Guest Speakers

A highlight of our monthly General Meetings (normally starting at 10:00 on the second Monday of each month, February to November in the Epping Presbyterian Church Hall, Rawson Street, Epping [NSW]) is the Guest Speaker. Our General Meetings were suspended form April to September 2020 inclusive due to government health guidelines related to the SARS-COV-2 pandemic, though our Guest Speaker activity recommenced in August 2020 using ZOOM video conferencing technology. In February 2020 we were able to recommence in-person General Meetings and live Guest Speaker presentations.

Our Guest Speaker Coordinator is Leo Hart. Our 2020-21 schedule follows:

• Monday 10 October 2022: Guest Speaker: Les Fenech - "Early Days of Broadcasting: Australia’s Communications Links with the World", which promises to be a very interesting account of an important part of our local history (the old radio Towers at Carlingford), important also for Australia connecting to the world.
  
• Monday 12 September 2022: Guest Speaker: ex NSW Police Commissioner Ken Moroney –– topic to be advised: Ken is actively involved in many social welfare activities and a talk on his objectives would be interesting.
  
• Monday 9 August 2022: Guest Speaker: Tom Ware – a short story and a talk on “An Incident in Dubbo Airspace” - Tom is always entertaining speaker and his story is about an aircraft that gets into trouble near Dubbo, NSW, because of bad weather: it comes from his own experiences as a radio operator out at Dubbo in 1961–62.
  
• Monday 4 July 2022: again a week earlier than usual: due to School Holidays: Guest Speaker: Noel Phelan - topic: "The Halvorsen Story", about the immigrant family that showed extraordinary commitment to boat building and excellent craftsmanship and boat design skills.
  
• Monday 6 June 2022: a week earlier than usual due to the Queen's Bitrthday Public Holiday: Guest Speaker: Andrew Biviano - topic: "Estate Planning", highlighting some intergenerational financial planning considerations paying particular attention to those times when there is often significant change—at retirement, when care needs change, and when a loved one passes away.
  
• Monday 9 May 2022: Guest Speaker: Graham Sims JP: "Funny Dunnies", recounting amusing and often inconvenient stories of this basic convenience. Graham has had a 40+ year career in education, as teacher, consultant, Chief of Public Relations, Principal, Inspector of Schools, and Director of Education. He specialised in Languages, teaching French, German, Indonesian, Malay, and English, both in Australia and overseas.
  
• Monday 11 April 2022: Guest Speaker: Alice Kang, Director Kokoda Track Memorial Walkway - "The Kokoda Walk and Concord Repatriation Hospital", about the inception and development of the Walkway at Rhodes, NSW, as an important site commemorating the Allied efforts in PGG during World War II..
  
• Monday 14 March 2022: Guest Speaker: Hazelyn Dillon - "My Life in the Business World", recounting amusing stories from her career in analytical laboratories especially in Plastics.
  
• Monday 14 February 2022: our Guest Speaker was to be Les Fenech - "Australia’s Communications Links with the World", which promised to be a very interesting account of an important part of our local history (the old radio Towers at Carlingford), important also for Australia connecting to the world.
  Unfortunately Les was unable to be present, however two of our own members, Michael Brinsden (President) and Leo Hart stepped up to give well-delivered and interesting impromptu recounts of (from Michael) business dealings in China in the1970s and (from Leo) life growing up on a farm near Junee, NSW.
  
• Monday 8 November 2021: We were looking forward to hearing our scheduled Guest Speaker Tom Ware round off calendar 2021 with two short stories, promised to be entertaining and engrossing, but he had an accident the day before and had to postpone. At very short notice, our new member but seasoned speaker Derek Jones to entertain us with some personal reminiscences of living in Greece and doing business in the eastern Mediterranean, including a tricky time when he was summonsed to a meeting with Saddam Hussein. Thanks Derek! 
  
• Monday 11 October 2021: Guest Speaker Noel Phelans: his topic "The Costa Concordia", the Italian cruise ship which ran aground and sank off Tuscany on 13 January 2012, with 32 deaths: the captain had no plans to be the last to abandon the vessel. This was an excellent talk, given via ZOOM due to COVID-19 health restrictions on meetings.
  
• Monday 13 September 2021: Grahame Sims would have been our Guest Speaker, telling us about "The Day the Ferries Broke Free", an incident involving three ferries on the Hawkesbury River  - CANCELLED due to COVID-19 health restrictions on meetings.
  
