February

Susan Butler gave us an insight into the development of Aussie slang from colonial days until now. Susan was the editor of the Macquarie Dictionary and has written books including The Dinkum Dictionary and The Aitch Factor. Susan was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2018.

April

Cheryl Cartwright spoke about her time working at Sydney Airport at the Enquiries desk. Cheryl taught music in secondary schools for 20 years and the for the next 20 years taught Christian Studies and Applied Psychology. Having a bus licence took her on many school excursions which inspired her to go into tourism. On retirement Cheryl, became a volunteer at the airport. Her amusing talk was entitled ‘Help is at Hand’.

May

Brian Ahearn spoke about the Vinegar Hill Uprising of convicts. It was an important early historical event in our local area. Brian is a sixth generation Australian and a direct descendant of Irish rebel Murtagh Ahern and English convict Mary Abbey. He is a writer and a family historian.

June

Johnny Pace is a comedian and entertainer of stage, TV and radio fame. Many of us remembered him from 70s and 80s TV shows such as ‘Celebrity Game’, ‘Blankety Blanks’ and ‘Good Morning, Sydney’. He certainly kept us entertained with his presentation ‘Putting Humour to Work.’ He spoke about how attitudes and perspectives can create unnecessary stress, making us old before our time and what we can do to reduce these stress levels. His talk was part serious and part humour and proved very entertaining and informative.

November

Roland Storm, who entertained us in 2019 with his dynamic performance on the keyboard and his huge repertoire of songs, again had us bopping and rocking in our seats. Roland has had a long career spanning from the sixties to the millennium performing all around the world. He has enjoyed great success with an extensive recording catalogue, including a Gold Record for his biggest hit, ‘Rolling with the Flow’.