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'Sheet Music'

24/8/2022

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Scaling down causes a lot of tidying up and throwing out of stored items.  What do I do with stacks of sheet music?  I’ll spend a few minutes looking through it and sort it out.  Hours later I’ve recovered so many memories!  Music ran in Mum’s side of the family – her brother was a talented pianist and music teacher, with various musical degrees.  In the time of silent movies, he sometimes played the piano behind the screen.  Sadly, he died of pneumonia at the age of 38.
 
Mum was talented too—she was a self-taught organist and played the church organ regularly.  All this musical talent was supposed to flow through to me, but sadly, it didn’t.  I started piano lessons with Mrs Tatterson, the local music teacher, when I was eleven, and I sat one exam.  The exam was held in a strange room, on an unfamiliar piano and I decided, no more exams for me!
 
On our rare visits shopping in Benalla, I loved to visit Miss Mitchell’s music shop in Nunn Street, a small, dark shop with lots of sheet music.  I loved to pick out some of the popular songs of the day, which Mum would play, and we’d have a singalong around the piano at night.  The only entertainment otherwise was the radio (how would our grandchildren have coped with that?)  We sang pops, negro spirituals and lots of classics, with meaningful lyrics and catchy tunes, so different from today’s repetitious and raucous pop music.
 
I took a bundle of music to the Opp. Shop, hoping someone might get some pleasure out of finding that old music, and enjoy a sing around the piano as we did.
 
 
Margaret Nelson
August 2022
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'Benalta'

24/8/2022

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I came across an old ‘Benalta’, the Benalla High School magazine from the fifties.  I gazed at the photos of the prefects, house captains and sports teams, recognising many of them.  We looked so young—and we were! 
 
Where did all those young people go?  Did they have happy lives and fulfil their dreams? 
 
I looked at a photo of myself, a shy teenager.  Did I think then that one day I would be over eighty, still farming, feeding chooks, gardening, carting in wood, or that I would have four children and seven grandchildren?  No, our thoughts didn’t stretch that far ahead.  In fact, the year 2000 seemed too far away to even think about.
 
I looked at the others standing there in their uniforms.  Some I’d kept up contact with, others drifted away to work.  Sadly, some died young.  Many probably had achieved their dreams, in careers, sport and family life.  We caught up at reunions, but over the years the numbers dwindled with each successive meet.
 
Now our old Benalla High is in disrepair, probably beyond fixing, but in our minds, we can still see those rooms where we did science, maths or cookery, remember school sports, the House sports (and war cry), and the mischief we got up to.  There were socials in the old Memorial Hall, speech nights in the Town Hall.  The annual fete was held in the school grounds, especially the mannequin parade down the outside stairs to the quadrangle which always provided lots of laughs.
 
Thinking back, despite the times we found modern history boring, or the maths exams difficult, these were happy, care-free days.
 
Margaret Nelson
August 2022

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'Memories Treasure Chest' - Heather Hartland

22/8/2022

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Opening my memories treasure chest brings forth a wide variety of memorabilia, letters, cards, and an odd collection of tickets to shows, for trains and more. These include several from overseas holidays, as well as my first trip on the Indian Pacific from East to West Australia. This trip was quite an adventure, as the train stopped at several remote locations, delivering much needed supplies and mail and collecting outgoing items.

Also, in my ticket collection were boarding passes and tickets for two cruises. The first was on board the Fairstar sailing out of Fremantle W.A. around South Africa to the UK.  It was my first solo holiday and I was heading off to explore my family’s roots. As the ship maneuvered out of Fremantle dock, the hymn Amazing Grace was played over the loudspeakers. I was very nervous. I was placed in a 4-berth cabin on the lower decks with two Melbourne girls and a Dutch girl. We soon made friends and enjoyed everything the ship had to offer. We even tried doing a dance called the Tarantella whilst in rough seas, which didn’t go so well!  My second cruise was on a ship called the Australis, this time via the Suez Canal enroute to Australia. I had been away for three years on a mammoth working holiday and considered myself to be a seasoned traveler by this time.

Digging down deeper into my memories treasure chest, I came across some horse brasses; these affix to the harness of Clydesdales that pull the Courage Brewery dray. Sadly, only at shows and festive occasions now, but in my childhood, a common sight. There was also a horseshoe from my first pony, an ex-pacer called Daniel Boone. He was a gelding, which meant that he could not have a career at stud, so was sold off as a riding pony. He was very sweet natured with rich brown coat and sad eyes. I had hours of fun and adventure with him.  I found member passes and ID tags from W.A. Turf Club, W.A. Trotting Association and race meetings gathered in my school holiday job at the local racing stables.

By far the most fascinating items were the old black and white family photos passed down from two generations to me, as custodian of the family history. Some were quite revealing, showing my Aunt in a way I never could have imagined.  Not rude or illegal, just a bit “ “out there”. There were the photos from WW2 from both sides of the family, baby photos and heaps more. So fascinating. There was even a photo of me, a mini biker, with boyfriend, both aged 3!!!!
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​Right at the bottom, but safely wrapped, is a small red bible signed by Queen Elizabeth on the occasion of her coronation. All children attending the coronation were given one of these. I wrote about this event in an earlier session.

Finally, a bundle of graduation documents from Uni and various courses of training I took. My RAAF and METPOL entry documents, photos and discharge certificates also unleashed a flood of memories.

In closing, I can say I have had a great life, lots of experiences, many many memories and almost no regrets.


Heather Hartland
July 2022
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    'Memories Treasure Chest"

    ​The task for late July is to dip into our   Memories Treasure Chest’ 
    (1) Create/Draw upon an ‘Memories Treasure Chest’ in a shoe/other box/album/suitcase containing objects and artefacts such as maps, menus, theatre programs, an old report card, vials of perfume, a garment, treasured photographs, a souvenir, an expired passport…
    (2) Select two items from the treasure chest as creative prompts – what do they mean to you? What were you doing, why; what were you thinking at the time this object related to your life? (250 words for each object)  Feel free to attach a photo or two to the email to include with your story on the web site.   
    ​

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