CollinsPlus E-news

Edition 5. November and December 2004

Editor: Barbara Collins

Text Box:

You can send news at any time to The Editor. A reminder email will be sent out a little while before each edition is due. So please keep the newsletter in mind whenever anything happens in your family that you would like to tell everyone about!

Index

General Website News	Birthdays
Collins Family News	Funny Stuff
Extended Family News	Congratulations
All about ……. (This month: Wasyl Teres)

General News

Website News

Have you had a look around in the CollinsPlus website recently? The address is www.collinsplus.com.

Collins Cash Update - AUCTION. On Monday 20th December, the CollinsCash dollars can be used in an online auction. Click here (No longer active Dec 09) to see your total. There are 2 items to be auctioned.
1. A gift pack of Body Shop products in Oceanus.
2. A battery powered skiing Father Christmas.

Log on at 7.00pm on 20^th December for the last CollinsPlus scheduled Chatroom. These will not continue as a scheduled feature in 2005. Collins Cash will also be discontinued. Sorry – both a bit too labour intensive!!

Whose bios are new on the website this month?
No new biographies since the last newsletter, but there is a great picture of the Bill Collins Family at Bill’s 70^th birthday now on the website under the Collins Line: http://www.collinsplus.com/collins/billcollins/bill_collins.htm. Bill was Dad’s only sibling and he married Kathleen Cummins. Aunty Kath has provided a wonderful account of her Papal visit last year further in this newsletter – including a picture of her meeting with the Pope. (Hey, Bill Collins Family – I’d love to put some of your bios up on the web – Barb)

So, who has their picture on the website now without a biography? Well, in 2005, I’m hoping to fill in all the missing bio links. Maybe you could work on yours over the Christmas Holidays. Email me if you would like a prompt sheet to help you with your bio.

Collins Family News

Go to Collins Family in CollinsPlus Website

Social Events

CHRISTMAS DAY 25^th December, 6pm at Con’s place in West Brunswick.

Con Collins

Boxing Day Golf

Family Boxing Day Golf for the Con Collins Perpetual Trophy will be held this year on Monday 27th. This year we welcome Jessica to the fold and hope she has many years of pleasure with us. Unfortunately Noel and son will be away on holidays, we will miss them. Venue is at Ivanhoe Golf Club.

Gregory Lodge

Gregory Lodge additional accommodation is coming along like wild fire, they expect to be finished next February. (Just after Dad sent me this snippet, Mum’s wing of Gregory Lodge was flooded in the storms on Monday 6^th November. Some parts of the building that are now exposed to the elements because of the extensions were not securely protected from the weather and early morning staff found themselves in 2cms of water. Luckily, the residents slept through it all. Hurry up February!)

Finding out more information on our ancestors

Barb and Con going to see Joan Collins early next year. Joan has made quite a study of our family tree and will have very valuable information to add to what we already know about our ancestors,

Bridget Collins

Bridget (nee Lennon) is wife of Con Collins.

Bridget’s birthday on13/11/05 at Gregory Lodge Nursing Home. Click here for more pictures of the party.

You may recall that in the last newsletter, Judi was contacted by Paula Bain who is an educator with Alzheimer’s Australia. Paula presented at a two day leisure and lifestyle conference in November at the Melbourne Convention Centre. It was organised by Total Aged Services. Paula’s presentation was titled “But what about……….?” And you can view the paper here. In her paper Paula uses Bridget as a case study so I have highlighted reference to Bridget in the paper in blue. For the purposes of anonymity, Bridget is called Bonnie in this paper.

Barbara Collins

Paul Teres is partner to Barbara Collins, firstborn daughter of Con Collins. Go to Teres Family in CollinsPlus Website

Barbara and Paul had a lovely, restful holiday in Queensland in October. The first week was magic. The second week was a bit traumatic due to weather and poor accommodation – but we complained and have been given a free week to take somewhere else next year. Just prior to our holiday, we spent some time with Paul’s Mum, Pauline, in Brisbane and helped to celebrate Wasyl’s 96th birthday in his nursing home. Wasyl, being the oldest member of CollinsPlus, is featured in this newsletter.

Graham Collins

(Graham is the only son of Con Collins – he sadly lost his wife, Joelle, to cancer in November 2003. Go to Graham Collins page for more information.)

On November 7^th, it was the first anniversary of Joelle’s passing. Graham and his family all went to Mass together, then Graham took all the kids to show them the spot that he had picked for Joelle's ashes.

Here are some pictures of the spot in the Springvale Necropolis that they have chosen. You can’t see in the pictures but there is also a little stream behind the garden bed. It's a nice quiet resting place that Joelle would love.

