Australian Broadcasting Corporation Reunion Club – Victoria –...
Transcript of Australian Broadcasting Corporation Reunion Club – Victoria –...
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UR guided tour of the National Art Gallery of
Victoria in May was well worthwhile. Nineteen
members attended (there were three more who were
unable to come at the last minute). We were met at the
entrance by our gentlemanly guide, Barrie Shepphard,
who proved to be immensely knowledgeable.
We were first led to a room of Dutch masterpieces,
both paintings, furniture, and porcelain and Delft pot-
tery. Barrie pointed out the difference between these last
two processes and provided a detailed description of a
huge wooden, intricately carved linen cupboard from the
17th century.
A few paintings were described in detail and we were
shown two Rembrandts. The portrait of Rembrandt him-
self, which most readers would have seen, was not in
fact painted by Rembrandt as was formerly believed, but
by one of his students. (The brushwork gave the game
away!)
In the next section of the Gallery we were shown the
famous painting of Moses parting the Red Sea. Part of
this painting, it was explained, had been altered more
than one once—the most recent change being by one of
the Gallery’s restoration staff for very good reasons
which we won’t go into here, but needless to say, this
latest alteration is reversible if it needed to be.
The multi-coloured glass ceiling of the Great Hall
which no doubt most readers will be familiar with, was
explained in detail before we moved on to yet another
part of the gallery.
Again, and throughout the rest of the tour, Barrie
provided much information about the various paintings
which one would not normally be able to ascertain by a
regular visit to the Gallery.
After the
tour, 14 of our
party walked to
the nearby La
Camera rest-
aurant at South-
gate (where we
had booked a
long table) for a
nice meal. Most
chose the $20
Business Lunch.
The weather,
by the way, had
been delightful.
A most enjoy-
able day!
O
Australian Broadcasting Corporation Reunion Club – Victoria – Inc.
JUL / AUG / SEP 2017 Volume 40 No 3
PATRON: Stephen Murray Manager TV Operations
Paying for Functions
SOME people are not following directions when
booking for events, making our task difficult in
trying to determine who has booked for what
The codes for events are given on page 2. Your
Membership Number is on your Membership Card.
Otherwise, to get your number please contact the
Secretary or the Treasurer. (See how on page 4.)
P&O Cruise 24–30 Jan. 2018
YOU will have been informed about our 6-day Cruise
from Melbourne to Kangaroo Island, Port Lincoln,
Adelaide and return to Melbourne.
26 members now have confirmed bookings. There
is a possibility that additional Cabins may be
available. Please contact the Secretary, Carol
Simpson-Bull for further details.
New Members
WE welcome Garry Clynes (ex TV Ops) and Maur-
een, Paddy Opwald (ex-Make-up), Chrissy Thomson
(ex-Make-up), Linda Hamilton (ex-Make-up), Les
Kurcki (ex-TV Maintenance) and Marie Edwards,
Pam Howard (ex-TV PA.), John Tovey (ex-TV Ops),
Barrie Munro (ex Films) and Suzanne Eriksen, Mark
Tarpey (ex Staging/Films) and Chris, Jenny Neish (ex
News), Susan Shaw (ex Admin), and James Oastler and
Rhonda Shallcross (TV Prod).
Bereavement
WE sadly report the passing of the former Head of the
Chinese Section of RA, John Krone.
“… not painted by Rembrandt …”
Not by Rembrandt!
A Brief Club History
IN the past year or so we have had a large number of
new members join the Reunion Club so we thought
that a brief history may be in order.
The Club was formed in 1978 at the suggestion of
Engineer Jack Burgesson with an inaugural meeting
on 2nd November. Broadcaster Reg Neal became the
first Chairman. It was initially called the ABC
Retirement Club but was later changed to reflect the
fact that many new members were not retiring from
the ABC but merely moving to a different career or
were still ABC staff. The Club has always had the
support of ABC Management.
