Sunday 22 September 2013

Lions Club Spring Fair Gannons Park Peakhurst

On Sunday 22 September 2013, the Lions Club of Lugarno held their annual Spring Fair at Gannons Park, Peakhurst.

This event has grown from a small fair with a few stalls to now be the second biggest event of its kind in Sydney, the first being the Easter Show. It includes a Classic Car Show.

The weather was amazingly perfect - brilliant sunshine, which was going to guarantee a huge crowd.

It's always impossible to estimate the size of crowds at events like this - there is no single entry point, no fences, and people are coming and going all day. That said, it was easily tens of thousands who attended.

There were more stalls than last year, but seemed to be less cars in the Car Show. The food is getting better also. Last year, there was a constant queue for coffee at the lone coffee seller, but this year no fewer than five stalls sold coffee - and no queues.

The rides are always the most popular attractions and the queues for these were quite long. They catered for all ages, but mainly for toddlers and teenagers.

The local newspaper, The St George Leader, apparently let the Lions Club down somewhat with promised pre-event advertising and support. Last year, they handed out free copies of The Sun Herald but not this year.

This is one thing the event lacks - free things. You can sample some of the foods at the stalls selling pre-packaged goods, like home made jams and juices, but it would be great to have samples from some of the larger retailers or brands. Companies like Woolworths and Coles, who have a large presence in the St George area, were not at the Fair.

There was some good live entertainment. Donnie Sutherland backs up every year with his show that features kids singing and dancing. There was other live singing and dancing as well in different locations of the Fair. Plus there was a dog show, and a great sport called horse ball. Last year, some people protested against the rodeo, and so it was replaced this year, and rightly so. Also, some medieval jousting and fights kept people entertained.

One difference this year was an area serving alcohol. This was organised by Peakhurst Inn and by all reports they were thrilled with the result and will be back next year. The area was carefully managed and monitored with security and police.

The Spring Fair is a great event. It's huge and it's well organised. The Lions Club, who receive a lot of support from the associated local clubs such as the Lioness Club, should be congratulated on the event. The money raised will go to some worthy charities.

Friday 20 September 2013

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Thursday 19 September 2013

New kidney

After a five and a half year wait, a lady we know, Maureen, has just received a new kidney.

She had been on dialysis for that long, virtually tied to that machine, unable to go anywhere too far because she knows she'd need dialysis again.

It's a thrill for her family too of course.

I thank all the people who are prepared to make their organs available for transplant after they die. Only people who die after head trauma, usually a car accident, are eligible to donate live organs.

Saying you will be an organ donor on your driver's licence isn't enough. You need to register with the government.

Do it, and save lives of wonderful people like Maureen.

Wednesday 11 September 2013

Reinvent Your Career Expo

I attended the Reinvent Your Career Expo at Moore Park on Sunday 8 September 2013. A two day expo, it was designed primarily for adults looking to re-enter the workforce or searching for a change of career.

There weren't many people there, and I overheard one of the exhibitors say that the previous day was even quieter. Being at Moore Park which is not too easy to get to would not have helped attendance numbers.

The cost to enter was $10 per day or $15 for two days.

The most popular stall was the careers advice team who had a queue about 20 deep throughout the 90 minutes I was there.

At the far end, speakers addressed relevant topics - about one very half hour.

I sat in on the one by Jane Jackson on 'Resumes for results'. I found Jane, a career coach, an excellent presenter and had a lot of good advice on how to write and structure your resume - one of your most valuable marketing tools when looking for a job.

Most of the stalls, or so it seemed, were colleges and universities hoping to sell courses.

There were a few employers, notably Woolworths and Anglican Aged Care, as well as the Defence Force. Battery World was promoting their franchises. I'm disappointed more companies offering franchises were not there, but I'm sure there are other more relevant expos for that.

Most of the stalls had the obligatory sweets or pens to giveaway to attract you to their stall.

As a person considering changing my career, I found the expo quite good and offered a few ideas. I was surprised most of the Sydney colleges and universities were absent. I came home with bags full of reading material to contemplate.

I can recommend the expo if you are considering a change of career.

