MY MATE GRAHAM

Isn't it cool that there are folk we went through WWTC with umpteen years ago that we now count as mates? As friends.

One such mate is Graham Brown. He now lives in the beautiful area of Rutherglen, Vic. with his lovely (and long-suffering) wife Margaret.

Graham's first appointment was Talmalmo near Corryong. He spent quite a bit of time teaching at Corowa.

He has strong ties with his church and other Christian organisations and is... you guessed it... a keen cyclist. Never ask him in front of Margaret how many bikes he actually owns.

When Fay and I were there earlier this year, we put our Avan up in his front yard and went visiting the Morris Winery with the Browns and some of the local Rotary people. It was a beaut night.

Graham's had prostate problems, and been through an op (I'm pretty sure) and 37 radiation sessions. (I can't imagine what that would be like.) He won't know how effective the radiation has been till he finishes his course of Zolodex next year.

Graham also does quite a bit of canoeing or should that be kayaking? He reckons it'd been getting harder to extract himself from the kayak until he remembered reading an article decades ago about how to get out of a kayak. He reckons it was lucky he read that article back then and could recall it.

Graham loves travel and visiting family (Sydney and Wollongong trips coming up shortly).

The Browns are planning a trip to England and the continent during Aug-Sept-Oct this year. Do you recognise him from the photo? (Yeah he's with my wife Fay on the left of photo. Margaret and I on the right.)

NOT BAD FOR OVER 60

Well, strike me dead! Here are a couple of tandem pairs having a great time. Don't they know they're all over 60?
Bernie Fitzpatrick and Janice (Kerin) as well as Fay (Bailey) and Grahame Keast had a ball. Rode 70+ each of the first two days and 50 on the third day. There were three other non-WWTC tandem teams.
Janice ferretted (is that a word?) out some relations when we were in Yeoval. Grahame found an ex Hurlstone bloke at breakfast who was 75 years old, also in Yeoval. All up we had a ball. We know we are most fortunate to be having so much fun and to still be able to cycle like this. Where there's a will....
Looks like it'll be on again next year... Le Tandem Tour de Dubbo!

See you at Marion's!

WHO'S THIS?

OK, do you recognise this person? Hopefully she won't check this blog or else she'll freak out! Fay and I caught up with her recently as we travelled round the countryside.
Click on comments below and tell us who you think it is. She went through WWTC in the sixties (who didn't?) I'll give clues if need be.
1st clue: I'm cuddling her mother at the back. I always got along well with her Mum. [That's too many clues.]

Dear Grahame

Welcome to the new CSU on-line Alumni Community. I hope you have found it interesting and useful.
As you are aware, we are still in the intital stages and to date, we have 265 registered alumni. it is hoped that by the end of the year this number will have grown into the thousands.
Featuring soon in the Alumni Spotlight section will be David Mackay, CEO of Kellogg and Adrian d'Hage, author of the best selling novel The Omega Scroll.

Next week sees three days of Graduation ceremonies on the Bathurst campus with over 1500 graduates receiving their degrees in six ceremonies.
A date for your diaries is Friday 14 September when the Annual Rugby Fundraiser is scheduled to be held in Sydney. Raffle tickets and appeal forms will be available shortly.
Remember to check the calendar regularly for all the lastest CSU events including Public Lectures; Seminars etc.
Get all your CSU News and the latest on Alumni happenings -
www.csu.edu.au/alumni
If you have any questions or feedback, please contact me. I love to hear from you and you can always stop in and see me at the Grange anytime you are passing through Bathurst.

Cheers and have a great weekend,
Michelle Fawkes, Alumni Relations Officer

Message from Keasty:
Look up the CSU Alumni site and enrol. It's painless! Simply click here and then click on KEEPING IN TOUCH. Cheers.

WA and SA

I’ve just had a great time – Fay and I have had a great time in Perth and Adelaide. In Perth we caught up with Cynthia (Richardson) Springvloed. We had a nourishing barbie in Kings Park. Great to catch up with Cyn (pictured above) and her man Kommer (good bloke). A trip to Perth without seeing our Cyn wouldn’t be the same.
When we returned to Adelaide, we caught up with Di (Edwards) Groenewegen (harder to photograph) and Merv (and Helen) Smith. Di has lived in Adelaide for over 20 years. The Smiths (who live in Sydney) were just doing the grey nomad thing. Interestingly enough Merv was in the same section as Cyn.
All five folk I mentioned (Cyn, Kommer, Di, Merv, Helen) looked fabulous and it was really good to catch up with them even if it was for just a short time.
It’s a fair way over to the west and because of that we don’t expect to see Cyn or Di over east any time soon. For example, all Di’s rels now live in Adelaide. I can remember fondly many times at 435 Condamine St Manly with Di and her brother and her parents. Di’s Mum June lives with Di in a neat suburb near the water.
Damn! I forgot to check whether Merv and Helen were gonna be at Marion’s gathering on July 14/15. No, I think we did discuss it – and I think they’re gonna be there. Are you coming? Marion Giddy would love to hear from you.

MARION'S PLACE

Dear Ex-WWTC heroes!

I propose to hold a reunion BBQ at my home on Saturday 14th (or maybe 21st-back-up date) July this year. I thought I should give you lots of notice so that you can pencil it into your diary now. Overnight accommodation can be negotiated. First in best dressed. I haven't worked out the details of this event as yet - but it will be a B.Y.O.G. occasion. Other details will depend on the final number of acceptances. I plan to have a twilight bonfire to dispose of the debris that has accumulated on this property for the last few years. Don't worry, we'll have a couple of 'fireys' present. I would love to have you here. Bring caravan, winnie or tent if you wish. Plenty of room.

Please pass this on to other WWTC folk whose email addresses are not with me. I would welcome an expression of interest. Can you please email me a brief message:
"Yep, Count me in" or
"No. Sorry can't make it" or
"Not interested. Don't contact me again"

Best wishes to all.

Marion (Smith) Giddy

B is for BERRARA

This is a great part of the world. It can be yours for less than $500 for the weekend! In fact less than $400. Way way less! Even Jan and Jim Smart can afford this holiday even though it's a fair way for them to travel.

We're proposing a WWTC6364 gathering at Berrara (just 6 km south of Sussex Inlet. That's south of Nowra/Bomaderry).

Dates: 14-17 March 2008 - just a year away.

If you don't get an email with more information, send me an email and I'll send you the info. keasty446@gmail.com or 0448 626 646

Already there are a dozen or so strongly interested.