NEW DATE FOR CLOSURE FUNCTION – NOW 13TH OCTOBER – SEE PAGE 2
COMING EVENTS
TOUR OF THE TELSTRA MUSEUM and LUNCH (TML)
Thursday 17th August
WE have organised a tour of the Telstra Museum inside the Hawthorn Telephone exchange at 375 Burwood Road, Hawthorn (opposite the Hawthorn Town hall, Melways 45 - D10) where we meet at 10.15 am.
There is a huge variety of equipment and systems from Morse Code to new and old Telephones plus a fascinating display of glass insulators. We will see the original “Talking Clock” still working.
Lunch will be at the Glenferrie Hotel, just a three-minute walk away at 324 Burwood Road. You can travel by train to nearby Glenferrie station or by tram No.16 along Glenferrie Rd.
Parking is scarce and limited so check the signs and allow plenty of extra time.
COST: Members $7 Guests $10 HOW TO BOOK: See page 4.
LUNCH AT THE ALBERT PARK YACHTING & ANGLING
CLUB (APY)
NOTE: THIS FUNCTION HAS BEEN CANCELLED
THIS lunch with a sea-side view has had to be rescheduled due to (1) The Angling Club is being renovated, and (2) the Ripponlea Closure Function is too close to this date. We hope to hold this function early next year.
ANNUAL BBQ AT VIEWBANK (BBQ)
Sunday 12th November
THIS will be a repeat of our successful BBQs, complete with six-piece band, at Linton and Tiffany’s home in Viewbank. More details in the October Newsletter.
ANNUAL CHRISTMAS LUNCHEON (ACL)
Friday 8th December
OUR Christmas luncheon to be held at the RACV attracts over 130 members, many from interstate, and is always a very popular reunion. More details in the October Newsletter.
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The Dream Factory Re-visited
Please Note New Date!
Friday 13 October 2017
Unfortunately the ABC have had to use the
Ripponlea Studios for program production
beyond their originally planned “set in stone”
closing date, so the “Dream Factory Re-visited”
event has had to be rescheduled to take place on
Friday, 13 October.
We realise that some of our interstate people are
having difficulty rescheduling travel and
accommodation bookings and somehow we will
to try to find some way to support those who
have invested in non-refundable expenditure.
The ABC Reunion Club is honoured to host, on
behalf of the ABC, this very special event which
will feature a full electronic video installation
and light show in Studio 31 to highlight shows
from an amazing 60 years of television creativity
and will offer everybody the opportunity to meet
and talk with old friends from the various
departments in 32. The half hour repeating video
installation will commence at 6.30 pm and wind
up around 11.00 pm. A range of food from some
of Melbourne’s best food trucks will be on sale in the
scenic runway as well as wines, beer and soft drinks
in 32.
Because of strict limitations in numbers, the
invitation can only be extended to those
colleagues who have actually worked at
Ripponlea. Partners who have not worked at
ABV2 are regrettably not eligible for a “first
pass” invitation but we will endeavour to
accommodate them with repeat showings on
Saturday 14 October.
As there are only a few vacancies left, if you are
a former Ripponlea staff member and have
not yet received an invitation and wish to
go on the waiting list, please immediately
contact Carol Simpson-Bull at: [email protected]
or telephone on 03 9561 4124.
The entry fee ($20 plus booking fee) is to partly
cover the cost of staging the event for which the
ABC itself is contributing considerable funding.
Bookings can only be made on-line by credit
card to our special bank account site which
will be advised to confirmed invitees.
The Invitation Committee consists of Rick
Hunter, June Williams, Carol Simpson-Bull and
the Treasurer, Barbie Mathiesen.
Ripponlea Anecdotes
IN view of the impending closure of the Ripponlea
studios we thought it appropriate to recall some
anecdotes of the good old days taken from some of the
back issues of our Newsletter.
In November, 2010 Maurie Pritchard wrote:
IN the early days, on the second-floor level between Studio 31
and 32 at Ripponlea there was a long sloping ramp from near
the Film Department down to the studio Control Room
entrances. When things got quiet in Master Control after the
late news, some members of Master Control staff selected
office chairs with castors for the fastest race down said
passageway. Needless to say, I was ringleader in this fun time.
