Our icebreaker activity in July caused much amusement, with a viewing of the short film 'Smashing Pumpkin' from the SBS series ‘Tales from the Golf’, followed by discussion of themes which resonated with us.
This month’s stories for the topic ‘Ritual’ included Ray's delightful story of his 90th birthday celebrations; Marg McCrohan's memories and photos of her parents’ Golden Wedding celebrations in April 1991; and Graeme's reflections on the funeral of an old friend attended the previous day, and the memories he had shared with him over time. Graham wrote beautifully about a ritual practice he developed while walking down a favoured bush lane to a lagoon near his home on NSW’s far south coast.
Inspired by an expired passport and the current political climate, the topic ‘Memories Treasure Chest’, brought forward Bev Morton’s gripping story of an attempted landing on an Arctic Island from a small Russian ship. It also evoked Carmyl’s delightful stories, replete with evidence, of ‘when marbles were in fashion’ and when her 17-year beau (later husband Don) gave her a box of Old Gold Chocolates on their first ‘date’.
This month’s stories for the topic ‘Ritual’ included Ray's delightful story of his 90th birthday celebrations; Marg McCrohan's memories and photos of her parents’ Golden Wedding celebrations in April 1991; and Graeme's reflections on the funeral of an old friend attended the previous day, and the memories he had shared with him over time. Graham wrote beautifully about a ritual practice he developed while walking down a favoured bush lane to a lagoon near his home on NSW’s far south coast.
Inspired by an expired passport and the current political climate, the topic ‘Memories Treasure Chest’, brought forward Bev Morton’s gripping story of an attempted landing on an Arctic Island from a small Russian ship. It also evoked Carmyl’s delightful stories, replete with evidence, of ‘when marbles were in fashion’ and when her 17-year beau (later husband Don) gave her a box of Old Gold Chocolates on their first ‘date’.
‘Catch up’ stories this month included Marg McCrohan's ‘Causes’ story of visiting detained asylum seekers at MITA in Melbourne, a story reflecting Marg’s deep and long-term concern and advocacy for refugees. Marg Nelson’s story of participating in the Farmers' March through Melbourne to Parliament House on March 26, 1985, was also powerful. Her ‘Community’ story about belonging to a community of garden club members who enjoy growing and showing Chrysanthemums had an intriguing ending – a Chrysanthemum has been named ‘Margaret Nelson’ after her! Heather's story, about the senior homeowners’ community at the Lifestyle Village in Sydney Road she has grown to love and advocate for, also related to our ‘Causes’ collection, as did Barry's 'Rebellion' story involving rebelling against a CFA policy affecting access to ‘loss of income compensation’ when advocating for an older volunteer CFA fire fighter injured in the Lurg area during the 2014 fires.
Next month's topic is 'Right Here, Right Now’ ‘A time capsule of the present which incorporates reflections on the past. Write a story about a situation currently unfolding in your life, right here, right now'.
The alternate topic: ‘Member’s Choice’ 'This is your chance to develop your own ‘500 words’ topic and share it with others!'
Next month's topic is 'Right Here, Right Now’ ‘A time capsule of the present which incorporates reflections on the past. Write a story about a situation currently unfolding in your life, right here, right now'.
The alternate topic: ‘Member’s Choice’ 'This is your chance to develop your own ‘500 words’ topic and share it with others!'
Bev Lee
In other news....
During the July session Carmel reported that while her son's shorlisted novel 'Grimmish',didn't win the Miles Franklin award, an English publisher has expressed interest in publishing it. We all agreed it was a huge achievement to be nominated and short listed.
Ray read the poem 'Stockman's Lament', a treasured remnant of his father's life, and Bev reported on research into its history. It has appeared in the Trove archive of newspaper articles, 'Author Unknown', under numerous titles since at least 1884, with a number of articles suggesting it was beloved of poetry lovers, like Ray's father, who learnt elocution and recited bush poetry.
As we negotiate another Covid wave, members who are, or are living with someone who is, immuno compromised, are finding that coming to class is not an option. We would like to incorporate the sending in of stories for sharing on line and in class as we did last year, and did this with Marg Nelson's stories this month - thank you Marg!
Next month we are hopeful that Michelle can read her stories via Zoom into the classroom. Michelle is happy to trial 'working from home' via Zoom - at least during the reading of her stories.
Bev
During the July session Carmel reported that while her son's shorlisted novel 'Grimmish',didn't win the Miles Franklin award, an English publisher has expressed interest in publishing it. We all agreed it was a huge achievement to be nominated and short listed.
Ray read the poem 'Stockman's Lament', a treasured remnant of his father's life, and Bev reported on research into its history. It has appeared in the Trove archive of newspaper articles, 'Author Unknown', under numerous titles since at least 1884, with a number of articles suggesting it was beloved of poetry lovers, like Ray's father, who learnt elocution and recited bush poetry.
As we negotiate another Covid wave, members who are, or are living with someone who is, immuno compromised, are finding that coming to class is not an option. We would like to incorporate the sending in of stories for sharing on line and in class as we did last year, and did this with Marg Nelson's stories this month - thank you Marg!
Next month we are hopeful that Michelle can read her stories via Zoom into the classroom. Michelle is happy to trial 'working from home' via Zoom - at least during the reading of her stories.
Bev
