Looking Backwood
It is great to see all of the happy memories that this small enduring community has fostered.
I read with some feeling the memoirs of Dick Zehender, or ‘Mr’ Zehender (or in lighter moments when we could get away with it “Big Dick”) as us kids knew him. From my memories of Dick, he was a larger than life figure who spent many hours with my own late father John ‘Jack’ Spehr, who coincidently also went on to be a life member at the Village sports club.
Reading Dick’s input left me wondering how I could contribute to the page without repeating all who pioneered before me. It struck me that the memories of all the other contributors were like tiny ignition sparks, each one evoking the recall of some long ago memory.
So with that in mind, I decided just to ramble and hope that my own meandering will draw long forgotten memories from others and enable them to contribute. These reminiscent wanderings are not necessarily in chronological order, but I hope you take the time to share a memory as I journey through. Some of the names I mention may or may not ring a bell, they remain however, significant to me and while not perhaps being legends or stars of the community were in a sense part of what made Woomera a very special experience for me. Oh! if I happen to spell some names incorrectly or perhaps confuse a few first names and issues I apologise, after all it was a while ago.
So where to start - I guess by way of introduction, my father John Spehr, mother Dorothy (Dot) brother, Bradley and myself, Phillip, endured a long drive from the cool climes of Mt Gambier up the Port road. The welcome consisted of streaming rain, large pools of water and lots and lots of red mud. Come to think of it, I don’t think we saw rain again for a couple of years.
Dad worked with the Met Bureau and we quickly settled into 4 Karnang Street next to the Harveys (Dorothy, Bill, Janet and Michael). Just up the road was another stalwart Village Sports Club family the Lloyds, Tommy and Bill (very good footballers) and sister Francis who just loved animals was about my age. It was from the Lloyds that we gained our new family member a mongrel, which we aptly named Sparta.
Also up the road was another great sportsman for the Village - Peter (Rock) Hardy and his young family. Across the road lived the Weber family with the larger than life Cathy and her brood including Michael and Leslie and, I think, the Dexter family was in amongst us. So that should set the scene 1966/65 and I was all of 6 years old.
Phil Spehr
Ex 4 Karnang St / Ex Flat 346 Dewrang Avenue
ymee@dodo.com.au
E-mail: ymee@dodo.com.au
(22 August 2003)
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Memories of Woomera |
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