U3A Benalla and District Inc.
  • Home
  • Benalla
    • Benalla
    • Benalla District
    • Who, What and Where? - Benalla Rural City
  • About
    • Our U3A
    • President's Page
    • Executive Committee
    • Policies
    • Convenors >
      • Convenors
      • Convenors A - Z 2025
    • Program Ideas
    • Newsletter
    • Website
  • Groups
    • Groups A - Z
    • Recent Groups >
      • Armchair History
      • Chess
      • Cooking Solo
      • Demystifying Psychology Course
      • Enjoying the Internet (S2)
      • Family Research Drop In
      • Lifeball >
        • Home
        • Lifeball Videos
      • Sky's the Limit
    • Archived Groups >
      • A - M >
        • A Different View Of German History
        • Armchair History (British)
        • Armchair Traveller
        • Booker Reading Group
        • Bushwalking - Mid-week Walks
        • Comparative Religion
        • Facebook for Mentors
        • Family Research - Advanced
        • German - Beginners
        • Google Apps/TS Plus
        • History - An Introduction to Western Civilization
        • History - Moments in Australian History
        • Hot Topics/The News - Fact or Fiction?
        • 'In the Lap of the Gods'
        • Investment I (1996 -2015)
        • Jane Austen Book Club
        • Legal Matters (Short Course)
        • Meditation
        • Making the Most of the Internet
      • O - Z >
        • On Target - Learning to Shop Online
        • Opera
        • 'Over There'
        • Rail and Tourism
        • Russian Literature
        • Tech Savvy Apple - 'Pages'
        • Tech Savvy Apple Devices - Intermediate
        • Tech Savvy Community Projects
        • Travel Group
        • Wise Guys Book Group
        • Zoom Short Course
  • A-Ch
    • A-Ch
    • 'A Taste of Art'
    • American History
    • Art Appreciation
    • 'As Time Goes By'
    • Australian Shares and Stock Market
    • Be Connected - Android
    • Be Connected - Tech Advice
    • Birdwatching
    • Brain Games
    • Bushwalking - Easy Walks
    • Car Torque
    • Cards '500'
    • Chat n' Chew
  • Co-E
    • Ch - E
    • Coin Collectors
    • Collectors
    • Colour Mixing and Watercolour Techniques - Botanical
    • Come and Learn Croquet
    • Community Singing
    • Creative Writing
    • Demystifying Psychology - Discussion Group
    • Demystifying Psychology - Perception
    • Exercises for Fun
    • Exploring the Universe
    • Exploring Writing Children's Books
  • F-Pa
    • F- Pa
    • Family Research
    • Film Discussion
    • French at the Table
    • Garden Appreciation
    • Garden Team
    • German >
      • German Home
      • Lessons
    • Let's Talk Books
    • Mahjong
    • Meet and Mingle
    • Music Appreciation
    • Page Turners
    • Patchwork and Craft
  • Ph-W
    • Ph -W
    • Photography
    • Play Reading
    • Politics & Current Affairs
    • Recorder
    • Singing for Fun
    • Spanish
    • Stock and Land
    • Sustainability
    • Tech Talks
    • Train Buffs
    • Ukes4Fun
    • Wine Appreciation
  • Join
    • Join Us
    • Membership Application/Renewal Form
    • Program Guide
    • Timetable with Dates
    • Venues and Maps
  • News
    • News Update
    • June Newsletter
    • 'What's On' Calendar 2025
    • Monthly Calendar
    • Website & Facebook
  • FB
  • Gallery
  • Links
    • Resources and References
    • U3A Network Victoria
    • Seniors Online Victoria
    • U3A Albury Wodonga
    • U3A Beechworth (Indigo U3A)
    • U3A Bright
    • U3A Goulburn Valley
    • U3A Murrundindee East
    • U3A Wangaratta
  • Contact

'My Act of Rebellion'

26/6/2017

0 Comments

 
Good Old Collingwood Forever was the theme song of our family.   An Inner Melbourne Family who worked in the Racing Industry and allied trades including gambling.   The rules were simple  Dont set out to hurt others; If they hurt you walk away and wait your time and do not befriend them.   Be honest:   gambling gives you every chance of losing your money easily and does not hurt anyone but you and yours.   Quite frankly in those days gambling was a pastime, a hobby and opposing gambling was another pastime. Not pursued by our family. 