• Monday 9 August 2021: Alice Konga was scheduled to tell us about "The Kokoda Tack Memorial Walk" besides Brays Bay, Rhodes, NSW - CANCELLED due to COVID-19 health restrictions on meetings.
  
• Monday 12 July 2021: our Guest Speaker was to be Hazelyn Dillon, whose topic was titled "My Life in the Business World" - CANCELLED due to COVID-19 health restrictions on meetings.
  
• Monday 7 June 2021: Guest Speaker Beth Matthews spoke about: "Female Convicts in Australia", focusing on the history and future of Sydney's colonial-period Female Factory at Parramatta, with well-resarched stories about some of the ladies associated with that institution.
  
• Monday 10 May 2021: Guest Speaker David Rosenberg spoke about: "Pine Gap - the inside story". A very interesting talk.
  
• Monday 12 April 2021: our Guest Speaker for April was Lt Col Andrew Lam; his topic: "A Modern Day ANZAC". Lt Col Lam's talk was followed by an Anzac ceremony.
  
• Monday 8 March 2021 [Live!]: Guest Speaker (and Club member) John Donohoe presented a talk on "Bushrangers of the 1860s and 1870s", about bushrangers in the Australian states of NSW and Victoria, especially 'Captain Moonlite' and 'Thunderbolt'.
  
• Monday 8 February 2021 [Live!]: Our Guest Speaker Rafaele Joudry, founder and director of Sound Therapy International, spoke on "Sound Therapy for Tinnitus". Sound Therapy is a listening program to improve ear and brain health and relieve tinnitus.
  
• Monday 9 November 2020 [via ZOOM]: "Nullarbor Surprises" [part 2]: Ken Fletcher continues his rellections on his trips across Australia.
• Monday 12 October 2020 [via ZOOM]: in "Nullarbor Surprises" [part 1], Ken Fletcher reflects on several trips he and his wife made across Australia on (and off) the Eyre Highway, showing many interesting photographs. Michael Brinsden briefly details a trip he made from Perth to Sydney in a Valiant Charger, and Brian Haywood and Doug Carruthers added reflections of their own. A video recording of Ken's talk is available on-line (161 Mb; 1hr 5min).
• Monday 14 September 2020 [via ZOOM]: in "Fire, Fumes and Healthy Home Heating", Bill Thomson talks of the causes of indoor air pollution from home heating and the impact on human health, supported by slides and video. A video recording of Bill's talk is available on-line (141 Mb; 1hr 4min; passcode Cw13O^C%).
• Monday 10 August 2020 [via ZOOM]: in "the HAPI Isles", Ross Beattie briefly described the history, natural and human, of the Solomon Islands, and events leading to World War 2's Battle of Savo Island (1) ["The Battle of the Sitting Ducks"] on 9 August 1942, and later events in that area. The Solomon Islands now face several social, health and geopolitical issues, and the massive threat of human-driven climate change. Ross used many photographs, maps and slides in his presentation, which now includes several minutes of graphic video. A video recording of Ross' presentation is available on-line (156 Mb; 53 min).
• Due to government health guidelines related to the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, all General Meetings were cancelled from April to September 2020 inclusive, Guest Speaker presentations also ceased from April to July 2020 inclusive, but resumed using ZOOM video teleconferencing in August.
• Monday 10 March 2020: Dilini Manthilaka, from Macular Disease Foundation Australia (MDFA), gave an excellent and thought provoking talk about "Age Related Macular Degenteration" [AMD]. and show how to try and preserve our sight. Over the age of 50, ⅐ of the population are diagnosed with AMD population and ⅓ over the age of 80. The Macular Disease Foundation Australia can show how to try and preserve one’s sight through some very simple techniques and lifestyle changes.
• Monday 11 February 2020: our Guest Speaker, Patrick Dodd, gave a very interesting talk “The Governor’s Travels—touring the colony with Lachlan and Elizabeth Macquarie”, speaking of the impressive achievements of Lachlan Macquarie during his tenure as Governor of the Colony. Patrick follows the Governor’s footsteps down the original Cox’s Road from Emu Plains to the top of Mount York and across country to Glenroy Crossing. The Governor was constantly on the move between the Illawarra, Lake George, Bathurst, Port Macquarie and Tasmania. We meet some of the fascinating people who went with him on his journeys.
  [Macquarie was only appointed Governor, in lieu of appointee Brigadier-General Nightingall who had taken ill, to replace Governor Admiral William Bligh, who was arrested by his own troops in the NSW "Rum Rebellion". rf Watson, Frederick (1916), Lachlan Macquarie, available on http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks12/1203981h.html].