A relatively good number of ex serving members of 87, spouses and extended families turned up at Seymour to celebrate what turned out to be a fabulous get together, covering a range of generations, and held in a friendly atmosphere. From my perspective, this was especially good to see, the younger family members showing an interest outside their general age range and mixing amazingly well. Those who couldn’t make it this year, we are sorry we missed you and hope that next year will shine for you and situations will allow even more to turn up at Coffs Harbour in 2024.

All together approx. 35 folk attended, which included 12 of the original Platoon.;

Des and Marg Ralph,

John and Jenny Pidgeon

Chris and Yoki Curtis+2, son, Brett and Simone

Dennis and Jo Quinn

Bob and Adrianna Wilson

Gerry and Barbara Geary

Jenny Hurnall

Jenny Morcom

Joy Purdie

Pom (George or Robert) and Jenny Hallam

Bloo Dennis

Glen and Patsy Hutley +1, granddaughter, Kate

Brian and Yvonne England +1, daughter Michelle

Peter Brook

John Horner & son in law

Brian Smith +1 son in law Tim

Tracy and Dianne, Merv Pickering’s daughters

Rob Hanisch’s son, wife and members of their family.

Betty Collard and Lindsay. Lindsay had a fall and spent the whole time of the reunion in hospital in Melbourne, and Betty, the trooper that she is, travelled from Seymour to Melbourne daily to visit whilst fitting in 87 functions where possible.

Congratulations must go to Des and Margaret for the organisation of this great weekend, and also our special thanks must go to the staff of the Seymour Club who went far out of their way to ensure the weekend was the success it was.

Friday saw a number of guests turning up at the club for what was planned as a simple gathering of the clan in the club with no formal arrangements in hand, with a get together arranged at the Seymour RSL hall that afternoon. The RSL hall was just that, a hall with a makeshift bar in the corner, manned by ex service members from the town and filled by a boisterous group of  21 Construction Squadron who were attending a reunion in Seymour that same weekend. Different to our reunion that was relatively age related, the 21 Construction do covered members from Vietnam era through to current days, and as a result more than a hundred and fifty, turned up, crowded in a small hall run by purely volunteer staff, with 1 bar with limited seating. A wet meal supplied in hot pots from the local pub was to be supplied for a minimal cost but the majority of we Oldies decided that the atmosphere, the noise blasting from an outdoor stage and no seating wasn’t really for us, so a mass exodus saw us go back to the Seymour Club , where once a couple of Taswegians had made contact with an ex Taswegian staff member of the club, seating was miraculously found and a meal was enjoyed by a number of visitors even though the dining room was fully booked.

Saturday we all attended the Remembrance Day service at the WW1 memorial, and a very well attended ceremony it was, attracting a lot of towns people, as would be expected in what has always been a garrison town, boosted by us and personnel from 21 Construction.

The day was basically “at leisure” with us meeting up again at the Seymour Club upstairs in a room of our own and supplied with an adequate supply of finger food. A great and adequate variety of food types were supplied and a great night was had by all. On this night it became evident how well the different generations all mixed in and I got the impression that a strong

bond was formed inter-generationally. I know first hand that our Grand-daughter Kate commented on how much she enjoyed everyone’s company and companionship.

Sunday morning saw us gather once again at the club, even before some of the staff, and our General meeting was held. Des opened the meeting, welcomed everyone and thanked all those who had contributed in their own ways over the past years, then put it to the meeting, “Do we continue with more reunions”?

The general consensus was that we do continue on as long as possible, but instead of every second year we should meet up each year (while there are still some to meet up!) The next question was where and when. Up until recently Long Tand Day has always been the date we have set to meet but this date proves to be unsatisfactory for a number of members who have other commitments on that date, so it was decided to hold the next reunion on the weekend of Remembrance Day, 11/11,2014 at Park Beach (Coffs Harbour).

With no other general business to discuss, Des declared all positions vacant and asked for nominations for someone to carry on with the Association.

Pommy Adcock put forward a nomination, namely me, and I accepted, on the grounds that there was another member present as a safeguard to check on any monetary spendings that may be necessary. I suggested Jenny Morcom and she sort of accepted, but obviously didn’t really want the position, and after the meeting she informed Bloo Dennis that she had had second thoughts and Bloo accepted the position.

I recognised the effort that Ken Sceney had put in to the running of the Association in his time in office and also Ithanked Des and Jenny Pidgeon for their support over the past years. The meeting was closed and then the mandatory photographs were taken. Peter Brook and John Horner were absent from the photo session.

The financial report for the year is as follows.

Balance brought forward                                                                                         $3938.95

Cash withdrawal                              3000.00                                                                 938.95

Flowers R Hanisch                                             180.00

Room Hire                                                            36.00

Name Badges                                                      34.00

Cakes                                                                  100.00

Flowers K Sceney                                               100.00

Dinner Seymour                                                600.00

Staff gratuities                                                    100.00

Sub total                                                           1150.00

Banked remainder of cash withdrawal                                   1850.00                                                                          

Current Balance                                                                                                         $2,788.95           

No raffles or any other fund raising activities were held and as a result we go towards our next reunion with $2,788.95 cents in the bank.

As can be noted from the treasurer’s report above, the only debits that have have been required and may be needed in the foreseeable future, are for flowers for funerals where necessary and deposits/room hire for future reunions, so there is no real reason that we need to raise any great amounts of funds in the future.

Bloo, Patsy and I wish every one in the 87 extended family, a happy and prosperous Christmas and New Year.