It did not help that the Uncle owned the Collingwood Town Hall Hotel and another relative owned the Grace Darling Hotel.   Birth place of the Collingwood Football Club.

​So I lived deep in the heart of Collingwood territory.   The theme song was sung at every family occasion even funerals.   It was Collingwood saturation at our place.  

But we moved house and I found another Club.  Just around the corner.  It was the Fitzroy Football Club.  Being an individual I thought this looked like a very good idea.   Seeing as everyone else barracked for Collingwood.   So I set about to knit a Fitzroy Scarf.  The family indulged me knowing this was the child who was asserting herself.   This was encouraged as opposing childish initiative was a futile activity.   The Child Knows Best was the motto in our family.   But Fitzroy!!!!  They were whispering to one another things like:  “She will get over it.   No one barracks for Fitzroy.”   ​

It got pretty serious when I started going to matches.   Sat behind the goal and wrapped myself in a Gorillas Scarf and screamed myself hoarse as the boys marched through the opposition.   In the meantime the song of the Collingwood Club was sung louder and louder at our place.   Finally it was decided to intervene.   I was to be taken to a match by my favourite Aunt who wore black and white even when she slept.  Pressure!   

I sat in that stand surrounded by Collingwood supporters trying to please my Aunt.  But she knew they had lost me.   Collingwood was not my team.  Fitzroy was!  And on the way out she simply said “No good Toots”    She knew my heart belonged somewhere else. 

I knew I was accepted when my Dad bought me tickets for the finals Fitzroy was playing in.   He sat with me in the stand at the MCG and said how sorry that my team lost.  He wanted my team to win as a mark of support for my choice.   Never again was I asked to follow Collingwood.   My rebellion was complete.  

I had never rebelled before.   But the family handled it as they always did.   With pressure to stay; and then support for the decision.  So Good old Collingwood Forever!   I learnt how to rebel without starting a War.    Its called loving pressure and then support for decisions made.   Unconditional love; No!   Respect for the rights of others to choose.

HELEN DUGGIN   25/6/2017
0 Comments
    Our Stories

    Helen's stories 

    Picture

    Categories

    All
    A Childhood Memory
    Covid Musings
    'COVID Time'
    'Curve Balls'
    'Endings'
    'Failure'
    'Fish Out Of Water'
    'Good Vibrations'
    'I Was There'
    'New In Town'
    'Odd One Out'
    'On The Job'
    'Quite A Moment This Year'
    'Rebellion'
    'Right Here
    Right Now'
    'Someone Who Shaped Me'
    'Stanley J Duggin - The Man Who Shaped Me'
    'Stock And Land'
    'That Bloody Generator!'
    'The Block'
    'This Life'
    'Travel Tale'
    'We Have Fairies In Our Family'
    'What I Was Wearing'

    Archives

    May 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    December 2020
    August 2020
    November 2018
    August 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    October 2017
    September 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017

    RSS Feed

We acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which we meet and pay our respects to their elders - past, present and emerging.
Picture
News
​Newsletter
Facebook Page
​
Program Suggestions
​CO-VID Safety

U3A Benalla & District Flier 2025
Membership Application/Renewal 
​
Semester 1 Program Guide 2025
Semester 1 Timetable with Dates 2025
Developed and maintained by members, this website showcases U3A Benalla 
​Photographs - U3A members; Benalla Art Gallery website; ​Weebly 'Free' images;Travel Victoria and State Library of Victoria
Photo from The Garden Smallholder