MARCH
Thursday 6th – Lithgow St Mall, 12:00pm Till 1:30pm, (Boots, Aimee, Neil & Narelle).
Saturday 29th – Ingleburn Festival, 1:30pm Till 2:15pm.
APRIL
Saturday 5th – Jenny, Preston & Friends, Oakdale Workers Club, 8:00pm till 12:00am.
PRESIDENTS REPORT
The club capitalised on an opportunity for great exposure by accepting an invitation to be involved with carols under the stars at Sweeny’s. This event attracted huge crowd despite predicted storms after a very hot and humid day. Despite the continuos light rain the crowd stayed enthused by the atmosphere of the occasion and the talent on show. The spectacle was enhanced by the bright lights that illuminated in the dark across the paddock. All of the kids and most of the adults waved the multi coloured glow sticks provided by the organisers as they joined in singing the carols that they knew.
The crowd were entertained by a cast with a wide variety of talents. These were ranged from the wit of the compere along with his vocal skills, to tiny sub juniors dancing and singing. This amounted to a great community attraction and as far as the kids were concerned the star was undoubtedly Humphrey B Bear.
Club members that worked tirelessly to ensure a successful event were Boots and Janet Morgan, Aimee Hannan, Jason Lee and Ray Whitmore. Boots in particular worked his hide off over the entire weekend. This was his commitment: - Saturday morning unload and set up all the equipment and sound gear, Operate the system microphones and disc players at rehearsal and rehearse most of the day and night. Then pull down all of the gear and put it away.
Returned on Sunday morning to set up all over again for the show. Any person with a lesser-controlled temperament would have either broken down and cried with frustration or blown up maybe both. Boots remained collected despite continuous and often conflicting demands from artists and muso’s. Boots got on really well with Humphrey they seem to be able to speak the same language.
Membership attendance on Tuesday night was down initially when we resumed in mid January. This was probably due to most of our people being away at Tamworth and then taking a week or two off to recover on returning to Sydney. Over recent weeks the crowd has built up making our nights at the Tennis Club big occasions and very enjoyable.
The friendly atmosphere and participation as well as the enormous amount of talent that we have on display. Our talent pool is so huge our Tuesday nights are perceived to be big shows. This perception is compounded by the number of new visitors and members. To a new kid on the block it would not be unreasonable for them to assume that Tuesday nights are performance nights.
This situation gets the novice all nervous and the experienced up tight. Muso’s are expected to hit the right notes and not make mistakes. Because of this performance mentality muso’s can and do feel intimidated by the high standard expected of them.
The concept is very basic and very simple. The Macarthur Country Music Club was formed to enable people with a common interest to congregate, learn and assist others in learning and promoting Country Music. We are here to support each other in our individual pursuits relating to country music. If as an example one of our school age members assignment is to learn and sing a particular song at school, that person can use their allotted time on stage on that particular song. In other words sing that same song twice. We are not here to be judges we are here to be supports to each other.
Another area where the bar for standard has been raised is the “desk operator” The member on a usual Tuesday night set up only has control of the Microphones and rhythm guitar. Because of limited control the expectation of the soundman are too high.
In our club we do not have any person qualified in this area and with that being the case then nobody is qualified to criticize. Make suggestions please!!! Then we can all learn.
Because of the large amount of hugely talented people in our club Tuesday nights are perceived to be performance nights THEY ARE NOT!! They are for people to get together to assist and support each other’s endeavours in country music.
Ray Whitmore
SECRETARIES REPORT
Welcome back, I hope you all had a good break and are raring to go for the New Year. We have lots of plans for this year and hope you are ready to be part of them. Please check “Dates For Your Diary” so you are aware of our up coming events. As you will notice we are now entertaining shoppers in Campbelltown on Thursday’s once a month at lunchtimes. The main street committee contacted us during our break to see if we would like to be part of this event once a month. They have given us 3 dates so far and will pay the club $200 for each appearance.
Australia Day
Australia Day this year saw us doubled booked which put Wayne and I in a spin as Tamworth was on at the same time. Wayne Kate, Gary & Dee stepped forward to help us out at Ingleburn, while Jim Burke, Colleen Hall, Jenny Calleja, Aimee Hannan, Sharna Atkins & Boots Morgan all made the trek into the Rocks in Sydney. Thank you to all of the above it was a long hot day and you all did such a wonderful job. The club added $400 dollars to it’s coffers and I am glad to say we are now well on our way to buying our new photocopier.
