Speech 12 - "A Toast to Strangers" (2003)

 

SPEECH

from:                      Warren Maloney (MAYOR 2003/2004)

subject: “A Toast – MAY WE ALWAYS WELCOME STRANGERS TO OUR HOMES”

date AND PLACE:                 

Saturday, 6th December 2003 at the Hepburn Shire Council breakfast to welcome the Participants to the 52nd Highland Gathering in Daylesford

 

A TOAST OF WELCOME

 

May I begin by acknowledging on behalf of the Hepburn Community our respect for the traditional owners of the land upon which we gather today – the Djadjawurrung People. We respect their elders and community and laws and customs.

 

We also respect the leaders, families, and communities of the many who have migrated to settle here in Hepburn over the last 180 years from so many countries such as England, Ireland, China, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and of course, Scotland.

 

We have learned and still learn so much from our desire to live together here. In is in this spirit that the Hepburn Community, through its Council, this morning welcomes the visitors, renewed friendships and new friends that make this Highland Gathering so important.

 

We make a special welcome to Chieftain, Robert Semple, to the Daylesford Highland Gathering Committee, to the representatives of the bands, groups, and participants, and particularly to all community members present today. We changed approach today to attempt to include participants and community and we are thrilled that you are able to attend.

 

If you will indulge me briefly, I would like to lead into this toast with 3 short anecdotes.

 

My love of Scotland and its customs is partly blood, partly a thank you and partly from a promise.

 

My father’s great grandmother was a Scottish lass who, at the age of 17 years, was convicted of stealing a sheep and transported to Van Diemen’s Land, never to see her home again.

 

My mother was adopted at the age of 18 months by a Scottish Presbyterian Family, the Bradleys in West Brunswick. Because there was no birth certificate, we are not sure who her natural parents were. The adoption was simply organised within the Presbyterian Church. But because the Bradleys openly, warmly, and generously loved her and gave her the chance of a long and very fulfilling life, she was strongly Scottish in her identification and passed the love of its music and dance to her son.

 

In 1974, my wife, Karen, and myself spent New Year’s Eve in Kitwe, Zambia, at a Scottish Club – what better place to celebrate a New Year.  And it was on that evening, that I willingly promised to follow the advice of a remarkable Scotsman who instructed: “Laddie, always make sure there is extra porridge and chairs at your table to welcome any stranger that comes knocking at your door.”

 

So, ladies and gentlemen, I ask each and every one of you to honour the very finest of Scottish traditions today. Each of us can tell stories of how our lives have been made richer by meeting and learning from strangers as they became friends. I have so much to be grateful for in the Scottish convict lass, Margaret, the loving Scottish family, the Bradleys, and the canny advice of old Mr Macdonald in Zambia, and I do them proud by proposing this toast

 

“May we never fear Strangers but welcome them and learn from them. Ladies and Gentlemen, TO STRANGERS”

 

 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Commentary 17 - Reflections on Growing Old and King Lear

Image
Commentary 17 - Reflections on Growing Old and King Lear (A thought email exchange with the Jackson Zoom Group - November 2023) Perhaps some thoughts if you are exploring what can be learnt from "King Lear" as you face Old Age in the Moment! The cutting through line is when Lear yells to the winds "  Nothing can come of nothing, speak again. Now Gods stand up for bastards! To have a thankless child. "  The Play can be seen on many levels - a simple tale of Father/Daughters relationship. Or as a provocation of Parent Control that even wants to extend through Legacy to continuing Control after Death. Or a dying power becoming irrelevant! Or the reality of life's ending when you have already forsaken a common morality of the next generation and an understanding of others' needs, and have unwittingly shaped the faults in your own children. Life finishes with some grasp of understanding by this " poor old man " but it is too late - " Speak what we ...
Read more

Poetry 7 - Studying the Clientele (1978)

Image
  STUDYING THE CLIENTELE (Written by Warren Maloney - March 1978)   The café is open; the first stragglers, tiredly blaze Walk in with an air: The sameness of this – our present schedule.   The weekend was fun – Yes, really a maze. It was fabulous – rather dull – or perhaps cool, Say some of the crowd.   Now, this is middle-week though: and what a bore, Swotting – some frantically, others stolidly – but more And more concentrating – for the end of the term, I must win – or go around the bend – Say some of the crowd.   An hour or two later – the earnest types pass by, Rather nice and polite – their minds far away, The girls rather sweet: the boys so, so hungry, Relaxation or meditation: one must keep things at bey – Say more of the crowd.   Some bustlers and hustlers mingle with the meek, The near natural girl, with the modern outlook – her hair neat and fashioned, And the really nice kid, with his hand in his ...
Read more

Eulogy 23 - John Patrick (Johnny) Hardwick (1947-2023)

Image
  Eulogy 23 - John Patrick (Johnny) Hardwick (1947-2023 (Written by Warren Maloney on 30th March 2023) Almost with each season now (because of our Age), we are saying goodbye to mates and family members. Of course, it doesn't get easier as we are also saying goodbye to part of ourselves. I first met Johnny in Grade 4 at SBC - almost 66 years ago. Our friendship times ebbed and flowed and we caught up again in Rotary and through Business and AFL teams  before the frequent chats in Retirement and during COVID. In my mind, he changed little and was a reminder of the constancy of values and lifestyle that we left behind in Essendon. But John had a special quality of making/keeping friends no matter what they did - priests to criminals, Catholic devotees to radical lefties, even Carlton or Collingwood supporters. Skin colour mattered nothing. Gender understanding became much better with the aging of his 4 daughters and learning from their views/experiences. He was a glass 3/4s...
Read more