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Guest Speakers for 2023

Monday 12th June -  Brad McGregor, Clinical and Operations Manager, UQHealthy Living (for Seniors) - Topic: STRENGTH TRAINING AND THE OLDER ADULT: HOW TO IMPROVE FUNCTION & BUILD BONE MASS

Monday 10th July: Leigh Chamberlain 

In 1849 Moreton Bay surveyor James Warner was instructed to survey a road to Moggill so that settlers arriving on JD Lang’s immigrant boats could purchase farmland out at Moggill.

This road was initially known as Mogg-hill Road, then; later Moggill Road.

Warner then completed a survey along the Brisbane River from Milton to Toowong of allotment blocks in 1850 sized from 5 to 20 acres. These were subsequently sold by the Crown by public auction. The first of these auctions was held in early 1852.  Since 1852 settlement spread slowly along the Brisbane River’s Toowong Reach to High Street and Gailey Road (where Lang Farm estate was situated), and also along Moggill Road towards Taringa and Indooroopilly.

As settlement spread the large blocks were subdivided and sold into smaller and smaller estates. The first to be so subdivided was Curlew Street in 1862.

By 1920 Toowong has changed in character from farmland to that of a suburb.

Today, in 2023, the suburb is undergoing more radical change, with settlement not spreading outwards, but upwards. Toowong is one of the favoured suburbs for high-rise development. Character homes built in earlier periods have been put at risk by this trend, and many have been either demolished or relocated, with the inadequacy of planning laws lamented and subsequent loss of heritage now becoming a political issue.

About the speaker: Leigh Chamberlain is the secretary of the Toowong and District Historical Society. As a volunteer researcher, she is also the Society’s archivist. Since 2000 she written several books about Toowong, with a series of five featuring reminiscences and family history sourced while interviewing people with a connection to Toowong. Leigh was also awarded the Royal Historical Society of Queensland Centenary Medal, and The Lord Mayor’s New Year’s Award 2022. Leigh trained as a teacher at Townsville Teachers College (since amalgamated with JCUNQ) and completed her Arts Degree at UQ.

Monday 14th August - Bec O’Connell, Manager BOQ Kenmore, - Topic: Scam awareness. 

BOQ Kenmore is headed up by Owner-Manager Bec O’Connell who has owned and operated the business for the past 5 years. Bec works alongside a dedicated, long-serving team that many of you may know Jenny, Katherine, Kym & Grant who between them have over 100 years of banking experience to support the banking needs of the Kenmore community. The team at BOQ Kenmore has grown welcoming Peta, Anita & Byron over the past 12 months. They are close knit team who genuinely care about creating long-term relationships with their customers.

Not just passionate about banking, Bec and her team created the idea to share their knowledge around how to protect yourself as a direct impact of more and more of their clients being the victims of fraud. The opportunity to present their Scam Awareness Presentation to the members is a way to share their knowledge, inform and support more members of the community.