Darcy Collins

(Darcy is the fourth son of Graham Collins who is first born son of Con Collins and Bridget Collins nee Lennon)

Darcy made his debut AND had his 16^th birthday since the last newsletter! See debut pictures here.

He finished his exams on 26th November and now he is on holidays. He says he felt pretty good with his exams but Specialist Maths was a struggle because he used most of my study time for other subjects and didn’t have enough time to complete all the short answer questions on the maths exam.

So far these holidays he has cleaned his room (which he describes as a dumpster), had a fair few parties, had football pre-season training and worked at Target a lot with a shift every once in a while at McDonalds.

Carly Collins

(Carly is the only daughter of Graham Collins who is first born son of Con Collins and Bridget Collins nee Lennon)

Carly celebrated her 21^st in December. Here is Graham giving the 21^st speech. Click here for more pictures.

Wade Collins

(Wade is the third son of Graham Collins who is first born son of Con Collins)

Wade celebrated his 18^th birthday in October. See pictures here of Wade’s 18^th. Wade completed his VCE this year and obtained a score of 95. Congratulations Wade on an excellent result.

Extended Family News

The Bill Collins Family

Bill Collins was the only brother of Con Collins. Kath is Bill’s wife. Go to the Bill Collins Family for more information.

Aunty Kath meets the Pope. Click here to see a larger version of this picture and Aunty Kath’s descriptive story of this meeting.

The Zoch Family

Catherine Zoch is the 4^th girl in the Con and Bridget Collins Family. She is married to John Zoch. Go to Zoch Family page.

The Zoch Family have also been on a holiday to Queensland, staying in a 33^rd floor penthouse! They could see all the way to Burleigh Heads. Jessica and Elise flew home after the first week so they wouldn’t miss any school and left Cathy and John on their own for a romantic break.

Jessica has finished her Year 10 exams – scoring eight As and one B. Congratulations Jessica on her excellent result.

Elise’s netball team just missed out on the netball finals. All the best for next year Elise.

The Deacon Family

Peter Deacon is son of Bridget’s sister, Molly.

Peter and wife Judy enjoying a Chinese Yum Cha

Barb Collins and Peter were going to meet up during Barb and Paul’s Queensland holiday – but it didn’t quite happen. Not to be deterred – we’ll have another go at meeting during the next Queensland holiday.

The Cabrera Family
Judith (nee Collins) is married to Renato Cabrera. Go to the Cabrera page for more information.

Judi and Renato went to see BABBA imitation ABBA with a very nice dinner and show. Judi said “We had a great time and danced to all the songs. When we closed our eyes, they sounded like the real thing. It took us back to the 70s.”

Also Judi entered a Melbourne Cup competition in the local paper, and drew Vinnie Roe. She won 2nd prize in the competition which was overnight accommodation for two at the King William Hotel on Bell Street with a full buffet breakfast and Dinner for Two to the value of $80.00. Lucky Hey.... They enjoyed that prize and made the most of it – Judi said the accommodation was pretty flash for Bell Street Preston

Lucky Judi also won tickets to Santa's Kingdom. She and Renato took two of Judi’s godchildren, Elise and Alex. They all had a jolly good time - it was very festive.

The Con Collins Christmas Tree Story (as told by Judi)

About 30 years or more ago, Dad brought home a Christmas Tree. Over the years the family had a good laugh at Mum and Dad’s very unusual Christmas Tree. We’d never seen one quite like it. WELL - Judi recently spotted the same weird tree in a Target catalogue priced at $69.00. Dad – you were just a bit ahead of your time. See the weird Christmas Tree.

The Teres Family

Paul Teres is partner to Barbara Collins, first daughter of Con Collins. Go to Teres Family for more information.

Paul finished the Great Victorian Bike Ride with 8000 other participants – although we heard about 1000 dropped out early in the piece. The race started in Port Fairy and finished 8 days later in Geelong. Paul arrived back in Melbourne with Andrew, Sophie and Max looking brown (caused through a combination of sunshine and dirt!) and just a little tired. He handled the ride remarkably well but he thinks maybe he will be a volunteer helper at the next ride instead of a participant. Click here for more pictures.

Lisa has a new part time job at Syndicate. In addition to her fulltime job at West Point Finance, Lisa is a very busy young lady!

All about Wasyl Teres

Each newsletter, there is a featured family member. This month, the featured CollinsPlus member is Wasyl Teres. He is the father of Paul Teres who is partner to Barbara Collins. He recently turned 95 and is the oldest living member of CollinsPlus.

Wasyl Teres 6 October 1908 -

I was born in Sedlische, a small village in Ukraine, on 6 October 1908. I was the eldest of 3 boys. My younger brother Michael has passed away but my other brother, Walter, lives in Warsaw, Poland. I have seen huge changes in world events and culture, living through times of peace and war, scarcity and plenty.

