The 96.5FM News - Melbourne`s 96.5 Inner FM

The 96.5FM News
Inner F M
Tel 9457 1718
Fax 9457 4674
www.innerfm.org.au
Volume 2, Issue 4
October 2012
Welcome
W
e are approaching
our first birthday. It is hard to believe
that we will be celebrating
the first birthday of The
96.5FM News next
month. The feedback and
e-mails received over the
past twelve months has
been overwhelming. We
are getting congratulatory
e-mails from overseas
and remote parts of Australia. Thanks to our
brilliant publisher Cenarth
Fox for making us look
good. Here’s to the
future and we are keen to
get information and articles from as many of our
members as possible after all it’s your
newsletter.
Kevin Trask
Newsletter Team
Kevin Trask Editor
Cen Fox Publisher
Contributors
Bob Clavan
The Jigsaw Puzzle
Ilma Bell
From the Front Desk
Gary Cameron
In search of Wigly
Bill Gosstray
Golf Day
Kevin Trask
Events, Nostalgia and
current news articles
Joy Armstrong
Tim Armstrong Profile
kevintrask@innerfm.org.au
and your address will be
removed.
Let's keep the information
flowing. We welcome
contributions from our
members. Just send your
information or article to
kevintrask@innerfm.org.au
The deadline for the next
edition will be the 5th of
December 2012.
This newsletter is available
for download from our
website
www.innerfm.org.au
If you don’t wish to receive
the newsletter please
advise Kevin Trask at
Stay tuned for Christmas
shows on Inner FM
Listener Comments
DON CHERRY INTERVIEW
That’s Entertainment
What a great interview
with Don Cherry. His
voice is beyond good. I
was listening from CA and
really was surprised to
hear Mr. Cherry. Keep up
the good work.
Pat from San Leandro,
California
Hi Australia, Listening
from California. A friend
called and told me about
you. I was so very happy
to hear the Don Cherry
interview. He has always
been my favorite male
singer. I am going to tell
all my friends about your
station... You play great
music P.J.
The complete set of
comments are on page 8
Golf Day News
The annual Marie Gosstray
Memorial Golf Day will be held
on Monday 7th of January 2013
at the Kilmore Golf Club
commencing at 9.00 am.
This will be the 21st social Golf
Day for 96.5 Inner FM.
Players and spectators are
welcome. Lunch can be
obtained at the Golf Club.
The award presentation will be held
after lunch.
If you would like to attend ring the
station on 9457 1718 and put your
name on the list.
Bill Gosstray
Inside
Page 2 Ilma Bell
Tim Armstrong
Page 3 Bob Clavan
Who Was It?
Page 4 Kevin’s Column
Page 5 Birthday Book
Page 6 In search of Wigly
Page 8 Listeners’ Comments
Page 2
The 96.5FM News
From the Front Desk by Ilma Bell
I
t's rarely dull at the Front Desk, even on a slow day. Take for instance
opening the emails, dozens of them, fired in from just about anywhere,
many with offers no fool could resist. Get rich schemes, amazing freebies, invitations to visit distant, exotic places all opening up at the point of
the cursor.
Then there are the characters
who arrive unannounced, like
the cowboy in full attire, horse
tethered in a nearby park, who
entertained us with his Western
repertoire for a good 30minutes
from the comfort of the floor!
When he left we were all uplifted, our only concern was for the
horse, languishing nearby.
Thursday is my day at the Front
desk, when veteran presenter,
Bill Gosstray with his show Top
Hat, White Tie and Tails, frolics
through the popular music of
yesteryear, complete with a
competition that draws a great
response.
Answering these calls from our delightful listeners is a highlight of
Thursday. This gives the opportunity to have a chat as well as pick up some
excellent tips from time to time and, to top it off, to pick the winner out of the
Jack Trask Top Hat, at the end of the show.
So, as I said, it is rarely dull at the Front Desk and, for a tall leggy blonde
like myself, who knows where it might lead?
Profile of Tim Armstrong
Technician and has remained in that
capacity for almost twenty five years.
Tim was educated at East Ivanhoe
Primary School and then at Ivanhoe
Grammar School. He studied at RMIT and
gained his Electronic Technicians Diploma
and Broadcast Officers Certificate of Proficiency. Having a rather special interest and
aptitude for sound, light, colour and space
enabled him to enjoy being part of the
96.5FM team and taking responsibility for
the repair of equipment, recognising the
importance of new equipment and advising
on quotes. With assistance Tim maintains
the transmitter, talk back, telephones,
microphones, etc.
