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| 1920s glamour |
I can hear you all asking how the 1920s dinner party went.
Well, wonder no more. The soiree went off without a hitch; all guests were
gussied up to the nines and looked spectacular. We were suitably fed and
watered and danced the Charleston to the wee hours. All in all it was a
wonderful night.
A worthy cause
Anyway, I am not here to detail the night’s events. However,
I am here to share another story with you.
Tomorrow will be a special and significant day for my
family. Tomorrow is the annual 'A Walk in the Park'; a fundraising event to help
raise funds to provide support services for people affected by Parkinson’s disease.
The event, which is run by Parkinson's Victoria is a leisurely 4km walk from
Federation Square in Melbourne and will hopefully raise much needed funds.
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| My family. Walking for Parkinson's disease. |
There are hundreds, thousands of charities doing great work
around Australia and the world, and it can be an overwhelming thing to be faced
with a plethora of different organisations asking for money for the work they
do. But Parkinson’s is close to my heart.
Sadly, in May last year my grandfather Lionel passed away.
Lionel was a gentle and kind soul. He was also living with Parkinson’s disease.
In life and death people have spoken fondly of my grandfather, of his gentle
nature and kind heart. It’s a wonder the poor man didn’t go mad, surrounded by
women his whole life, three daughters and three granddaughters, who all loved
and adored him. Luckily for him, the numbers began to balance with the
inclusion of two sons-in-law.
Lionel was born in Winchelsea, western Victoria in 1931. The
first child for Laura and Harry Taylor, he was then closely followed by his
younger brother Arthur. The two boys were best friends and got up to great
amounts of mischief together on the land. Harry was away for long periods of
time, working as a shearer throughout parts of Victoria and New South Wales. It
was up to Laura to raise the two boys as a single mother through the 1930s and 40s
Australia. By about the age of four, Laura moved with her two sons to Bambra to
live with her sister and brother-in-law on their property. The boys attended
Bambra School and were so close in age that they were in the same class. By
1944 the family had moved back to Winchelsea and then on to Terang where both
Lionel and Arthur attended secondary school. It was then on to a tertiary
education for both boys, Lionel going on to do a shearing machine course and Arthur
to teachers college. 
Lionel was a car and motor enthusiast. He spent much of his
younger years involved with the Western District Car Club in Geelong. Through
his passion and talent he started an apprenticeship at Winkler’s Motors in
Geelong. It was from Mr Winkler that many years later Lionel took over ‘S. G.
Winklers’ in Star Street, Geelong and spent his years realising his passion of
fixing and selling anything from Fiat’s to whipper snippers, anything with a
motor. Always dressed in his blue greasy overalls, he would appear every
morning and afternoon wheeling his motor mowers to and from the workshop for
people to peruse.
In retirement, my grandparents Lionel and Judy would travel. Overseas, around Australia and up the highway, the pair would travel far and wide to explore the world and always come back to see their children and grandchildren. As well as travel the pair was involved in a number of groups. Amongst other things Lionel was a committed Masonic Lodge man, as well as volunteering his time and services to the Andrew Love Cancer Centre in Geelong. He was a devoted family (and car) man and will always be remembered fondly for his love of a good whisky, the sounds of Acker Bilk and tinkering with anything that required fixing (or not).
So, tomorrow we will be walking in memory of Pa and hoping
to raise awareness and funds for Parkinson's Victoria and the amazing work that
they undertake.