I grew up on a small family farm, completing primary school after the World War 1 years and working for my father during my teenage years. In my late teens, I had to seek manual work in larger nearby cities, returning home at weekends. I was conscripted into the Polish Army at the age of 21 and served for 2 years. After completing army service, I found work as a labourer. I was married in 1935, at the age of 27, to Paraska (Pauline) aged 18. I continued to work away from home, returning at weekends to help on the farm.

After only 4 years of marriage World War 2 broke out. I was again conscripted and soon captured by the Germans. I spent the next 3½ years in Germany as a Prisoner Of War working on a farm before escaping and returning home to my wife and family home. During my years in Germany, I had learned to speak fluent German so was able to secure a job on the railways acting as an interpreter.

When the Russian Army began to advance through Ukraine I decided to flee with Pauline to Poland rather than risk living under communist rule. We remained in Poland for one year then moved to Lengerich, Germany, to live on the farm where I had worked as a POW. We were well cared for by the kind farmer and his wife. My first son, Paul, was born during this period in 1945.

Shortly after the end of the war, we were accepted as refugees and spent the next 3½ years in a refugee camp in Budhorne, Germany. I chose to migrate from there to Australia and Pauline followed with Paul 6 months later. We were reunited at Bonegilla in 1949.

Our family started our new life renting a room in Alphington, in a house owned by an old widow. I quickly found work at the nearby quarry. However, I quit after a short time because work conditions were harsh and found work at the Alpha Spinning Mills in Heidelberg Road. I was to remain employed there for the next 25 years. Pauline also found work in a local factory after Paul started school, and a deposit for a house was saved in 2 years. Our first house in Naroon Road, Alphington was purchased in 1951.

Pauline and I accepted Australian Citizenship in 1954 and our second son, John, was born in 1956.

The church became an increasingly important part of my life. We went to Richmond every Sunday to attend the service at the Slavic Baptist Church.

The highlight of each year was the church conference held interstate, in rotation, just after Christmas. We travelled by car or train to Adelaide, Brisbane and Sydney. My leisure time revolved around bible study, committee work and vocational activities.

In 1962, we moved to a new house in Wingrove Street, Alphington which I had built under sub-contract. Pauline and I were very proud of this house. l planted fruit trees in the back yard and Pauline maintained a vegetable garden and the front flower garden. We kept their home immaculate despite the efforts of two growing boys who managed to break several windows and leave their mark wherever they went.

I retired in 1973 and began to devote more of my time to the work of my church; preaching, visiting people, continuing my bible studies and committee work. I spent some time in Perth and Brisbane as a lay preacher before moving permanently to Brisbane in 1986 where I accepted an honorary leadership role of a small church congregation. I maintained enthusiastic involvement in all aspects of church work until old age and poor health enforced full retirement.

I was admitted to the Cazna Gardens Nursing Home in March, 2003. I live there permanently now under the dedicated care of the staff. Pauline visits me several times a week and my sons Paul and John are regular visitors when they travel to Brisbane from Melbourne and Canberra.

Last updated by Paul Teres 6^th June, 2004.

Text Box: Our Health Guru

Carly Collins
Only daughter of Graham Collins who is only son of Con Collins.

Carly is doing a Personal Training course at Box Hill Institute of TAFE.

Carly is turning 21 this month! Congratulations Carly. Looking forward to your next health tip in the next newsletter.

Birthdays

Happy birthday to: Andrew Teres and Carly Collins in December

Click here for your a birthday game card Andrew and Carly (Turn your sound on)

If your birthday was in December and you are not on this list, email admin@collinsplus.com and send in your birth date.

Funny Stuff

Why you shouldn’t run red lights in Greece. Click here.

“What the …….” A collection of very strange classifieds!

Christmas Dinner may Be Delayed

Why? Click here.

Christmas Party story

Some of you will remember the good old days politically incorrect days when life was less complicated. Well, it’s a little bit different now! Read this story to find out how.

Congratulations this month to ….
ü Carly on turning 21

üJudi for being so lucky in competitions

üJessica for being the first female to play with the Boxing Day Golf Group for the Con Collins Perpetual Trophy and also for such an excellent exam result this year

üWade for scoring so well on his VCE

Merry Christmas to you all.

May we all experience Peace and Good Health in 2005.

Passing on this newsletter
Pass this newsletter on to people in your family who have not seen it yet. They might like to become involved as well. All they need to do is email the editor and say they would like to be on the site, and they will be sent information. If you want to send this newsletter to an extended family member, this is how you can do it.
- Go to File in the Toolbar
- Go to Send to
- Go to Send – link by email (or similar wording)
An email will come up with the link in it and you just have to put in the email address of the person you want to send it to!