On Saturdays and Sundays, during the
winter months, Tim and his technical group
set off to football grounds in various suburbs
setting up the equipment for the VAFA outside broadcast matches. They are there in
all sorts of weather- sometimes under cover
and sometimes not. They are fully aware of
the necessity for good clear reception going
back to the studio. Outside broadcasts are
held in shopping centres, Christmas on the
Boulevard with Father Christmas handing
out lollies to the children (in the front garden
of Joy Armstrong and Tim’s home), Ivanhoe
RSL Anzac Day Services, The Heidelberg
Festival Grand Parade in Burgundy Street,
etc all requiring a great degree of
competence.
Tim’s employment and practical experience
was gained from 3MBSFM, Air International,
Siemens, Telstra, Vic Roads and Skilled
Engineering.
Tim has been a valuable asset to 96.5FM
over the years and has made a tremendous
contribution to our radio station. His
humility, expertise, dedication and loyalty
has not gone unnoticed. We thank Tim for
his great service and he is at his happiest
working with electronic equipment.
I
n 1988 a notice was inserted in the local paper inviting interested people to
attend a meeting at the Ivanhoe Town Hall with the purpose of establishing a
community radio station. Tim Armstrong was very enthusiastic and attended
the meeting. He was elected on the initial committee as Technical Officer or Chief
Compiled with the assistance of his loving
mother Joy Armstrong.
Volume 2, Issue 4
Page 3
Personalities at 96.5 FM
Putting the pieces
together…
The 3D jigsaw puzzle of the
Empire State Building in New
York (about 1000 pieces) has
finally been completed by our
96.5FM presenter Bob Clavan
- it has taken him nearly 6
months. “That has to be record
for the longest time ever”, said
Bob with his tongue firmly
planted in his cheek.
“It wasn’t the fact that a lot of
the pieces looked alike” said
Bob, “It was the 3D factor
which threw me and for a while
there I thought it would never
be completed”.
A distant relation of Bob’s,
“Irwin Clavan”, worked as a
senior architect on the building
back in the late 1920s till it’s
completion in 1930.
As for Bob, he’s happy to see
the end of it the end of it,
whilst Joan is reclaiming vast
areas of the family room.
Who was it?
In our last newsletter we asked you to name this person on the left. And it was Denise
Kuchmar. Bottom right is our “mystery child” for October – we’ll tell you who it is in our
next edition when all will be revealed.
Clues
The youngster in this photo has been with
96.5FM for a very long time.
And we need more childhood photos - send
yours to kevintrask@innerfm.org.au
Volume 2, Issue 4
Page 4
Kevin’s Column
W
e have had a sad time at
96.5FM over the past few
months. It was an honour
to be asked to speak at Joan Gillespie’s
funeral service.
I was one of three speakers in the
Acacia Room at the Heidelberg
Repatriation Hospital on the 23rd of
July. There were about three hundred
people in attendance. Family and
friends formed a guard of honour as
Joan’s white coffin was wheeled to the
hearse. We were all privileged to have
known our much loved Joan Gillespie.
Charlie
Joan presented programmes for many
years on 96.5FM and many listeners
were not aware that she was in a wheelchair and paralysed as a result of polio
which was contracted when Joan was
six months old.
Eric Elder and
It was great to see so many people from
96.5FM at the funeral. Our sympathy is
extended to John and all the family.
A beautiful floral tribute of Joan’s dog
“Charlie” was on display at the funeral
with the tribute created by one of
Joan’s carers.
Sadly we also
lost another of
our valued
presenters
and committee members
when Clyde
Simpson
passed away on the 18th of
August. Clyde had been with us
for more than twenty years. He
presented Nice and Easy (using
his two middle names Ian Clark)
on Friday nights with the
assistance of his wife Nola. Clyde
Simpson had been working in
radio as a Sales Manager and
sometimes General Manger for
many of the top commercial radio
stations in Melbourne and
interstate.
He brought a wealth of knowledge
and experience to our station. He
was a dear friend and mentor to
many at 96.5FM. The funeral was
well attended by family, friends
and some of the famous people in
commercial radio as well as many
colleagues from 96.5FM. Clyde
would be very pleased with the
funeral service, as the coffin was
being wheeled from the church
the organist struck up There’s No
Business Like Show Business
and his grandchildren handed out
bags of Jaffas. Clyde had been a
projectionist and loved the old
films.
Our sympathy is extended to Nola
and all the family.