A special thank you to Irene Burke who although was not on the list of entertainers had the crowds fired up and Line dancing.
On the day I had the idea of getting everyone’s mobile phone numbers so if they got lost they could contact me. This turned out to be a great move for Boots, Ray and I (and of course Jenny & Fred who were following us) as we took a wrong turn and ended up over the Bridge heading for Manly. I saw more of Sydney that day than I have in the 34 years I’ve lived here. We eventually got there thanks to Ray’s navigation and it was well worth it.
Use of Club Microphones
As you will have noticed there are 3 microphones in use on Tuesday nights, these are for your use to sing or converse through they are not there for you to announce your displeasure to all and sundry. If you have a problem please go and speak to the person concerned. If the problem is not solved there are other avenues open to you, i.e. put it in writing and give it to your secretary or other committee member or post it to our mailing address. This kind of behaviour is embarrassing to you, the person you are addressing and even more so to the members having to sit and listen to it. Please use the microphones only for the use they are intended for.
Supervision of children
Once again we have had a complaint of children being unsupervised, Beer mats are being torn up and strewn all over the floor and then left for the bar staff to clean up. Children have also been out in the BBQ area which I am now informed is out of bounds. We love the kids to come to the club but they must be supervised at all times. Not all our members are singers or muso’s many are part of our listening audience and there is nothing worse when you are trying to listen and somebody else’s kids are running around. We have a great venue and we would like to keep it.
Carols At Sweeny’s CD
I have a few copies of a CD that was recorded by Heather Honey and sold at the Sweeny’s Carols By Candlelight. This CD has six of our members featured on it. The CD is $10 with all money raised going to our Local Bush Fire Brigade. Anyone interested in buying a copy please see Janet.
Nellie in Tamworth
Many members have been asking me how young Nellie Dargan is doing, as we don’t see much of her at the club these days. Well I am glad to report that Nellie is doing extremely well. Nellie had her yearly trip to Tamworth and came home with 6 Trophies and a cheesy grin. One of the awards was the Troy Casser- Daley encouragement award and is Nellie’s pride and joy. Nellie would love to come to the club more often but due to transport problems is unable to make it. If anyone lives in the Ambarvale region and could possibly give Nellie and her Nan a lift on Tuesday nights you would make Nellie and Ann very happy. Ann is willing to pay petrol money if you can help. As we all know Nellie has a cousin who sometimes visits the club by the name of William. Now William is a character that we all love so you will be pleased to hear that William entered and won a competition to go to Rockhampton to meet his idle Lee Kernagahan. The trip is for 4 people with airfares and accommodation. So Tuesday 4th of March William and his family are up and away. William has never flown before so I would love to be the airhostess on the plane just to see his face. Good n ya William have a great time. Oh and by the way Happy Birthday for the 6th.
Food For Thought
I had this story sent to me by email and thought I’d share it with you,
One day a farmer’s donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally he decided the animal was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway, it just wasn’t worth it to retrieve the donkey.
He invited all his neighbours to come over and help him. They each grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well.
At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then to everyone’s amazement he quietened down. A few shovel loads later the farmer looked down the well, and was astonished at what he saw. As every shovel of dirt hit his back, the donkey did something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up.
As the farmers neighbours continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal he would shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and trotted off.
The Moral: Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick to getting out of the well is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our troubles is a stepping-stone. We can get out of the deepest wells just by not stopping, never give up! Shake it off and take a step up!
Remember the five simple rules to be happy are:
- Free your heart from hatred,
- Free your mind from worries,
- Live simply,
- Give more,
- Expect less.
OK that’s enough of that let’s get back to the donkey,
The donkey later came back, caught the farmer out in the field and kicked the daylights out of him. Then he went over to each of his neighbour’s farms and kicked the daylight out of them too for helping.
The Real Moral:
When you try to cover your ass, it always comes back to haunt you.
(Thanks to Wayne Chambers for the email).