And many were the crashes on the way, wheels falling off
necessitating hasty repairs for the next race.
Another of the tricks was the setting of traps for the
morning staff when they switched on the equipment. Double
bungers and suspended buckets of steel bolts were some of the
many things that either went off or were dropped as the
equipment heated up. It was obvious that there was overstaffing
on some nights in those days.
JOHN BACKMAN sent us this story which he swears
really happened. John wrote:
WHEN I started at Ripponlea in the early 1960s, the ABC
syndicated to all states hour-long children’s programs, except
on Thursdays. Thursday’s program was “Party Day”, and in
Melbourne it ran live to air out of studio 31 from 5.00pm to
6.00pm with a few added cartoons from Telecine.
It was a very simple idea. Just put a young lady (Mary
Rose) and a young man (Clive Windmill) in a big studio with
twenty children aged from five to ten, play party games, and
finish the hour with hats, whistles, balloons and lots of jelly
cream-cake and red fizzy drink.
One Thursday I worked on the studio floor assisting with
lights, microphones etc., on the mascot pig set-up. The pig’s
name was Ham-let, what else? Full name: Prince Porky Hamlet
(“… the only piggie star on television”, the song went). He
lived in Elsnor Castle which was actually a trailer that backed
onto a penned area of the studio. On cue the tailgate, er, I mean
drawbridge was lowered for Hamlet to receive and vacuum-
down in seconds whatever the kids suggested he be fed—on
this day a large brick of vanilla ice-
cream.
All the kid’s parents were
seated on the side, out of shot,
and the children were on
rostrums seated together. The floor
manager yelled, “Two minutes to on-air. Quiet please!”
Suddenly there was a massively loud unscheduled explosion.
A large 5K (5 kilowatt) lamp had exploded showering glass
particles down on the floor. Pandemonium followed, with
twenty children screaming with shock, running to their parents
and forty parents running to their children, all calling for each other. (Fortunately, no one was injured.) “One minute to air,
QUIET PLEASE!” was the plaintive cry of the floor manager.
The Producer/Director Peggy Hamilton very calmly asked
for a tight close-up of the comperes Mary and Clive which
enabled the boom microphone to come in very close in order to
try to reduce the pick-up of audience noise. The opening
theme had finished but mayhem still reigned as the floor
manager cued the introduction of the program. Clive was in full
control as he said with a relaxed smile, “We’re having great fun
already today, but first here is a ‘Felix the Cat’ cartoon”. “Roll
telecine”, said Peggy Hamilton. Fortunately, Telecine was
quick to oblige. What a clever tactic. The studio now had five
minutes to regain composure and the program proceeded as
planned. And what did I do?
After Hamlet devoured the ice-cream, he tried to eat the RCA
hand-microphone that was positioned in the butcher’s grass to
catch the sound of his eating. The mike was now coated with
ice-cream and slimy pig slobber, so I was despatched to the
canteen kitchen (holding the microphone at arm’s length) with
orders to “clean it up”. I remembered that my duty statement
read in part, “other duties as required”. This was one of them!
When Henry Allen joined the Ripponlea in 1957 as a
Film Dispatch Clerk (he later became a Floor
Manager) he was issued with a pair of gum boots.
Henry recalled:
SOME of the buildings were still makeshift. There was so
much mud it was unbelievable. I used to have a slushy hike
from the main studio building to Master Control and Telecine
to deliver daily run-downs and a load of films.
In those days in Studio 39, later 33, where most of the
early shows were produced, there was no air conditioning and
the whole crew were crammed into a very small space. At the
end of a production the whole crew would come bursting out
gasping for breath.
From Journalist Cliff Peel comes:
IT was a Sunday night in News Room in the 1970s. Two
journalists and the News Reader were ready to go down to
studio 32 for the late news when a breathless Floor Manager
arrived. There was a sleeping horse in studio 32!