Max Waugh at Joan’s funeral
We were also saddened to hear
of the passing of Mary Balcombe.
Mary was a great supporter of
Lew at the station and was there
to help with the telephone calls
when he was on air with shows
like Basically British.
Page 5
The 96.5FM News
Kevin’s Column continued
I was at the launch of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum at Her
Majesty’s Theatre and managed to record an interview with Oscar Winner, Geoffrey
Rush. At the end of the interview I asked if Geoffrey would mind recording a station
identification for 96.5 FM. He stopped and looked at me and said, “Are you from
96.5 FM?” I meekly replied, “Yes” and Geoffrey said,” That’s my favourite station,
I’m generally listening most of the time when I’m in Melbourne.” Then he took the
microphone from me and had great pleasure in recording the promotion that is currently on air. He told me his favourite show was on Thursday morning at 11.00am
when he listens to Top Hat White Tie and Tails. (Bill Gosstray stand up and take a
bow!) So the lesson is you never know who is listening once you open that
microphone and go on air.
Geoffrey Rush and Kevin Trask
We have to build up our membership. Please hand out membership forms and
make sure we send out a membership form with every prize won by listeners. We
must remind listeners it’s easy to become a member and support 96.5FM .
The Jolson Society and the Bing Crosby Society are now holding their meetings at
the Community Meeting Room 11 Stanton Street, Abbotsford (Next to the Collingwood Town Hall and the Collingwood Railway Station.)
Coming meetings—Bing Crosby, Monday 15th October at 7.30 pm
Al Jolson, Tuesday 13th November at 7.30 pm
The next International Sinatra Society meeting will be held at the Box Hill RSL.
Nice to see that there are many overseas listeners tuned into Barry Wass and his
country music programme Honky Tonks and Heartaches on Friday nights at 10.00
pm. Good work Barry.
Birthday Book
Best wishes to the following 96.5 members
celebrating their special day
1
2
11
15
23
27
2
9
14
18
20
28
October
Barry Bosnich
David Kuchmar
Bruce Skeggs
Joyce McCrow
Max Waugh
Ron Lopes
David Miller
Arlene Miller Jnr
November
Tommy Garrett
Trevor Dagley
Potsie
Tim Armstrong
Larry Stephens
Rose Lacey
If your birthday is not listed, please let
us know to make sure it’s included.
kevintrask@innerfm.org.au
There is a big rumour floating around 96.5 FM that we might have a major sponsor
for the 2013 VAFA football broadcasts. Congratulations to our footy team for 2012 –
great broadcasts and a lot of hard work put into the season.
Tommy Garrett tells a great story – Hollywood films stars Constance Towers and
her husband John Gavin were having dinner in a restaurant in Italy recently when
they were approached by some fans from Australia. Constance Towers starred in
films such as Sergeant Rutledge, A Perfect Murder and The Horse Soldiers. John
Gavin was in Psycho, Thoroughly Modern Millie and Spartacus. Constance has
been a guest on That’s Entertainment and thanks to Tommy had recently recorded
a Happy Birthday message for me. Constance casually asked the fans if they knew
Kevin Trask. They replied, “Yes of course, our whole family listen to 96.5FM all the
time.” I would love to know who those loyal listeners were.
Please support our valued sponsors as they support us. Make sure you tell them
you heard their message on 96.5FM
KT
Thanks to McDonalds for more than 20
years of support to 96.5
Volume 2, Issue 4
Page 6
In Search of Wigly
I
Java & Wildest
Central Borneo
t all started when Jackie MaudCameron received a gift of love for
Valentine’s Day: Adoption papers
for Wigly, a baby orangutan that had
been rescued from illegal captivity and
was currently being trained at Nyaru
Menteng Orangutan Rehabilitation
Centre, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia
by the Borneo Orangutan Survival
(BOS) Foundation for release into the
wild when the right time came – when
he’ll be around eight years of age.
Falling completely in love with Wigly,
Jackie ‘casually’ expressed an interest
in visiting BOS with the view to finding
out, first hand, how he was getting on…
meaning: We’re going!
Then Jackie ‘casually’ expressed the
thought that, as we were virtually on the
doorstep, why not visit the Malaysian
State of Sabah on the North Coast of
Borneo as well… oh, and we haven’t
been to Kuching this year and, it’s been
at least a couple of years since we
dropped-in on Singapore…
Now, Palangkaraya in Central
Kalimantan isn’t the easiest place to
access (the only flights in-and-out are
from Jakarta or Surabaya on Java), so a
little bit of planning and research had to
be undertaken – we already had tickets
to Kuala Lumpur, so it was logical that
Kuala Lumpur International Airport
(KLIA) become the Hub for our journey
around Java; Kalimantan Tengah;
Sabah; Sarawak; and finally, Singapore.
