CollinsPlus
E-news
Edition 9. October
2005
Editor:
Barbara Collins
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
|
|
|
|
Website news
Next time you pop into the www.collinsplus.com website, you will
find on each family page, a link to their family’s diary – i.e. the
chronological list of newsletter entries submitted by each family. The link is
at the bottom of the page. So the Zoch Family would go to the Zoch page and the
link would take them to all the news they have had in the newsletters since the
first edition.
The next newsletter won’t be until early
December as I will be on leave and working on a few other time consuming
projects!
Collins Family News
Go to Collins Family in CollinsPlus
Website
Social Events
Con’s
Birthday lunch didn’t happen! Con ended up in hospital. He was there so he
could have intravenous antibiotics as the rash on his leg was not responding to
the oral antibiotics.
Next
Family Get Together
Christmas Day
Mary has kindly volunteered her home at
Patterson Lakes for the family to meet for ‘dinner’ on Christmas Day. More
information in the next newsletter and through the grapevine! Thanks Mary. We
will enjoy relaxing with your great water views after a hectic Christmas Day
Diary Dates for
next year
These dates were distributed recently to
determine if there was any obvious reason why they should not be locked in. If
I did not hear back from recipients, I presume the dates are OK at this stage.
So why not get your 2006 diary out right now (or put in back of your
2005 diary) and pop them in!
April 2
July 9
October 8
Con Collins
Con Collins is the Ground Zero man for this website.
Con received a commemorative medal
from the government for his war service.
This medal was issued to
commemorate the 60th anniversary of the end of World War 2. Con says he would
have preferred the money it cost to produce and distribute it!
Click here to view all of Con’s
and his father’s medals.
On
Tuesday 18th, he had laser treatment for a cataract on his eye– and
says he didn’t feel a thing!
Con’s Birthday
Con had
his 83rd birthday piecemeal. He went with Judi and Renato to Moonee
Valley for a meal on the actual night of his birthday. The night before, Barb,
Paul, regular dinner guest, Father Casey and Bear helped celebrate the
occasion. See pictures here. And as he was in
hospital in the day we were GOING to celebrate, he had several well-wishers pop
in during the Sunday.
Joan Collins
Joan is 1st cousin on paternal side to Con Collins (Jnr)
Globetrotting
Joan sent Con and Barbara a card recently. She was visiting relatives in Yamba,
NSW. Joan and her best friend, Christine, recently returned from Canada. Joan
reports that they thought the cruise would have been a relaxing experience but
it was so hectic that they found themselves taking the whole of August to
recover! Christine’s foster brother has had a heart attack but is recovering
after a quadruple bypass. Joan’s little brother came close to breaking his neck
in May and will not be OK for a year or more. The good news is that Joan’s
great nephew and his wife are expecting a baby in March next year and Joan is
knitting baby clothes!
Barbara Collins
Barbara Collins is the first child of Con Collins.
I have
started serious genealogical research. To date, I have only collected
information passed on by other family members, notably Margaret Martin, Leo
Squires, Joan Collins and Con Collins and put it into Family Tree Maker.
But the
time has come to find out more information about our ancestors. First port of
call was becoming a member of PROV (Public Records of Victoria). After a
fascinating tour of the facilities, I did an online tutorial and the first
records that were found were those of Kathleen Marcella Collins. She was Con’s
aunt (Con’s Mum’s sister). I found the Inquest Report on her death in 1956. As
she died at Mont Park, which was a hospital for people with a mental health
illness, an inquest was mandatory. Looking at these old records can be quite
emotional. I kept thinking how hard life must have been for this poor woman.
She was first admitted to an institution in 1939 and it sounds like she was in
and out until the time of her death. Her illness today could probably have been
managed with medication. Now I want to find out what happened in her life that
may have contributed to her illness so am looking at accessing her hospital
records through Freedom of Information (FOI). I’m also hoping that these records
will give an insight into the early life of her sister (Con’s Mum) as little is
known of the sisters’ lives after their mother died when they were young.
I have
also joined the Genealogical Society of Victoria and did an orientation session
with them on Saturday 15th October.
As part
of my searching, I found a site by Ted Noonan. Now, you might find it hard to
understand my excitement about this find. Con’s Mum’s Grandmother was a Noonan.
If you are in Elise’s generation, Mary Noonan was your Great Great Great
Grandmother. But we don’t have much information about the Noonans. Here is the
site http://users.mrbean.net.au/~tedn/index.htm
So, being extremely excited by this find, I emailed the website contact, Ted
Noonan, straight away to introduce myself and say ‘hi’.
