President’s Message

We experienced record-breaking rainfall in May, followed in June by record breaking cold temperatures. Snow was dumped in the ski fields and even reached the fringes of Campbelltown/Macarthur.  Not of these, however, deterred our fun-loving members from attending our many events.

The June luncheon held at the Camden Valley Inn was well attended.  At the Inn, we stepped back in time to a Flintstones-inspired Stone Age world, complete with roaming dinosaurs. ‍ The laneway has been transformed into a rocky paradise straight out of Bedrock.

Some members made the trip to North Sydney to visit Mary MacKillop Place. Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop, Australia’s first canonised saint, was an ordinary woman who lived an extraordinary life. As a woman of faith, courage and hope, she overcame many obstacles and challenges to create a legacy that continues to inspire.

Our regular Coffee with the Gang was also well attended, and that coffee aroma and their crepes is something to look forward to on a very cold morning.

At the monthly FliP, we ejoyed the movie ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ A live-action remake of the first film, animation, based on the book series of the same name by British author Cressida Cowell. It was actually pretty good!  We are fast becoming pizza connoisseurs; we dared order all six pizza flavours available at Enzo’s that day.

Our sincere thanks and appreciation to Mr John Lennox and his colleague Matt from the RFS. John gave us a firsthand account of the horrific January 1994 bushfire in the Sutherland Shire/Royal National Park areas, also know as the Eastern Seaboard Fires.  It was one of the most ferocious fires NSW had ever seen. Lessons were learnt; RFS continues to improve its fire management systems and arsenals, including in areas of Alerts and Warnings, Hazard Reduction, Communication and Vehicle Technology and integrating with Starlink Satellite Internet.

Shirley Toull

President