After months of research and pulling-out
of hair, the final itinerary was purchased
and, as can be seen from the map, we
were to have to fly over 8000 kms to
achieve our goal – it does seem that
we're unnecessarily flying double the
miles than we should to get around
Borneo, which is not really
ecologically or economically friendly
but, remember, with no flights connecting Palankaraya other than with
Jakarta or Surabaya (which is even
further east), we had no alternative.
The traffic in Jakarta is absolute hell
most of the year but, fortunately for us,
we arrived on the first day of Hari Raya
Idul Fitri, the festive time that follows
the Islamic strict fasting period of
Ramadan, when people return to their
village or Kampung to celebrate by
feasting with their families there.
This left that great city, that easily
surpassed thirty-million people(!) in the
2010 Census, relatively bereft of cars
and motorbikes… as calm and empty
as Bell Street during peak-hour and,
try as we might, we couldn’t bring
ourselves to imagine what it would be
like during the rest of the year!
Consequently, we had a smooth
transfer from Soekarno–Hatta
International Airport to our hotel and
gratefully checked-in at around four
o’clock in the afternoon having left
home at eleven-thirty the night before
– and after unpacking the necessities,
it was time for a bit of relaxation by the
pool!
We did visit Kota Tua (Old Batavia) which was the fortified
bastion of the Dutch East
Indies Empire and where
cannonballs litter the square;
Ancol (sort of St Kilda Beach
on steroids); rode in a donkey
carriage at MONAS (National
Monument); and, shopped for
souvenirs in two or three of
their many HUGE malls.
Most of the above was
accomplished in the cool of the
mornings and we spent the
afternoons lolling around the
pool at the fabulous ShangriLa, Jakarta – what a palace!
Albeit a heavily secured one:
apart from the vehicles being
electronically ‘swept’ at the
entrances, all staff, guests and
visitors have to undergo a
security check to enter the
hotel proper on every occasion:
similar to that at airports with
bags going through the x-ray
machine and persons through a
magnetic ‘loop’ – small price to
pay for peace of mind in this
troubled world.
In the evenings we simply
partook of the local fare in as
many fine restaurants as we
could ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
We departed Jakarta for our
main goal: Wigly and the BOS
Foundation, electing to stay at
the serene Rungan Sari Resort
close by.
Jackie and some cannon balls
Jakarta: what a clean and wonderful
city!.. our three nights there were not
enough and it’s definitely on our - already too long - ‘to do’ list to revisit.
Rungan Sari Resort, Tingkiling
Page 7
As part of my research, I’d had
quite a bit of electronic
correspondence with the owner
of the Rungan Sari and had
sketched an outline of what we
wished to achieve, I figured that,
in this relatively isolated
community, the communication
corridor would be more open
between the Resort and the
Foundation than if we just
‘dropped in’ and I was more than
glad that my rationale was found
to be correct. And how!
On our first afternoon we were
driven to the nearby Kampung of
Tangkiling which is on the
Sungai Rungan (Rungan River)
and embarked on a two hour
cruise up-river to the protected
Pulau Palas (the famous
‘Orangutan Island’ of the
Animal Planet documentary
series). This large river-island is
used for the last stage of
assessing orangutan’s
suitability to, finally, be
released into the wild and liveout their wonderful lives as
Nature intended in a National
Park that has been put aside for
the purpose – free from
avaricious poobahs who are set
upon slashing and burning the
primeval forests of Borneo and
Sumatra simply to increase their
wealth by planting the ubiquitous
Palm Oil Plantations that are
already scarring the landscape
of South East Asia and bringing
to extinction much of the Earth’s
Flora and Fauna - end of rant.
Saturnus clowns about for
our amusement
The 96.5FM News
What a wonderful experience! To be
sitting in a native ‘klotok’ village boat
and watching tens of beautiful
orangutans and macaques gamboling
about on the shore just metres away
with no concern of our quiet intrusion,
other than the constant ‘showing off’ by
Saturnus, who is the island’s youngest
male orangutan and is constantly
seeking attention and discovering ways
to turn anything into a toy… on this
occasion: a bunch of leaves he wears
as a ‘hat’ – his love of pranks justifiably
earns him the nickname of ‘Clown’: it
was simply… well, wonderful and we’ll
treasure those memories for all time.
genetic make-up, it is all to easy to
transmit even, to us, the mildest of bugs
and viruses.
