The Greengrocer

My Piling System was so high that I was forced to do something about it yesterday.

One of the newspaper clippings that I unearthed was an article from 1958 about Penn's Hardware in Kings Cross, a very different institution from the huge hardware stores we have today. I remember my parents going to Penn's and have a memory of kitchen walls being painted Wedgwood Blue with paint from Penn's.

When we lived in King's Cross I remember shopping with my mother, Elsie, for our fruit and veg at the Greengrocer's next door to Penn's on Darlinghurst Road. My interest in this picture is not in the shops but in a customer on the footpath. my mother.

Elsie Curry (nee Duncan) at the Greengrocer's

Mum is the cardigan wearing lady in the middle of the photo with the slim ankles and good posture.

This photo dredges up so many memories of the shops we used to visit. The Cash and Carry was the forerunner of today's supermarket, the delicatessens where we used to buy small bricks of ice cream before we had a refrigerator and Repin's Moka coffee shop where Mum used buy beans to grind for her coffee.

From the Archives - September 27 2010

 On this day we remember my Father-in-law, James William Ball, with a post from 2010.

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James William Ball 1918-1990

 

Remembering a gentle man, James William Ball, who passed away 20 years ago today on 27th September 1990.

James William Ball and Daphne Gillespie

James William Ball - Firefighter

James William Ball - Grandfather

Trove Tuesday - Oak Vale

The relationship to me is complicated but Lynn Izard who wrote the following letter is the daughter of George who was was previously married to my Great-grandmother, Catherine Molloy. 

Having just discovered that George and Catherine had a daughter, Mary Isabella Ellen Mary Izard, in  Mitttagong in 1901 I took to Trove with a simple search "Izard Mittagong" to see what I could find on the family. I haven't looked at the Izzard/Izard branch since 2011 so was pleased to be rewarded with many hits which I need to follow up.

I particularly enjoyed reading this letter to a Children's page from Lynn as it describes the area in which my Great-grandmother would have lived with George prior to her death on 1904.  

1924 'GUMBLOSSOM'S WEEKLY CHAT.', Freeman's Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1850 - 1932), 23 October, p. 46. , viewed 22 Sep 2020, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article123251444

From the Archives - 13th September 2010

 Reposting this 2010 post 20 years after the Sydney Olympics.

Apologies that some links within the post are dead.
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Monday, September 13, 2010

Ten years ago - 13 September 2000

I have just been reminded on a current affairs program that ten years ago was a special time in Sydney. In September 2000 our city hosted the Olympics.  It was a magical time in our beautiful city, there were crowds everywhere but the atmosphere was one of bonhomie.

At that time I was a teacher at MLC School in Burwood and had volunteered months before to chaperone a group of our students who would be performing in the opening and closing ceremonies of the games. Together with the students I gave up  a number of weekends and evenings to attend rehearsals at venues around Sydney including an abandoned airfield at Schofields. 

I had in 1999 entered the lottery to buy tickets for the sporting events. After the ballot we found ourselves several thousand dollars poorer but armed with tickets to athletics, hockey, water polo, wrestling, kayaking, table tennis, tennis amd more. The tickets were shared amongst members of the family ; we had what would today be called a staycation. Our youngest daughter had been lucky enough to get, through university, a paid position with SOBO at the Tennis Centre.

Mr Geniaus, Mate and Hornsby Mayor at Pennant Hills Torch Relay Function

On this day 13th September 2000 I have written in my diary "to MLC to collect Opening Ceremony tickets". As a volunteer I was given two tickets to the Dress Rehearsal of the Opening Ceremony.  Following that I attended a local Torch Relay Function "to Torch relay celebration at Pennant Hills.  It's hot and dusty and we can't see a thing from the VIP area!!"

I had also managed to procure a couple of extra Dress Rehearsal tickets so with Mr Geniaus and a couple of our offspring we set off by train  to  the Opening Ceremony Dress Rehearsal at Stadium Australia.

