentary and some rather bizarre guests, such as a Basset Hound.

Josie comes from a functional family who are perhaps a little too controlling.  She has always wanted a career in television and her caring parents have organised an internship for her before she goes to university.  The opportunity will mean she has to move to another city and leave the niche show.  Delia lives with her mother in a mobile home.  Ten years ago, Delia’s adored father walked away from his family without a word.  One of the reasons Delia was inspired to begin their television show was she and her father used to watch these same movies together.  She is hoping that, wherever he is, he will stumble on the programme and contact her.

In an effort to make their show more popular, the girls decide to drive for twelve hours to Florida to attend a convention for devotees of all things horror. One of the other attendees is a once famous television star of a show in the 1990’s, also about really badly made horror movies.  For Delia, there is another reason.  Sacrificing almost all her savings, she has hired a private detective who has found her father, living under an assumed name in Florida.  At this point, the girls separate:  Josie and her boyfriend meet the celebrity who is so vile as to be unbelievable.  The comedy is strained and, unlike Zentner’s usual style, your reviewer lost interest in this part of the plot.  However, in alternating chapters, Delia has her reunion with her father.  She is given answers to her questions but they are heart-breaking answers and reveal a side of her father that she had never before acknowledged.  In contrast to the clunky innocents-meeting-a-villain of Josie’s experience, the dialogue between Delia and her father is beautiful.  The same exquisite writing is again evident when Delia has a grief-stricken conversation with Arliss, the apparently misanthropic studio director for their show.

One of the great strengths about Zentner’s writing is that it is never predictable.  The dialogue is mostly very witty and actually made me smile and even laugh aloud.  Just as skilled is his ability to include pathos as well as humour.  So, I do recommend this book but I continue to have niggling reservations about villains with these moustaches and Russian bodyguards.

WHERE SHALL WE RUN TO?

This was a panicky question lots of people in rural England were asking themselves in 1939.  Unlike many cities, there was little official shelter from potential bombing in the countryside.  However, for one little boy in Cheshire, this was an exciting question.  He was five years old, used to wandering through the woods and fields with his friends hoping to discover evidence of debris of air battles above them.  The boys most definitely did not run away but ran towards these grim souvenirs.

The five year old was Alan Garner, born into a family of farm workers.  His relatives had lived in the area for over four hundred years.  As he grew up, his grandfathers told him wonderful folk stories that explained all sorts of interesting natural formations in the landscape.  These tales reappeared in all the books he later wrote.  Although the family was underprivileged, Alan Garner flourished at primary school, along with a small group of other intelligent children.  When this group sat the dreaded Eleven Plus examination, most of them succeeded in not only passing very well but also being awarded scholarships to prestigious private schools.  Alan Garner attended the excellent Manchester Grammar School from where he graduated to Oxford, again with another highly desirable scholarship.  However, unlike his older brother who graduated from Oxford as an agronomist, Alan Garner left university early and spent some time restoring a medieval cottage endearingly called Toad Hall.  To pay for the materials for the renovations, he took what work he could find.  At night, in the freezing cottage, he began to write the first of his novels, a blend of folklore, fantasy and science fiction.

Garner wrote this memoir at the end of his life, when he had reaped huge acclaim for his novels.  I suspect the only other person who has read and reviewed this book was a lover of Garner’s dense, mysterious works and was obviously disappointed in the simple, innocent style of Where Shall We Run To?  Garner tries to present his wide-eyed five year old perspective of the experience of war.  For example, at the end of the war, his long-forgotten father returns from Burma and the only comment the nine year old makes about this momentous event is to note that his father refuses to eat rice.

The book is rather disjointed, in the way the memory of old people sometimes is.  He begins writing about one incident and then a more vivid memory interrupts and that digression is examined.  Clearly, he was also of the generation that threw nothing away:  The book is illustrated with objects from his childhood that he had carefully preserved.  He gives us many stories about a child who was observant and sensitive, who was sometimes teary and frightened much to the disgust of his tougher peers.  He reflects on the person he was a child with wry humour and compassion.  Despite the snippy amazon.com.au review, this is a gentle and thoughtful  memoir, giving us some idea of a poorer and simpler life that no longer exists as its very physical setting has become urbanised and many of the caves and rocks he climbed have disappeared.

By MS SUZANNE O’CONNOR

Boarders' Stall

Calling all Vinnies' Families...

The Spring Fair will be quickly upon us.  It’s time to start getting your bake on!!!  This year we are calling for donations of pies (sweet and savoury) cakes, cookies, brownies, mixes in jars, eggs, meat, fruit and veggies, jams, chutneys, relishes, cordials, oil, wine etc.  We will also have a fridge available to us so would like to sell any meat, chicken etc that you have access to, or raise yourselves on your farms. 

If families cannot make it to the Fair but would like to donate to the stall, please let us know and we can work out pick-ups or drop-offs.  Even though regional NSW remains in drought, it will not stop the Boarders' Stall from putting on a good show, so we’re hoping you could forward this onto all your families to assist in gathering as much support as we can.

Please contact:

Julie Mooney   mooneysj@bigpond.com

Jennifer De Bortoli  jkdebort@bigpond.net.au

Damian Timbs  ppsconsulting@bigpond.com

with what you can possibly contribute.  Any donations of quilts or hand knitted wares are also gratefully received. 

Thank you, 

The Boarder Country Stall Committee

CALLING ALL DOG OWNERS!

One of the highlights of the Spring Fair last year was the inaugural Dog Show, and it is back in 2019!

Enter your pooch/es in one or more of the categories by visiting Trybooking.  Cost is $10 per entry, per class.

The classes are...

Cutest Small Dog  (under 5 kilograms)
Cutest Medium Dog  (5 kilograms to 15 kilograms)
Cutest Large Dog  (over 15 kilograms)
Best Dressed/Groomed Small Dog  (under 5 kilograms)
Best Dressed/Groomed Medium Dog  (5 kilograms to 15 kilograms)
Best Dressed/Groomed Large Dog  (over 15 kilograms)
Cutest/Hottest Dog  (Dachshunds only)
Best Trick/Best Trained Small Dog  (under 5 kilograms)
Best Trick/Best Trained Medium Dog  (5 to 15 kilograms)
Best Trick/Best Trained Large Dog  (over 15 kilograms)

New in 2019...the Teacher's Pet class!