Earlier in the day a horse had been required for a program
and had been sedated to calm it down. Now it was dead-to-the-
world on the studio floor and there was no time to move it or
change the News to a different studio.
Jocelyn Terry was the News Reader and was informed that
she had a visitor on the set. Unfazed, she worked out a plan of
action. She would ignore the horse and carry on with the News.
If the horse woke up we would put a camera on it, providing it
was not doing anything unsuitable, and Jocelyn would ad lib
about the horse until the stage hands, who were standing by,
removed it.
Luckily the sedatives had worked well or else the News was
duller than usual, because the horse slept soundly and quietly,
until after the News.
Radio and TV Presenter, Reg Neal once told this story:
I was doing an interview with Robert Menzies. [We have a
photograph. It was in studio 33. Ed.] I told Sir Robert that the
program must not exceed 9½ minutes and that the Floor
Manager would give him a wind-up signal. The Prime Minister
said that he could judge 9½ minutes and commenced the
program.
He ignored the Floor Manager and the program ran 11
minutes. The Victorian Manager, Tich Whiteley, who was
present asked if I could cut out 1½ minutes so that the Prime
Minister could go on his way. I explained that for technical and
political reasons this could not be done. Sir Robert had to do it
all over again. This time he watched the Floor Manager!
OUR
YESTERDAYS
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THE COMMITTEE Chairman: Johnnie Walker
mobile 0418 323 051
Vice Chairman: John Backman Secretary: Carol Simpson-Bull 9561 4124
or mobile 0403 393 746
Assistant Secretary: Helen Hiscock 9758 7205
Treasurer: Barbara Mathiesen mobile 0413 892 877
Newsletter Editor: Ken Simpson-Bull Auditor: Tiffany Bryant
General Committee: Syah Goldrich, Allan Hiscock,
Lyn Innes-Irons, David Rolfe, Jo Maxian
Committee Meetings
THE Committee now meets on the first Friday of each month
(except in September, the 8th) at Southbank. Members are invited
to join them for lunch at 12.30 at the RACV in the city in the
Conservatory. However, you must book through the Secretary prior to
the meeting to gain entry.
HOW TO BOOK FOR AN EVENT
For those members sending cheques or Money Orders by post, the procedure is this:
1. Make cheques payable to the ABC Reunion Club
2. On the back of your cheque (or on a slip of paper attached to your cheque) please write the following:
Your member number (or your name), the event code, and the number of people attending.
E.g. 153AGM2 means Member No 153, Annual General Meeting, 2 people attending.
If you are paying for two or more events, repeat the coded information for each event.
If you propose to bring a guest, please let us know their name for insurance purposes.
3. Post the cheque to PO Box 272, Glen Waverley, Vic. 3150 (Put your return address on the envelope)
Members making bank transfers must initially contact the Secretary for procedure details.
Reminder: In the Transaction Description: 999AGM2 means your Member Number, Event Code, 2 people attending.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Write, telephone the appropriate Committee Member, or email: [email protected]
Postal Address: ABC Reunion Club, PO Box 272, Glen Waverley, Vic. 3150 (Please put your return address on the back of any mail)
For Telephone numbers refer to “The Committee” listing.
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AT our Annual General Meeting in February, Danni O’Connor donated a
raffle prize of High Tea with champagne for eight people which was won by
Jenny Hobbs. Here is a photo of the event. L to R: Jenny and Neil Hobbs, Carol
and Ken Simpson-Bull, Danni O’Connor, Tiffany and Linton Bryant, Barbie
Mathieson, and David Rolfe.
We need Raffle Prizes IF you have a favourite Restaurant, we would really appreciate
it if you could try to obtain a Dining Voucher to be donated as
a raffle prize for our Xmas Luncheon or AGM. Other
appropriate donations would be gratefully accepted. Proceeds
from our raffles help us to subsidise some functions.
Ring Carol on 9561 4124.