Graham Collins
(Graham Collins is the first and only son of Con Collins who is the
Ground Zero man for this website. Graham
Collins Family)
Graham reports, “We went to Yarrawonga last
weekend. We left Friday morning, and come back very tired on Monday night. We
had been really looking forward to and it was Wade first year on our annual
‘golfing’ weekend – we’ll have some pictures for the next newsletter.
Carly will be dancing in a 'Specialised Group’ (we
are not sure what that means yet) at the closing ceremony at the Commonwealth
Games. She has just left to go to Fox FM, on a blind date competition. I'll let
you know how it turns out. She does some crazy things, but good on her.
Tyson won Mitcham’s Best and Fairest – see article
in the Whitehorse
Leader.
Brenton's pool team won their Grand Final. Click
here to see pictures of the event.
Darcy has being selected for an elite football
training squad at Aquinas College. He is driving pretty well. We haven't been
out for over a week, but his confidence is very good now - and my heart doesn't
beat much faster than my normal resting rate when he's driving. I haven't
measured this - I just feel more relaxed now !!! He will be driving me to
Phillip Island this year.
I've read 6 Sidney Sheldon novels over the last few
months, and currently reading a book called ‘Angels & Demons’ by Dan Brown.
He's the author of ‘The DaVinci Code’. It's a great book, recommended to me by
Tyson. I'm having trouble putting it down. I see a new Wilbur Smith book on the
market. That will be my next read. I convinced Tyson to read ‘Rage of Angels’
by Sidney Sheldon. He read it in record time, and is looking forward to reading
another of his titles.”
On November 7th, it will be the
second anniversary of Joelle’s passing.
Graham and the kids will most likely spend some quiet time at the
Necropolis, and reflect on the memories. Click here to see the PowerPoint Presentation the Collins Kids put together
about Joelle’s life for the Requiem Mass.
The Bill Collins
Family
Bill Collins was the only brother of Con Collins. Kath is Bill’s wife. Go to Bill Collins page for more information on this family.
Michaela has recovered from sinus surgery and Kath
is having surgery on her LEFT hand this week. Matthew has been on a nine day school camp
which sounded quite interesting. Joshua will do his too and he turns 15 on
19th October. Kath has a girl
who comes to do her garden and she has planted two new grevilleas and one
hakea. They are all very happy that Michael has put on a few kilos even though
he will never be a giant. Antoinette
has started an hour of school each Friday where the children are read a
story. From there she goes on to her kinder.
The Zoch Family
Catherine Zoch is the 4th girl in the Con and Bridget
Collins Family. She is married to John Zoch. Go to Zoch Family
page.
Elise
Elise has been chatting with Mark Deacon and says he’s a really nice guy.
Elise has also been EXTREMELY busy and has written a couple of
terrific reports on her latest social activities.
She went to the Jesse McCartney Concert and loved it. In fact, she
screamed so hard that she lost her voice – luckily, it did come back. Read her story here!
And also this year, Elise wanted to be involved in the Rock
Eisteddfod, so she tried out for backstage and was accepted. She was really
happy because it gave her the experience of being on stage at Vodafone Arena
and Rod Lava Arena. It also taught her how to use, move and look after the
props and set. Read her great report on her experience at the Rock Eisteddfod here. It sounds like it
was a fantastic experience for her.
The Gough Family
Mary Gough is the 3rd girl in the Con and Bridget Collins Family. She is married to Chris Gough. Go to Gough Family page.
Alex writes: “When I last wrote, it was the
start of the holidays. For the holidays, on the first Monday, dad took us to
Marfield Sheep Station in NSW. The
person who owns it is my Dad’s cousin (my 2nd cousin). So we stayed with them.
Their names are Allan and Jill. They have two sons, Ben and Rick, who came home
on the Tuesday from boarding school. We had loads of fun. On the Wednesday we
herded the sheep into the pens so we could check them. It wasn’t that hard to
get them in because as soon as you start walking towards them they ran away
from you. On the Thursday and Friday we helped put up fences. It was fun but
during the day the flies were all over us and when the sun went down the
mozzies were all over me. I was eaten alive but the worst everyone else got
were only 2 or 3 bites.
Here are Zac, Alex
and Max with one of a litter of 7 puppies on Marfield Sheep Station. Click here for some absolutely
fabulous pictures of their outback
holiday.
Anyhow, we left on the Friday for home
where we watched the Grand Final at Rick’s. Then we went to Philip Island with
mum. It was so relaxing. Mum’s friend, Rick, and his kids came with us too. We
went out for
tea a lot and we also went shopping.
