BALLINA ALL SHIPS REUNION 2011
Column and Pictures By Brian Ellis.
A good turn out by ex-bandies at the All Ships Reunion guaranteed a great weekend.
It was great to attend the All Ships Reunion in Ballina. To see ex-bandies I have not seen for forty odd years was worth every penny and brought back so many great memories. I want to express my thanks to Blue McNally for suggesting that we could incorporate an ex-bandies get together at the same time. I don't know how many people he contacted but we had a good roll up and a lot of fun was had by all.
The weekend consisted of a Meet and Greet, Formal Dinner and a BBQ on the Sunday. Some of the members that attended along with many of their partners were Jackie Mansfield, Jim Stathis, Jim Anderson, Peter Bauers, Mick Leek, Taffy Thatcher, Blue McNally, Ron Henry, Brian Torrens, Blue Newton, Greg Newham, Keith McGuiness, Jeff McGuiness, Ricky Watson, Brian Ellis, Ken MacCallum, Steve Johns, Gary Krause. I don't think I missed anyone out. We had two ex-beagles also join our table.
I should imagine that many of our members would remember Johnny Vazalouskis (sorry about the spelling) and Shaky Lake. Jim Hawkins could not attend the official functions but did manage to catch up with a few of us.
Three of our members also paid a visit to John Doyle while they were up there and recalled a few old yarns. The only down side was the way Blue and his bowls team consisting of Kerry and Gail cheated and bent the rules to defeat us by the narrowest of margins. Our team being Gary and Christine Krause and my good self, Next time it will be different.
It was a great get together for ourselves and our partners and a wonderful way to catch up with mates we all served with during our time in the best branch in the Navy. I even caught up with Bob Moss who was the Kellick regulator for the Junior Recruits living in G block at HMAS Cerberus in 1964. He has not changed one bit after nearly 48 years. Any member thinking of attending our next reunion in 2013 don't put it off. Turn up and enjoy the company of former shipmates and their partners. You will be pleasantly surprised how they have all mellowed.
Again Blue, thank you for everything you did to make it a great success.
Brian Ellis.