There has been a lot of rain all week but it still wasn’t good to see all those plastic buckets outside some of the stores on the top floor of Macarthur Square.
South West Voice was there shopping this morning and we were curious enough to check out the buckets catching any droplets of water leaking in.
And sure enough there wasn’t much water in any of the buckets, but the fact remains that it just isn’t a good look for the Macarthur region’s best shopping centre.
One of the shopkeepers we visited told us this was not the first time buckets were placed to catch any leaks.
The owners of the mighty Mac Square are spending millions on massive extensions so maybe they can find a few dollars to repair the roof over the top level.
♦ It wasn’t a race to see who would deliver the first baby of 2016, but who could blame us for thinking that considering Liverpool Hospital beat Campbelltown Hospital by just five minutes.
Compared to the rest of the state neither mother was close to being the first in NSW, but as we said it was not a race.
Ottilia Chone gave birth to a baby girl at 1:46am on January 1, making her new born the first for Liverpool Hospital. Just five minutes later at 1.51am, Glenda Pease gave birth to another baby girl, making her new born the first for Campbelltown Hospital. Neither mother set any records but both deserve hearty congratulations for the births of their daughters who will now celebrate their birthdays on the first day of every year.
♦ As part of her duties as the 2016 Campbelltown Australia Day Ambassador, Dr Joanna McMillan, the nutrition and healthy lifestyle expert who is a regular on the Nine Network, agreed to an Australia Day Q&A:
Q. What is your favourite thing to eat on Australia Day?
A. Has to be seafood on the barbecue along with a few salads showcasing the amazing fresh produce we have in Australia.
Q. If you could travel anywhere in Australia, where would you go and why?
A. I’ve yet to go to Ulhuru – has to be on everyone’s bucket list.
Q. If you could share a meal with any four individuals, living or dead, who would they be?
A. Billy Connolly (because I grew up laughing at his shows and still to this day find him a brilliant observer of the funny things in everyday life), Jamie Oliver (because he’s doing such a sterling job of putting home cooking and the importance of nutrition on the map), Emma Thompson (one of my favourite actors, she’s super smart and I reckon she’d be great fun!) and Marie Curie (because she’s one of the few female scientists that people know of – we should celebrate more scientists in general as our celebrity idols).
♦ Thomas Hassall Anglican College at Middleton Grange is one of the Liverpool’s and indeed south west Sydney’s best schools and is currently led by the principal Ross Whelan, who has been there doing a sterling job since 2007.
But one aspect of the school has some locals scratching their heads: its motto.
It is: “A More Excellent Way’’.
Excellent, but more so? Why? Excellence on its own is usually enough for such matters.
Whoever came up with it would have had their reasons for it; probably very sound ones.
But you should not need to know the background of a motto’s creation to appreciate its true meaning.
As one local wit suggested during a discussion of “A More Excellent Way’’ at a Liverpool restaurant just before Christmas, what was wrong with just going the Latin way?
An excellent idea, frankly.
♦ You may have read the denials from the Macarthur Liberals over our story in December regarding a little bit of infighting over the Campbelltown mayor’s job. The latest word on the street is that Mayor Paul Hawker has disappointed some people by doing a very good job since his elevation. But this is far from over for the Libs, who are in for another interesting political year, what with a federal election and a council poll on the cards in the next eight months or so.
Reminiscent of the old Minto Mall!