Our first week back to school, Max didn’t
go because he was sick. The doctor thinks he has glandular fever. The doctor
also thinks I have glandular fever but I only had one day off school even
though it is so obvious that I am much worse. Max is such a wooz. I am not
supposed to play netball but I can’t just sit around doing nothing and letting
my team down so I am going to play my first game since the start of the
holidays on Tuesday night but I won’t be able to play a full game.
Mum is going to start her first belly
dancing lesson on Tuesday. (Mum says don’t expect any photos!)
Anyhow, that’s all from the Gough family!”
Deacon
Peter
Deacon
is the son of Mary (Molly) Deacon (nee Lennon) who is the youngest sister of Bridget
Collins (nee Lennon) who is married to Con
Collins.
Peter writes that Mark was really
excited to hear from Elise on MSN.
Peter and Judy are having a short
break in New Zealand.
The Teres Family
Paul Teres is partner to Barbara Collins,
daughter of Con Collins. Go to Teres Family
page.
Paul has been to
visit his Mum in Brisbane once again this month. He installed a portable
refrigerated air conditioner that will make life more pleasant for her during
the very hot Summer months. He also took her to an ear specialist to have her
ears thoroughly cleaned of wax and then accompanied her for a hearing
assessment to find out the extent of her hearing problem. The test showed that
although Pauline has some hearing loss it is not yet serious enough for her to
require hearing aids.
On Sunday 16th,
Paul got up at 4.00am and rode into the docklands to be bused down to Sorrento
for the start of the 100km leg of the Round The Bay in a Day bike ride. Barb
rode in to Docklands to meet him at the finish and to ride home with him (in
case he fell off his bike in exhaustion!) She need not have worried as he
completed the ride in 5 hours. However, knee trouble has flared up so that will
be the last major bike ride for Paul. Click here
for more pictures.
Barb and Paul are
off to Phillip Island for a week’s holiday.
Baby Teres has his first photo gallery
Thanks to recent advancements in ultrasound technology a scanner has now been produced that totally captures the wonder of the baby in the womb in 3D. Instead of the traditional grainy, black and white images of the 2D machines that needed the operator to explain the image, the new technology provides dynamic pictures of how the baby actually looks. It’s possible to watch as the baby smiles, yawns, sucks its thumb and stretches. Sophie and Andrew have had some of these ultrasounds taken – here’s a sample. Click here to see more.
Squires
Family
Leo Squires is 2nd cousin on paternal side to Con Collins
(Jnr)
Leo and
Jan are off on an overseas trip (Egypt, Jordan & Israel) and expect to be
back a few days before a big Squires Family Reunion in Benalla. (Benalla is the
birthplace of many of the Squires Family.) About 150 relatives are expected to
attend. Leo has
supplied most of the information we have on the Coffey Family – Con’s mother
was a Coffey.
|
|
My name is Alexandra Gough but everyone
calls me Alex. Mum said she got my name from a girl off the show Country
Practice. Whenever someone asks mum what our names are without us being
there, they always think that mum has three boys. I was born at the Mercy hospital on the 20th
of May 1990 which makes me 15 this year. I live in Patterson Lakes on the
water in a double story house. I live with my Mum, Mary, younger bro, Zac,
and older bro, Max. My mum and dad split up a couple of years ago so we see
him on Wednesdays and every second weekend. My dad’s name is Chris and he lives in
Edithvale, soon to be Patterson Lakes, with his fiancée Maggie who has a cat
called Maisie. On the weekends that we’re with mum, her friend, Rick, has his
kids over. He has 2 boys, Pierce (8) Rhys (6), and 2 girls, Alannah (7) and
Maddison (5). I love to baby-sit them and sometimes we all go out for dinner
together. I love going to movies with friends,
watching TV, swimming, playing netball, reading and school holidays. I love
kids and babysitting them. I love baby animals and when I move out of mum’s
house I’m going to get a puppy. Mum doesn’t want any pets because she thinks
they’re too much to look after and they’d make a mess of the house or
something. I used to have sea monkeys but we went away and when we came back
they were all dead. |
||||||
|
|
At the moment I’m into a lot of hip hop,
pop and rap music - much to the disgust of my older brother Max who hates
that kind of music and is into more heavy metal - much to the disgust of me. I have never broken a bone in my life but I
often roll or sprain my ankles. I have never had chicken pox, measles,
tonsillitis or anything like that but I do get motion sickness but it’s not
as bad as when I was younger. The only time I’ve ever been to the
hospital for surgery was when I was in year one because I had managed to get
a splinter in my butt at school. I was allowed to take in my two dolls and
when I came out they had bandaids on their butts. The moment I’ll never forget is the time I
got lost at the Royal Melbourne Show when I was three. When mum found me, she
