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We are well and truly into the new year and I hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas and New Year parties and festivities. The sub-branch held its Christmas party and barbecue on From left: Donna Bertoli, Mathew Mealing, Peter and Margaret Dawson (standing) and Paddy enjoy themselves at the RSL sub-branch Christmas party. We had some beautiful king prawns as starters, and then we had the usual barbecue steak and sausages, cooked by Jimbo, Ron Follers, Fred Moss and one of our newest members John Fredriskens, and the salad was made by the new chef of the Bistro, Glen Beilby, which was well received by all. Next we had the Christmas puddings made by our ex-Navy cook, Ron Follers, who loves pouring the rum over the puddings. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the meal and we had Andy, the barman, to keep us all fuelled up as usual. Except for the rain, it was another successful barbecue for us; so many thanks must go to the committee for organising a wonderful event and also thanks to all our cooks, our new chef and Andy. There was one birthday on December 18 where Betty Weekes celebrated her 86th and can look forward to many more ahead of her. In January, Garry Knowles had a birthday on the 2nd and Mollie Schiebel had her 83rd birthday on Saturday the 5th. Garry was shy about letting us know how old he is, but he’ll let slip one day. Cliff Littler had his son, John, visiting from Canberra. John is with the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, in Canberra, and also works with the Australian War Graves Commission in trying to locate Australian War Soldiers killed in combat. |
Below: Right, from left: Keith and Helen Lever, Keith and Jan Staff and Adam Henderson, at the sub-branch barbecue, on December 5.
A reminder to all those members who have not yet paid their membership fees to please do so, to be eligible to vote at our A.G.M. meeting to be held on Wednesday, February 27. We would encourage as many members to attend as possible to elect your committee for the ensuing 12 months. The RSL Club board of directors is looking at getting some planter boxes made up in the near future to enhance the club. We have also put up new large notice boards so members can see what events are on and when. Then there is the Bistro, under new management by Chef Glen Beilby and attendances have been excellent. The Bistro is open from noon to 2pm daily and from 6pm to 8pm in the evening. On Sundays, instead of lying in, why not come down and have a hot and cold breakfast buffet? Adults are only $12.00 and children 9 and under are $8.00. Treat the family and come for breakfast. We would love to see you there. If you enjoy playing Alphy then come along every Thursday morning, 10.30am to 12.30pm. From 10am to 10.30am you can have a complimentary cuppa and biscuit before the game begins and there is always someone who would love to have a chat. Wayne Morgan or Neville Graham hosts the game and attendance has been very good. They would love to see more new faces, so come along. There are great voucher prizes and fun to be had by all. Anyone who enjoys dancing, then the 50/50 dance nights are for you. They are held on the third Saturday night of the month, with Jim and Judy, and also on the fourth Saturday night, with Judy and Barry. So grab your dancing shoes and come on down to the club and enjoy the dancing which has proven to be very popular. On Tuesdays they have ‘Fill the Freezer’ and ‘Pack the Pantry’. Tickets go on sale at 12.30pm and they start at 1.40pm. So, if your fridge or pantry is empty, then come and have a go at refilling it. Then there are also the TAB facilities and TV, covering all the race meetings everywhere, plus Keno, Darts, Bowls and Snooker for the sports minded. There is such a wide variety of things to do at the club every day to satisfy everyone. On Sundays, from 12.00pm to about 1.45pm, there are the Coast Guard raffles, run by the volunteers of that wonderful organisation. You can win cartons of beer, vouchers to be spent around Evans Head at participating stores, too many to put to paper and pen, but many thanks to them all. There are five sealed brown envelopes which may contain a beer ticket or $100 of beer vouchers – all depends on your luck on the day. If the weather held good for January 25, we hoped to have a trip out to the Bombing Range with Flt-Lt Matt King and his merry crew. Sadly, we farewelled Matt from January 26, but we welcomed the new Officer In Charge, Phil Townsend. We also wish LAC Greg Sutak an enjoyable stay with us. Many thanks must also go to our wonderful bar staff, whose friendly, smiling faces make our patrons’ time at the club an enjoyable experience. Every now and then we have variety acts and entertainment at the Club, so make sure you check out the notice boards for upcoming events. Molly Schiebel has been in Lismore Base Hospital since Sunday, January 13, with a few health problems. So from the Coffee Club and members, Molly, we hope you get well soon and look forward to seeing you at the club. ’Til next month, stay safe and enjoy your club. Cheers, John Lenon |
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Wednesday, December 5 and about 140 people attended from the Coffee Club with their wives or partners. It was a great day for us, except for the rain which saw everyone move into the downstairs function room. It was decided to hold our Christmas party early in December so everyone could attend their own parties over the busy Christmas season.
They also look after all the war graves around the world. John spoke about his trip to France where he visited the Menin Gate Memorial and listened to the buglers play the Last Post, which they have done every night since its inception. It is quite a moving ceremony expressing their thanks to the Australian Service Men who fought and died in France. Also in January, we had Ian ‘Lois’ Lane of the RAAF visit. Ian was the Bombing Range Officer at Evans Head a few years ago. The Bingo started again on Sunday, December 3 and the turn out has been tremendous. We have even had visitors from Ballina, Goonellabah and Cairns, so welcome to all and we hope you enjoy your stay at Evans Head and come back to visit us again. Special thanks must go to our bingo callers – Keith ‘Quack-Quack’ Staff, Ron ‘The Cook’ Follers, our president, Darryl Pobje, and our Treasury staff , Harold Rowlands, Kevin ‘Spooks’ Lever, Adam Henderson, our latest new member Long John Fredrisken and the caller’s right-hand man Wayne ‘Pothole’ Richardson. Without the tireless work of these members there would be no Bingo.