A Chat With...

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Wednesday, 30 July 2025

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A Chat With...

A Chat With... Donald Douglas

My first interaction with Donald Douglas was when he visited The Bridge Office recently to have a piece of his writing amended. It was a brief encounter that was followed by a short email conversation and gauging his obvious friendliness, I decided...

A chat with... Dot Griffith

...“That’s when I had a fall. I had already had a hip replacement and when I fell, I smashed the prosthetic and my femur! No, I don’t do things by halves!!”... Today I am at Glenarm in Kerang where I have someone special waiting to meet me...

A chat with... Gwen Walder

It has been a while since I have had the opportunity to interview a resident at Murray Haven in Barham, so when I was invited to have a Chat with Gwen Walder, I was eager to get back in there. Unfamiliar with the surname, it is always exciting to...

A chat with... John Lace

Throughout my almost 10 years working at The Bridge, I have encountered the name John Lace several times. Having never crossed paths with him before, all I knew of this man was that he was the father of the bubbly Gina who was the owner/operator of...

A chat with... Brian Walton

Trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent. If Brian Walton could be described in these words, then his job here on earth has been done, for they are all the qualities he has spent...

A chat with... Joy Taylor

“In our house, the radio was always on. My first memories are of Nelson Eddy, who Mum loved, and Mario Lanza.” It has been a long time in the making, but after a few setbacks that were out of our control, I was relieved when I sat down at...

A Chat With - Annette Maier - Part 2

“The people in the township were so nice, very generous people who made us feel welcome.....” Annette shakes her head as she recalls her first impressions of her new life in Australia. “I have never seen anything like it. It was so bad that it...

A Chat With - Annette Maier

“All my parents did was work as hard as they could to save for their own home....” Recently, when I was catching up with the Murray Haven Pioneers Group, my attention was caught by a lady sitting over to my right. A new face, her rosy cheeks...

A Chat With - Shirley Sartori

“Father fished a lot. We had a cow called ‘Dolly’, who we used to milk, and we grew most of our own fruits and vegetables...” For as long as I have been conducting these Chat With interviews, I have wanted the opportunity to sit down with...

A Chat With - Dorothy Corner

“I came home from school one day and Mum said to me ‘you start work on Monday at the hospital, working as a cleaner.’” Since first seeing her face just a few months ago, I have been intrigued by the quiet lady who sits in the corner with...

A Chat With - Yvonne Murphy

“We were taught to dance at school and used to go to the local social at the church. Later on, it was Moonee Ponds Junction Dance. I wasn’t really much of a dancer; I’d go there to socialise!” I know you should never pick favourites, but...

A Chat With - Marjorie Robinson

“We certainly had our jobs to do. I remember we had a huge passageway that needed to be regularly swept, which was usually my job, collecting and chopping the wood, collecting the eggs...”

A Chat With - Charlie Telfer

“...The police realised the job I did as being very important, so they issued me with a licence at the age of 12 right there on the spot!...”

A Chat With - Shirley McGrath

“...We had the agreement that Danny’s job was the trucks, as he’d sold the farm by then, and mine was raising the children. It was very traditional and it worked well for us....“

A Chat With - Ian Hare

“...When I was older, I rode my pony Trixie to school. It was a great joke putting our friends on her and watching them get pigrooted off! Nobody could stay on but me!”

A Chat With - Eileen Connelly

“...Happiness would have to be if I could see my kids more, because they’re mine and I’m so proud of them. I get kisses from them and that makes me feel like a million dollars...”

A Chat With - Marion May

“...Everyone went through pretty tough times, yes, but you just plugged through and didn’t get too bothered by it. It does you no good to worry about it, it does you no good to worry about anything....”

A Chat With - Dulcie Smale

“...I told them that if they wanted me to meet him it would be on my terms first!...”

A Chat With - David Peel

“...I remember a few of the boys cut every second spoke on the wheels of his bike. He was very hard on some of them, so that’s why they did it...”