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Brenton
Can you pass on to Geoff that we will be going up to Gladstone at the end of the month or the first week of February, and will take some "current" pics of the town
And ask him if he remembers that our house always had black patches on the roof - it's amazing what's stored in the grey cells if you activate them a little!! - now, for some reason but I don't know why, we had about six sheets of roofing iron that were a different colour to the rest of the house roof - and I know they stayed that way till even into the mid 90's
I remember I always held that house in revere - like the "big house we had" but when I saw it fourty years later I thought - "Gees, what a dump"!!
Terry was saying he went there about ten years ago
Sharon
Does someone live in the house?
Brenton
Yep, last we knew it was occupied - and when Terry was there, and being Terry, he banged on the door and asked for a look!! - and he said they still have a wood stove in the kitchen
And Terry also mentioned that the bathroom had a chip heater which used to be "fired" from the sleepout where us four boys slept - I didnt remember that - I thought hot water came from the tap with "H" on it!!
Sharon
I agree with the hot water tap!!
Brenton
But I don't want to preempt things Terry may eventually write, and I hope he does write things down
Sharon
I hope he does too - I didn't know he was able to go inside the house - that would have been a trip down memory lane!!
Brenton
Maybe we will do the same thing, and just knock on the door!!
By the way, ask Geoff if he would like a scanned copy of my first communion certificate - from the Saint Josephs Church in Gladstone
Sharon
I am sure he would - do you have many photos of when you were all young?
Brenton
I have none at all of Mum's photos - I think the album Mum prepared for me was lost and sent to one of the other brothers
Just remember, if there is anything Geoff remembers about Gladstone and wants a 2007 pic of to let me know - it would be interesting to see the convent, the public school, the town hall, things like that
Sharon
I will tell hm to send you an email with a list
Brenton
I was surprised he has so little memory of that - I am so much 'younger'!!
Sharon
Must be all the booze he drank in those younger days - killed all the brain cells!!
Brenton
Laughing here!! - take care, and regards to all

So, you are going back to our roots, eh Kunta Kinte??
Should be a great trip!!

I remember that I lost a sixpence in the school yard - can you see if you can find it?
And also try to find that babysitter that I wanted to touch-up!!

Photos of Gladstone
The "main" photos I want are Gladstone in the 50's - and any shots taken now do not actually mean much
BUT - BUT - BUT - there are a few I would like!!
As you said:-
------the Convent
------the Primary School
------the "House" of course
------looking down Fifth Avenue (sounds like my city, New York!!)
------the big "mileage" monument with sign posts
Basically, anything you think has a connection to our lives in the 1950's

As you know, I have written to a couple of Gladstone Associations for a bit of info and photos, but I haven't had a reply
Following this email, you should receive copies of my two follow up emails that I have just sent----------(Note - click here to read those emails)

The Trip
Sharon and I were talking a bit about what we would do on this sort of trip
And that would be to go on a weekday when everything was open and visit places like the Gladstone City Council, the Library, Post Office, Historical Societies, etc, etc, trying to find any sort of photos from when we lived there
It would be like a begging trip - trying to scrounge everything we could!!

Sharon's Arse
Thousands of years ago we did a trip to the Flinders Ranges, and naturally made a stop in Gladstone
In memory, the house was really big, but when I saw it, it was "small and squat"!!
The only thing that stays big, in memory and in reality, is Sharon's fat arse!!

Religious Stuff
Yep, I will have a copy of your First Communion Certificate - will upload it and our web site will then become a Religious Site
That might help with the "getting into heaven" hassles that I am sure to have later on!!
Can you scan it with a 'dpi' of at least 600 - thanks - makes it much easier to read when it is inserted on to a web page after the adjustments I have to do
There is more about scanning, photos and email addresses below

Terry
Was talking to Terry the other day - that guy has got to get a computer!!
He said he 'might' put pen-to-paper over the next month or two
Plus he said he has a "couple of boxes of stuff" that he will eventually go through to see if he has anything related to Gladstone
Boy, if he had an email address, I would "spam" him everyday till he got it done!!

Scanning and Photos
As I mentioned above, anything you scan is ideal at a 'dpi' of 600 or more
I dunno what sort of digital camera you got, but photos of about 1.5Mb are the best for me to muck around with for the web site - or even bigger!!
Like with the scanning, photos of this size allow me to adjust, crop, extract, etc before uploading the shots and I don't lose any details on the photo
In other words, the-bigger-the-better!!

Emails
The email box at this BigPond address is only 20Mb, so if someone send me a few shots, the mailbox box is full until I download
When Tanya was overseas and when Brett is in the USA, we get thousands of pics as you can imagine
So make a note of this email address - geoffroneberg@hotmail.com
This one has a storage of 1000Mb - enough for hundreds of pics!!
Only send photos there - because unless I am expecting something, I only check it every week or so

That's about it for now
Have a nice day down there
---I am just so good looking!!!

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A Contact in Gladstone!!

A ringing phone and I picked it up and it was:-
Thea Smith
President of the Gladstone History Group
Telephone - 08 86622176

She had received my letter, which included all the emails you have read
She was very nice and very, very helpful

When I told her about your visit on Wednesday 31st, she was really keen that you give her a call at the number above

In the meantime, she is going to hunt around for anything that might be applicable to the quest for info and photos of "Gladstone in the 1950's"

She also mentioned that she is going to speak to a few of "The Oldies" around town to see if any of them remember the Roneberg Clan!!!

Plus, she said that there is a book around that lists all the past students of St Joseph's School
It is now out of print, but she is going to try to find a copy for us or do some photocopying of the relevant pages

Sounded like a great lady!!

Thea also mentioned that the shop has a book for sale called "Gladstone's History" and she said that it includes lots of 'old photos'
The cost is $30.00
Hey, Brenton, naturally I want one of these!! (NOTE - and I have now got one!!!)

You have read the email I sent to Marg Arbon, who is the Secretary of this Group
I have not yet heard back from her

But you may have a few people helping you out
--- and you might have to stay overnight in "The Gladstone Hilton" so you can fit it all in!!
--- or your old bed in the sleepout at #10 Fifth Street!!

Sounds like you might have a great trip
Wish we could go --- and wish Terry could go too!!
See you

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