told me that if I ever get lost again I should never leave with a stranger
and I asked her what I should do if it was a prince. I started at St Joseph’s Primary School in
1996 with my best friend Belinda. She moved to Queensland when I was in year
two. |
||||||
|
|
My favourite holiday was in 2001 when we
went to Central Australia. Me, Mum, Dad, Max and Zac all went with some
family friends, the Dwyers, Melissa, John, Elise and Calvin. We drove and stopped
at many different places. Cooper Pedy was my favourite place to stop and we
stayed there a couple of nights which gave us more time to enjoy it. I think
I liked it best because we got to see some really interesting opal mines and
some house caves. We also saw heaps of Australian landmarks like Ayres Rock,
which we climbed and made it to the top, Kings Canyon, which we also climbed,
the Olgas and many more. I went to Sydney once and we got to see heaps of
stuff like the Sydney Harbour Bridge. I’ve also been to Queensland and
Phillip Island many times because dad’s parents have holiday houses there. I
have never been overseas and it just kills me. One day, my friend and I are
going to travel overseas together. I can’t wait!!!! |
||||||
|
|
Through my life I have played
many different sports. The list includes basketball, tennis, tap and jazz,
Tae Kwon Do and I also used to have swimming lessons but they are no longer
needed. At the moment, the sports I do are swimming and netball. I love
swimming and each year at Kilbreda they have an SCSA swimming team that are
able to compete at the Melbourne Aquatic Centre against other schools. It’s
so much fun. We train Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings at 7am before
school. I also love netball and have been accepted into the school netball
team. We play against other schools on Tuesdays. I play netball outside
school as well. We train on Thursdays and play on Saturday. I also play in an
open aged team on Tuesday nights. I do drama outside of school as well, at the same place that Zac goes - the Helen O’Grady Drama Academy. We have lessons on Tuesday nights. |
||||||
|
The school I go to is Kilbreda College in
Mentone. My favourite subjects are Maths, Technology and Design (TD), Drama
and PE. At school I’m in year nine and its so much fun. I’m in the Duke of
Edinburgh award as an extra thing at school. For the award we have to do a
service, an adventures journey, a skill and a physical recreation. It’s very
challenging and the adventures journey is the hardest thing because we have
to carry everything on a big hike but it’s so much fun. We’ve already done a
practice hike at the start of the year but our real one is in last term and
it’s longer. I’m doing the Premier’s Reading Challenge
at school also. I have to read 12 books by the end of August and they’re not
just any books. I have to read books that are on the list. Most of them are
really good. |
|||||||
|
|
When I was little I had a dream that when I
grew up I would be an astronaut and be the first Australian women on the
moon. Well that dream hasn’t left my head yet but I now have other careers
for the future as well as that one. One is that I want to be a pilot and fly
all sorts of planes from a jumbo jet to a fighter plane. Another is to be a
much loved actress and be in movies or on stage - possibly with my cousin
Jess. A third is a drummer in a rock band.
|
||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|||
Last updated by Alex Gough, July 2005
Happy birthday to
Wade, Darcy, Joshua and Wasyl in October and Bridget, Zac and Jessica in
November: Click here
for your birthday card
Chinese Horoscope
Look here to see what the Chinese Horoscope
says about you. The best way to find your birth year quickly is to open this file,
do a Ctrl-F and then type in the year of your birth (put the whole year in eg
1989 not just 89). I was a bit disappointed to find out I was an Ox, or
Buffalo. Not very cute! But we Oxen are actually quite OK. Thanks Lisa for the
contribution.
A little bit of numerology
Here’s a quick little birthdate test for you.
Automatic
Salary Review
Warm and Fuzzy
All websites featured in this newsletter are archived on the Links Page of the CollinsPlus site for future reference.
Free
Google photo editor
If you
do not already have a photo editor, Google can give you a FREE one. It’s called
Picasa and it’s great for turning those big digital pictures into much
smaller ones without losing quality. For example, the pictures that are in
Teres News: Paul’s Bike Ride were over 2MBs each but were reduced to 50kbs or
less in a photo editor.
Congratulations this month to ….
ü Con Collins on
receiving a medal that commemorates the 60th anniversary of the end of World
War 2.
ü Barbara Collins on walking a million steps
ü Tyson Collins on winning Mitcham’s Best and Fairest this year
ü Brenton Collins’s pool team for winning the Grand Final
ü Carly Collins on
being selected to dance in the
'Specialised Group’ at the
closing ceremony at the
Commonwealth Games.
ü Darcy Collins on being selected for an elite football training squad at
Aquinas College
ü Antoinette Collins on starting school
ü Michael Collins for putting ON weight!
ü Paul Teres on completing a 100km bike ride in 5 hours