JANET MORGAN
PUBLICITY OFFICERS REPORT
Jean Merchant and Les Gagan
Jean and Les are still working on Farmers Aid Drought Relief Concerts and the latest was held at the South Coast Clubs hall in Mt Kembla with good support from them. One of the artists was Alan Vincent whom we haven’t seen for a while and is working on Tuesday nights and that obviously makes it a bit hard to show up. Tracy Adams performed a version of the Drovers Boy with just herself and the drummer, that made the hairs on the back of your neck stand up! This was the second time we have seen Samantha Hartley preform thank god she in the seniors now! Although there were a few minor problems with band and that is to be expected with a show like this, Jean handled herself as a professional and worked through it.
Jenny Calleja & Preston McIntosh
On Thursday night the 20th of February Maurine and I attended one of “Jenny and Preston’s Country” Shows at the Oakdale Workers Club with a few of our Macarthur Country Music friends Peter Lee, Narelle and Neil, Ted and Vicky, Charlie from Wollondilly and also a young local boy Col who brought a hush over the audience and a big response at the end of his performance. We might have a new member in him and he writes his own material as well. What a great night! Jenny’s working well with her new sound equipment and she puts on a very entertaining night both Jenny and Peter sound very different than on a Tuesday club night so if you get the chance to take in one of her shows do so! As a note the food at the club is pretty tasty as well.
Keep the 5th of April free as Jenny is working on a really big show! And from what I have been told there will be some excellent artists from the Macarthur Club working on that night. There will be a flyer issued when the artists are confirmed so watch for it.
Australia Day at Ingleburn
A big thank you to Wayne, Kate, Garry and Dee for preforming at the Ingleburn Park show that the Campbelltown Council booked us for. Without these four helping out we would have been in some trouble. As we had two bookings that day with another group working at a city event in George Street. I have been told the show went over well.
Workshop
The first workshop went well with eight in attendance. Ted Oram kindly volunteered to do some coaching for us so a start has been made. It has been decided to hold these every second Wednesday at least until I can arrange a hall to work from and as it is in our home and although it is a club organized workshop I request that to keep it to a minimum only members that need help ask to attend, after the hall is arranged we will work on some programmes that works for everyone. In attendance on the first night were Jenny, Jennifer, Victoria, Sharna, Garry, Wayne and even Maurine picked up a guitar!
Booking and Gigs
We have been given a lead on work that may keep the club very busy over the next twelve months. I will update everyone on this shortly and hopefully it starts in May
So can I suggest you all fill up on Vita Brits and new material. “Cheesy Grin”
Website
My apologies that I haven’t had the time to update the website. I have had a busy month and will get onto it shortly. Sometimes I need a good “Smack” to get motivated. But as you can read from above life’s a bit full at the moment.
Wayne Chambers
SICK LIST
Sandra Kelly is on our list this month, Sandra has just had major surgery but is recovering well and will soon be singing and cruising once again.
Boots is not walking round the club making rude suggestions he has broken his finger, but don’t worry he is still humming, strumming & drumming.
Brian Perrett has finally received his knee surgery! I am sure you join with me in wishing him a speedy recovery and we hope to see him back at the club soon. Come on Brian hop to it we miss you!
Congratulations
A hearty congratulations go to Jenny & Fred Calleja on the birth of their Granddaughter on Sat 22nd Feb 2003. Our best wishes to Tracey John & Baby.
Club Shirts
Due to many requests from our new members we are again ordering club shirts it’s great to see so many members proud to show they belong to our club. Polo shirts are $35.00 and Denim long & short sleeves are $38.00. To place an order please ring Janet on 46281846 or see me at the club
Thoughts For The Month
- The best birthdays of all are the ones that haven’t arrived yet.
- An apology is the superglue of life. It can repair just about anything.
Out & About
South Coast Country Music Club hold their meetings on the 4th Sunday of every month. They also have a Have A Go night every Wednesday night at the Mt Kembla hall, and an acoustic night on the 2nd Saturday night of the month. Go down and have a visit they are a friendly bunch.
Wollondilly Country Music Club hold their meetings every Wednesday night at the Picton Hotel,
For Sale
Ross 8 channel mixer, unpowered, rack mount, $200.00
Contact Ted Oram on 46294787.