The Marsdens Christmas Party is still the biggest annual social event of the south west region.
And this year’s bash on Friday night was no exception.
It’s not because anything particularly exciting happens on the first Friday of December at the Campbelltown art gallery between 4pm and 8pm. There are no magicians, no trapeze artists, no string orchestra.
What it does have is every south west Sydney celebrity you could care to name. From westie billionaire Tony Perich to Bank of Queensland owner operator in Campbelltown John Horosko, they are all squeezed inside the main art gallery space for the 2014 bash.
And of course you will try to say hello to most of them, and that’s easier said than done. To succeed you must walk, very slowly, from one of the room and back, and back again.
So, let’s see who we saw on our first trip up the back: John Hennessey, the former deputy mayor, cheeky as ever, asked me if it was true I was running for council, the scoundrel, then I bump into his old enemy, former mayor Les Patterson, hooking into the famous Marsdens party prawns.
Jim Marsden himself is always hovering near the entrance, to greet as many guests as possible.
Liverpool councillor, indeed a former mayor, Wendy Waller, is seated on the left hand wall and is armed with a single crutch.
I ask if I could borrow the crutch later on in the evening if I need it to protect myself and Cr Waller nods.
I spot the deputy Mayor of Liverpool Peter Ristevski up ahead, but as happens at this bash I get overtaken by events, as they say in the classics, and don’t get a chance to say hello to him. In fact I get another chance on the way out but I miss that too. I was too busy talking to Cindy Cagney, who is a former Campbelltown councillor and is the Labor candidate for Camden.
Mayor Paul Lake is also near the front, we exchange pleasantries and he tips me off that council’s last meeting for the year next Tuesday night is going to be on the long side.
“Bring a sleeping bag,’’ he says, tongue in cheek I hope.
Federal member for Macarthur Russell Matheson is nearby and then I share a Tour de Rosie joke with the state member of Campbelltown Bryan Doyle.
Later on in the evening the bloke who is after Doyle’s job, the Labor party candidate for next March’s NSW state election, Greg Warren, comes up for a quick chat .
The next mayor of Campbelltown, Paul Hawker, breaks into a huge smile when I say just that to introduce him to some people, which surely means he knows he has the numbers to win the right to wear the mayoral chains next September.
At one stage there’s a bit of a Macarthur Advertiser reunion when photographer Jeff de Pasquale, Sean Cunningham and yours truly are joined by former sales legend Peter Miller.
Pete now works for MWLP – Macarthur Workplace Learning Program.
A couple of the journos still smoke so I follow them outside, where we see Wests Tigers and Magpies legendary prop John Skandalis arriving with his wife Jodie.
“You again,’’ says Skando by way of a greeting, referring to us being at the same concert a few weeks back.
Back inside you can’t miss the tall timber that is former Wests Tigers ceo Steve Noyce, here with his wife, Kerry.
While chatting to Steve I spy Labor councilors Meg Oates, Rudi Kolkman and Anoulack Chanthivong nearby. Anoulack, who is the Labor candidate for Macquarie Fields grabs my hand as I walk past, a quick chat and I’m off.
Also here is the man who runs the South West Academy of Sport, Gerry Knights, who is a lovely fellow, always wearing a smile.
I think you get the picture, even though I have only mentioned a tiny percentage of people in attendance.
But back to the highlight of the evening, the speech.
Jim Marsden tells us he is 64 but he isn’t planning to go away any time soon, even though that is the exact age a couple of his siblings were when they passed away.
Then he pays a huge tribute to the late John Marsden, saying: “none of this would be here, Marsdens Law Group, if it weren’t for my brother John.’’
And while Jim just keeps thanking the clients and the people of the south west, I am thinking we owe the Marsdens boys (and girls) a huge debt of gratitude.
They are the bridge that brings together Liverpool and Campbelltown and Picton and Camden, the entire south west.
It’s even better that the bridge is the best party of the year.