I recorded my impressions of the Olympics in a series of posts on a listserv to which I belonged. In the coming days, as Australia remembers, I will repost these on my Geniaus blog.

From the Archives - Pointers for Presenters

With all the news about RootstechConnect flooding the geneasphere I remembered this post written in  2010 and offer it to those who are taking to a genealogy stage. I feel that the points I covered are applicable to virtual as well as face to face presentations. As it's ten years since my original post I have added some further comments to the list in Purple.

What would you add to the list?

Monday, August 16, 2010

Pointers for Presenters

Having retired from the world of education I now have some time to devote to my hobby/passion for family history. Over the last eighteen months I have attended a number of seminars and talks on genealogy and related subjects. Some presenters have been excellent and some have been downright woeful. Some of the genealogy presenters I have seen could do well to watch and learn from the presentations I have seen given by Australian students in our schools.

Having knowledge of a subject does not qualify one as a competent and engaging presenter.

Prompted by Thomas MacEntee's announcement that he has published a book " Approaching the Lectern: How to Become a Genealogy Speaker"  I have decided to make a few suggestions for Australian speakers. Each of these points could have helped one or some of the speakers I have heard recently.
  
Before

• Update your knowledge of the topic
• Know your subject well enough so that you will not need to read your presentation
  
• Get prior information on your audience 
• Be prepared, have backups of your presentation
• Prepare a handout or disk for distribution to participants or provide links to the presentation on the internet
• Practice your talk in front of a trusted and honest friend or colleague and use their feedback to polish your work
  
• Maintain regular contact with the hosting organisation
• Dress appropriately for the situation 
• Arrive early and check setup

During

• Set the scene by giving some background information on yourself
• Turn the camera on yourself prior to starting your presentation - attendees like to put a face to a name
  
• State the rules of the game - Are you happy to be interrupted or do you want people to keep questions to the end? Do you allow attendees to take screenshots of your slides?
  
• Start with an overview of the presentation's content - Outline your goals for the gig
• Display enthusiasm or passion for your subject
• State your relationship to products being demonstrated - Some talks are thinly veiled marketing exercises/infomercials - Be honest and upfront about your connections to vendors/products
• Speak clearly, coherently and with animation - Engage your audience through good communication
• Keep your um count low - use pauses rather then ums
  
• Avoid Death by Powerpoint - You are the presenter
• Use original, relevant images to make your points
• Keep text on slides to a few pithy points
  
• There is no need to read the text on your slides - Most of your attendees can read for themselves
  
• Sprinkle your talk with anecdotes and analogies - but don't overdo it
• Use visual aids and artefacts to embellish your talk - Cater for individual learning styles of participants
• Maintain eye contact - Look at the camera
  
• Involve your audience - Ask them questions, get them to comment on a photo or artefact
• When showing internet sites connect to the site - avoid screenshots - use them as backups for times of technology failure 
• When talking about software - Accompany with a live demonstration
• Be honest - If you don't know the answer to a question say so  
• There may be experts in your audience who can add value to the event - Accept their comments graciously

Afterwards

• Invite feedback via a printed or online feedback form - Offer a prize draw for completed forms
• Set aside some time to talk to audience members individually after talk
• Provide contact details for audience followup 
• Use audience feedback to amend and polish your presentation
  

Rootstech Connect - The Greatest Geneashow on Earth

In 2021 Rootstech will be VIRTUAL and  FREE  and called Rootstech Connect.

For the 11th year in a row I am proud to be a Rootstech Ambassador and thrilled that I can attend the Rootstech Connect event safely from the comfort of my geneacave in Australia. 

Mark the dates, 25-27 February, on your calendar to join thousands of genimates from around the world for this Fun and Fabulous Family History Fair.

Rootstech Director, Jen Allen, has just announced this news. See what she has to say in the video below and learn how to register for the Greatest Geneashow on Earth.

Will YOU be joining me at  Rootstech Connect?