Held on Sunday 8 February 2009
Venue:  Linnwood, Byron Road, Guildford

Welcome & Apologies
John McKenna opened the meeting at 2.05pm and welcomed everyone in attendance, with a special welcome to our Guest Speaker, Bob Durbin (RSL State Councillor and Secretary of Parramatta RSL Sub-Branch), and his colleagues, Ron Grace (Treasurer) and John Byrne (Committee Member).

In Attendance at today’s meeting, as per the Attendee Sheet:
Michael Griggs, Margaret “McKay” Warn, Sue Evans, Flo McMaster, Kaye Weaver, Hazel Keepence, Coral Hamilton, Pat O’Brien, Judith Moller, Adriane de Haas, Councillor Pam Colman, Angela Caire, Pam Richardson, Helen Olde, Dorothy Warwick, John McKenna, John Walz

Apologies:
Irie Olde, Audrey Murphy, Beth Werner, Russ Werner, Peter Warwick, Ann Ravenscroft, Noelene Brown, Merle Warwick, John Warwick, Christine McKenna, Pam Zopf, Jan Thomas, Olive Wicks, Julie Walz, Gerry O’Brien, Adela O’Donohoe, Dorothy Thomas, Councillor Nasr Kafrouni

Confirmation of Minutes of Public Meeting held on Sunday 14 December 2008
Moved by Michael Griggs, Seconded by Judith Moller, that the minutes of the Public Meeting held on Sunday 14 December 2008 be accepted.

Business Arising
There was no business arising from the December meeting minutes.

Correspondence
Helen Olde tabled the Correspondence folder and passed it around the meeting for members’ information.

President’s Report
Welcome to our first meeting for 2009 and thank you for being brave enough to come out in this heat. Unfortunately the weather is the one thing we have no control over and I guess we can be thankful that today is not an Open Day!

They say a good meeting is a quick meeting so we will keep things brief and get through our ‘show and tell’ as quickly as possible today.

We have a few donations to show, not many, so will give you a brief run-down of what has come in recently:

• From an anonymous donor we received some photos in the letterbox down near the front gate – they appear to have been taken at Linwood when Judy Stone and one other person (not sure who it is) were inducted into the Historical Society’s Hall of Fame. It’s interesting to see what the south garden looked like at the time! There are some other photos of Camden Park as well and they are dated 1990, so perhaps the Linnwood ones were around the same time. The photos are in the album which will be passed around for you to look at.
• From Hazel Keepence we have a traymobile and a fur coat to add to our collection.
• Adriana has donated a timber (Made in Australia!) music box, a Maruya PET Slide projector to add to our camera collection, 2 unusual cigarette holders, a ‘Magic Eye’ (remember these?), and a pull along toy – remember when your children’s toys didn’t need batteries?
• Today, Flo McMaster has donated a knee-operated Singer sewing machine, with all its attachments.

Thanks to Stan Thomas we have been able to acquire some more display cabinets which will be a great help when showing some of our collections. These have arrived today and are in the dining room with the other display cases, if you would like to have a look at them.

In the photo album are some photos of our end of year Christmas Party which we hope was enjoyed by all who attended. Our Christmas Trivia Quiz was good fun and Santa John was worn out delivering all the presents for the lucky door prize winners. Many thanks to all who helped in preparing the dinner and clearing away afterwards, your help on the day was much appreciated. Next year we are looking at not having a public meeting on the day and just having the dinner – much easier for all of us.

Some of you may remember that towards the end of last year we wrote a letter to Liverpool City Council regarding the future of the open space at the front of ‘Collingwood House’. I have just recently received an email to say that “Liverpool City Council resolved to proceed with the re-zoning of the land (previously earmarked for sale) at Collingwood from 'medium density' to 'public open space’ ” which was a great result.
I believe that the Council received many submissions regarding this issue, so it looks like ‘people power’ had another victory. If only we could achieve the same result for the Linnwood Estate!

If you had glanced over to your left as you came in the driveway today, you would have seen what a great job Sam and his team from ‘Men at Work’ have done in clearing all the undergrowth from the trees and bamboo area. It really looks great and hopefully, if it ever rains again, the grass may spread through that area now. Sam has now also cleaned out both McCredie Cottage and Faulds House, and I believe that the flashing on the roof of McCredie was also to have been repaired, to stop any rain from getting in.

We are still waiting for a reply to our letter to the Minister for Planning, sent last year, but as a result of the meeting we had with Holroyd City Council and representatives from the Department and the Heritage Office in December, we have heard that representatives from Council met with the Minister this last week, so we will be anxious to know any outcomes from that meeting.

We had applied for a Volunteers Grant from the Federal Government for some cleaning equipment and ladders etc, but were unsuccessful (we are hoping that we might have more success if there is a 2nd round). We agreed to auspice a grant for Holroyd Local History Research, and as they were successful, we will be holding the money for them until they go shopping for their filing cabinet and data projector. We also agreed to auspice a grant application from the History of Guildford 2161 Project to Parramatta Council for the 2nd stage of the Project, but have not heard back from that one as yet.

Finally, we have been working hard on planning this year’s events and so far the Open Days and Guest Speakers are looking good – as soon as we confirm each exhibitor it will be added to the Calendar of Events, but sometimes it does take a while to lock these groups in – but we are working on it and hope to have a few very different things this year. I will say that May is looking like being a great day – the American Independent Car Clubs will be back – promising to have a bigger and better display of cars, the Rock’n’Roll Dancers and Holroyd City Band will be back again and this year we will have a display by the Elvis Presley Fan Club – what a great day’s entertainment and all for only $2!!!  So spread the word and bring your friends!

