Tuesday 17th April 2012

Start of the long haul to Moree

Early morning fog along the highway

That awful straight stretch Narrabri to Moree

Our Marching Girls Practice at Taylor Oval, Moree

the first time we have met up in 40/50 years

Dinner at the Moree RSL Club after marching practice

June and I taken on my 16th birthday

52 years later on the morning of the march

Signatures to go into the time capsule 

to be opened in 50 years time

Dad's write up in the exhibition Hall

Dad's write up in the exhibition Hall

My school class of 1950

In the exhibition hall

old record books that I remember well

from my years of working with Dad

The Exhibition Hall

Coffee break before the parade

Coffee break before the parade

Lorraine & Kerry - bystanders to the parade

Tony Michell driving one of the cars in the parade

It's all over!

Graham in Balo Street

Empty after the parade

We had a big, big weekend at Moree to celebrate the Moree 150 year centenary.

Friday 13th April 2012:
The trip to Moree went well with no mishaps.  We left at 6.00am on Friday morning and arrived at Moree about 2.00pm which was a good run through with a couple of stops at Murrarundi and Narrabri.  Graham & Anne were travelling behind us and had a good run through to Moree from their farm in the Hunter Valley.

We had time to settle in with Lorraine before I needed to go to marching practice at Taylor Oval at 4.30pm.
There were approximately 30 girls participating from all the eras of the Marching Girls years.  It was lovely to touch base with many of the girls, some of whom I have not seen for 46 years.  I also met up with my cousin June  who marched with me in the early years.  Our practice session did not show a lot of promise nor gave us any confidence that we would march well on Saturday.  At least we sorted a few things out and got our uniforms to wear the next day, before a quick trip back to the house for a shower and change before going over to the Moree RSL Club for dinner with all the girls.  We had a lovely dinner together and caught up with all the latest news from all the girls, many of whom (like myself)  had moved away from Moree many years ago.

Phil & Lorraine made us comfortable for the weekend and we now have to upgrade their motel status as our room now has an en suite.  Lorraine and the boys had a quite night at home.

Saturday 14th April 2012 I was up early to get prepared for the big day.  We had to meet at the hall at 10 o'clock to sign the register for the time capsule and have some formal photos taken.  Phil & Lorraine cooked us a big hot breakfast to get us through the day.  June called in at 9.30 so that we could take another photo of the two of us on the front steps of the house in our marching uniforms as we had done 52 years ago.
I met up with the girls at the hall, signed the register, had our formal team photos taken.  Then we had a break until the start of the march so we had a look at the exhibition hall which was excellent with an enormous amount of historical items.  Then we met up with everyone for coffee in Balo Street while we were waiting for parade time.
At 1 o'clock the parade started and all went well.  We all fell into step once the band started to play and managed the march with ease.  We did not do too badly considering that we only had one small practice and managed to stay in step for the most of it.  It has been 40/50/60 years since we have done any precision marching.  We all managed the march easily which goes to show that precision marching in one's youth is not a bad thing.  After the parade we listened to the proclamation and the opening of the time capsule from 50 years ago.  The crowd disbursed after the conclusion and as you can see by Anne's photo of Graham in Balo Street - there was not a car or person in sight.  We stopped off at the Royal Hotel for a cool refreshing beer on the way home from the march.  At 6.30 we all met over at George's Chinese restaurant for a family dinner where we caught up with Kerry, Dean and their family.  We had a look at the construction work that Phil is doing there which is a huge job.  Then it was home for a quiet wine to finish off the night.
 
Sunday 15th April 2012 we had a leisurely breakfast and got away about 9.30 am for our journey back to Gosford.  We had originally planned to stay another day so that we could have a game of golf with Phil but our plans come unstuck when an urgent F-Troop job took priority for 7.00am on Monday.  Graham & Anne filled in for us at the golf and by all reports we missed out on a good day.  I was disappointed at not having more time at Moree so that I could have a chance to catch up with old friends and school mates and the like. It was a very rushed couple of days with no opportunity for any spare hours. I was happy to have participated in the march and have got some great photos and videos of the weekend.

I have created a new blog for the Moree Marching Girls so that I had somewhere to put the historical photos from our Marching Era and also of the parade.  the web address is as follows:

www.moreemarchinggirlsblog.blogspot.com

a google search should appear with a link to the blog.

There is a menu on the top right hand side which lists out the separate postings that I have done with the photos.  Just click on the menu for the photos you want to view or alternatively you can just arrow down the page and click on "older posts" at the bottom.  You can click on the photos to enlarge them to viewing size - then click your "back" key to return to the home page.  Use the 'page 'options to zoom in/out, copy file or print file.

We had a good trip home arriving about 4 o'clock in the afternoon.  I spent my time in the car on my laptop editing photos so that I could get the photos loaded quickly when I got home.

Monday 16th April 2012 we were up early and at F-Troop at 7.00am.  The major project for the day was to dismantle a shed that is going to be re-installed at the Golf Club and used as a cart shed.  While the boys dismantled the shed I worked over at the Golf Club gardens with the F-Troop girls.  It was a huge morning and we did not get home until 2 o'clock.  I spent the rest of the day on the computer setting up the marching girls blog and editing photos.   I had a restless night worrying about my dental appointment schedules for tomorrow.

Tuesday 17th April 2012 I was up early to catch up with the ironing before I had to go to the dentist at 9.00am.  I have been having anxieity attacks for weeks as I was scheduled to have my front tooth extracted because of a suspected crack in the tooth.  However when I arrived at the surgery my dentist said he had another plan to try to save the tooth which I was willing to try.  I have to go back in another couple of weeks to see if the tooth is still happy in which case I will not have to have it removed and a false tooth put in.
I did not know whether to be relieved or annoyed!  I had spent all these weeks preparing to lose a tooth with great anxiety.  I think I will run with being relieved because I have saved thousand of dollars of dental work.

This afternoon Peter & I went for an eye test at Erina.  My eyesight has been failing substantially in the last 12 months and as I suspected, I have cataracts to be removed.  So now is is off to the eye specialist who I will not be able to see until August.  It means I will be viewing our USA travels through clouded eyes which is a shame.  I am looking forward to having the cataracts off as my vision is a problem at the moment.

I have more work to do with photos from the weekend and then I have to get back to my photo graveyard.
It has been pouring rain here today and is supposed to rain for the rest of the week so that will give me opportunity - the question is can I get motivated?