Working at a polling booth

I worked at a polling booth in the Banks electorate on Saturday 7 September 2013 for the Federal Election. I was a polling officer, which meant I marked people's names off, or marshalled people in or out of the polling booth. Then after 6pm, I helped count votes.

It was a long day, beginning at 7.30pm and ending after 9.30pm, but I have to say i enjoyed every minute.

Most people are friendly and polite, although some people take exception to the compulsory aspect of voting, or the fact that the Electoral Office still hadn't updated their address despite them alerting the office a few weeks before the election (it's a bit late by then, my friends).

It was never too busy at the booth I was at, and people generally didn't have to wait too long to vote.

Counting was the hardest part of the day. It has to be done quickly and being after already doing about 10 hours work, meant concentration was a bit more difficult. The ballot papers had to be unfolded and sorted into first preferences, and the big senate paper was the most difficult.

I'm not suggesting it's rocket surgery, and it's not overly physically difficult. It's just tiring.

Some of the counters were not really concentrating 100%, as evident by poor counts of bundles (in one bundle of 50 I counted 52). And what one person thought were informal votes were actually acceptable. We were supposed to check on the green paper that all numbers, 1 to 7 with allowance for the eighth box to be wrong, were listed, but people were simply looking for the number 1 and putting the ballot with that pile. I'm sure a re-count would prove many people were a bit lazy.

I enjoy being part of the electoral and democratic process of our country.

Sunday 1 September 2013

Don McLean concert


I saw Don McLean last Saturday evening with my wife. It was her idea, I've never been a big fan.

The concert was at Penrith Panthers, and we stayed the night next door at the Chifley Hotel. The Club was good with lots of eating places, but I felt especially ripped off when I asked for a large coffee from the only cafe and they charged me $4.95 for one of the worst coffees I've had since I last walked out of Gloria Jeans. They tried to over-charge us in the noodle restaurant too.

The auditorium was a surprise. The seats were cramped, like school auditorium seats. Sit next to a big fella and you're in for an uncomfortable evening. No arm rests to separate the chairs. And the seats were numbered with a strip of masking tape on the ground and hand-written numbers. Incredible! At least the acoustics were good.

We had heard Don McLean was suffering some type of sickness and put in a disappointing performance the previous evening. So when he came out for our concert, the first thing he did was to explain that his throat was giving him problems and he wouldn't be able to 'belt-out' his songs. It was clear during the show that he was being reserved, holding back on the big notes. At age 67, he still sounded good, bad throat and all.

The first half of his set was mainly his slower numbers, notably 'Castles In The Sky', 'And I Love You So' and 'Starry Starry Night'. Eventually someone yelled out 'American Pie', which, let's face it, most of the people had come to hear him play. He invited the person who called it out to come and sing it since his own voice 'sucked' (McLean's description, not mine). But the audience member rightly declined, and McLean got into the song. Despite his voice, he did a great job, and the last verse made the hairs stand on end: 'And the three men I admire most/ the Father, Son and Holy Ghost/ They caught the last train for the coast / the day the music died.' What a great song.

The second half was mainly more uptempo numbers, including some Elvis songs and a great blues number.

The backing band was made up of four highly experienced musicians, probably his guys from long ago. They had it easy, simply there to be a basis for McLean to do his thing.

As a song writer, he is brilliant. His songs are devoid of cliches. Surprising rhymes and turns of phrase, musically pleasing to the ear.

He came out for one encore, singing a fun song about an apocalyptic view. 'All the people are scratchin / all over the streets / because the rabbits have nuthin to eat.' Very humorous, catchy, enjoyable.

My wife is a big fan. 'American Pie' is her all time favourite song. So she was very keen to meet him and get his autograph. So after the concert we approached the stage and asked the keyboard guy if we could get his autograph. He offered to take the book and CD backstage and get Don McLean to sign it, which he did. But we weren't satisfied. We hung around the stage door like teens at a Justin Bieber concert. After about a half an hour wait, he came out and was happy to meet us and pose for a photo.

All up, a terrific concert if you're a fan of Don McLean. I heard from the door staff that one person complained about his voice not being good, but what do you do? He was ill, and did a sterling effort. It was an honour being in the presence of a legend.

I'm back

I'm keen on posting much more often here on my blog. So check in from time to time and see what I have to say.