Our Cavalcade of Fashion presentation on 19th April is our Holroyd CityFest event, but as the date coincided with the National Trust’s Heritage Festival, we were able to have it listed in their program booklet which is sent statewide, so hopefully we will have a good roll-up on the day – but remember you must book for this event as seating is limited.

Well, I promised to keep this short, so will finish now with thanking you once again for making the effort to come out on such a dreadfully hot day.  Thank you.

Treasurer’s Report
John McKenna presented the Financial Statements for the months of December 2008 and January 2009. 

General Account                                December 2008              January 2009
Opening Balance                                    $22,087.27                   $22,125.83
Income                                                      $  1,308.00                   $  1,744.00
Outgoings                                              ($  1,001.60)                  $         0.00

Closing Balance                                      $22,125.83                   $23,728.83     

Interest Bearing Deposit                                   
Opening Balance                                    $16,263.82                               
Interest                                                     $     223.01
Closing Balance end January                                                    $16,486.83

Total Funds at end January 2009                                          $40,588.46

John advised that we are looking at some projects on which to spend some of the funds, i.e. painting the back room and fixing the back room floor - depending on what the scope of costs will be for these projects - and hope to have some more information for members at the next Public Meeting.  John encourages members to put forward suggestions for projects that are reasonable for us to do, bearing in mind the limitations imposed on a heritage building.

General Business
There was no general business or questions from members.

Guest Speaker
John McKenna then introduced Bob Durbin, RSL State Councillor and Secretary of Parramatta RSL Sub-Branch, who in turn introduced his RSL colleagues Ron Grace, Treasurer, and John Byrne, Committee Member who also looks after memorabilia and commemoration activities.

Bob told the meeting that the Parramatta RSL is the largest in New South Wales, but their membership is declining due to the passing of World War II veterans.  Bob described the medals that he, Ron and John Byrne were wearing.  Medals are an indication of where you served, why you served, and any bravery awards.  Bob has spent 20 years in the training area and has not seen active service.  Ron spent six years in the Royal Australian Air Force and served in Malaya, and John was in the Royal Australian Navy and served on HMAS Sydney in 1965 during the Vietnam War.

The Australian Honours System only came into being in 1975.  Bob showed some photos of various medals:
-     The Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) - this is the highest award in the Australian Honours list.
-     Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) - for long service in various organisations, peace keeping, humanitarian aid missions, and bravery.

Bravery awards are not restricted to the Military, and until February 1975 were recognised as the Imperial (or British) System.  Bravery and courage are deemed as a “deliberate choice to go from a place of safety to a place of danger, or to remain in a perilous situation to provide help”.

Other photos of medals and a citation awarded for bravery:
-     Cross of Valour (CV) - highest bravery decoration - awarded 5 times since 1975.
-     Star of Courage (SC) - acts of conspicuous courage in circumstances of great peril.
-     Bravery Medal (BM) - acts of courage in hazardous circumstances.
-     Commendation for Brave Conduct - act of bravery that is worthy of recognition.
-     Group Bravery Citation - collective act of bravery by a group of people in extraordinary circumstances.

Only the recipient of the awards can wear the medals on the left breast.  Relatives of deceased recipients are allowed to wear the medals but they must be worn on the right breast.

Where does the Victoria Cross fit in?  These are only awarded by the Defence Forces in acts of war. It was introduced in 1856, but made retrospective to 1854.  The Victoria Cross may be awarded posthumously.  Of all the awards, the Victoria Cross remains the most honoured and the most coveted.  It shall only be awarded for the most conspicuous act of bravery and devotion to duty in the presence of the enemy.

On 26 June 1857, the Victoria Cross was awarded to 62 soldiers and sailors by Queen Victoria.  Since introduction, the Victoria Cross has been awarded to 13 non-British persons, including 3 Danes, 1 German, 1 Swiss, 1 Belgian and 1 Ukrainian.

The Australian Victoria Cross remains identical to the British Victoria Cross - a Maltese Cross in bronze adorned by a crown surmounted by a crowned lion, the emblem of the British royal family, in the centre, with a scroll bearing the inscription ‘For Valour’.  On the back is inscribed the date of the action, name of recipient and the regiment.  The ribbon is red for all the Services.  The Victoria Cross takes precedence over all other awards, and is to be positioned on the far left of any other group of medals worn.

Bob Durbin said that many people think the Victoria Cross is “won”.  This is not a competition - the Victoria Cross is awarded to extremely brave individuals.

The first Australian to be given the award was Captain Neville Howse, on 24 July 1900, for his service during the Boer War.  The next Australian to be awarded was Private John Jackson, in 1916 in France - he was just 18 years old.  The last Australian to be awarded, under the Imperial (British) System, was Warrant Officer Keith Payne in 1969 for service during the Vietnam War.  Bob brought along to the meeting a large frame enclosing photos of all 96 servicemen awarded the Victoria Cross under the Imperial system. 

The first Australian to be awarded the Victoria Cross under the new Australian system is Trooper Mark Donaldson, for extreme bravery during his service in Afghanistan.  Members would have seen the television coverage of Trooper Donaldson being presented with his award - with much humility he said “I was just doing what I was trained to do”.  Mark Donaldson epitomises the true spirit of the ANZAC’s.

Any Service personnel in uniform, even though they may be the highest ranked in the land, must salute a Victoria Cross winner.

Next Meeting
The next meeting of the Friends of Linnwood Inc will be held on Sunday 12 April 2009 (Easter Sunday) at 2.00pm.  Our guest speaker will be Jeanette French who will tell us all about the Norman Lindsay Gallery at Springwood and the Lindsay Family.

Raffle
The raffle was drawn by Bob Durbin and won by Margaret Warn.

Meeting Close