We took our fill of snapshots and
decided to leave them to their
collective peaceful existence of
learning how to survive in the wild with
as little, if any, human intervention.
Jakarta http://goo.gl/PUzDu
The next day we were again escorted
by our Rungan Sari hosts to visit BOS
Foundation’s Nyaru Menteng facility
and inspect their good works and find
out more of the methodology of
successfully returning these intelligent
primates to where they belong… we
also had a chat to Wigly’s ‘nanny’
regarding his health and progress – all
reassuring and most interesting.
We, understandably, weren’t able to
view Wigly in the Nursery as this area
is in strict quarantine as, with
orangutans sharing around 96% of our
We awoke very early the next morning 4:00 am (!) - to embark on our next leg
of our journey - four flights to get us to
Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, North Borneo –
and had more adventures along the way;
including The Great Jackie’s Lost
Luggage Mystery… but more of that in
the next installment.
In the meantime you might want to view
some of the thousands of photos we
took along the way.
Tangkiling http://goo.gl/Jvl9z
The Orangutan Project
http://goo.gl/yh4WW
Cheers ツ
Gary Cameron
Wigly
Volume 2, Issue 4
Page 8
Listeners’ Comments
Our Webmaster Kevin White has
compiled some e-mail comments
from internet listeners
DON CHERRY INTERVIEW
That’s Entertainment
What a great interview with Don Cherry. His
voice is beyond good. I was listening from
CA and really was surprised to hear Mr
Cherry. Keep up the good work Pat from
San Leandro, Ca.
Dear David Miller 96.5 FM. My name is
Jerry Plummer from Houston Texas, and I
just want to let you know how much I enjoyed your interview with Don Cherry. Don
and Francine are friends that I cherish very
much. If it is ok with you I would love to give
your web site to all of my friends and family
here in the USA. All I can say is WOW!!
what a great job you did. I look forward to
listening to you and your station in the future. Please feel free to email me if you
have Don on again and others also. Best
Regards, Jerry Plummer. IN GOD WE
TRUST.
Hi Australia, Listening from California. A
friend called and told me about you. I was
so very happy to hear the Don Cherry interview. He has always been my favorite male
singer. I am going to tell all my friends about
your station... You play great music P.J.
Good day Australia, I just wanted to say
thank you for the great interview with Don
Cherry. I am so glad he is still singing. That
beautiful voice still amazes me. A friend told
me about you and I decided to listen today
for the first time... such great music. I will
listen from now on and will pass the word
around. Thank you again. Pat
BARRY WASS
Honky Tonks and Heartaches
Hi Barry,hope you and Jeannette are keeping well. Thank you as always for a great
show every Friday. Please say hello to our
friends Ashley and Kate in Perth, Joe and
Sweetie Desmier in Melbourne, and new
listeners to your programme in Surrey, Ron
and Iris, Tom and Claudette and Shirley and
Adrian. Best wishes from Julian and
Heather in Surrey, England.
Hi Barry. Very many thanks for playing my
tracks on Friday, we were able to listen to
it, and your complete show without any
problems which made a lot of people including myself very happy. One couple
who live in Wallington Surrey said to me,
when they were not able to listen to your
show last Friday, it’s like waiting for a
phone call from a friend every Friday and it
did not happen. Also a great variety of
songs you played and we enjoyed it very
much. Thanks Barry. Julian.
Your segment is a great one; folks
are going to love it ... I bet you will
get a kick out of some of the others. Let me know what you think!
Again, thank you for all you do ...
June and I enjoy your show when
we can and consider you a friend.
June is tickled how the DJ Tribute
came out as am I. God Bless You,
John.
Hi there, Barry ... this is John in Sarasota,
Florida USA. This is an update to an e-mail
I set to you at the station earlier. At that
time I had not heard the entire broadcast ... now, I believe after three hours you
wonderful show is winding down so I decided to resend. Good morning my time ...
good evening yours ... and hi to all of the
folks over there! I am enjoying the show
immensely ... great music! It is very
thoughtful of you to play TWO of June's
[June Webb] tunes ... it was fun hearing
them coming out of the speakers from the
other side of the world so to speak ... thank
you! Thank you for the morning entertainment, Barry ... nice way to start my day.
Looking forward to next week’s show. You
take care ... God Bless You and all the fine
folks over there! John [Hyatt].
Subject: Live Broadcast Sat Collegians. Thanks for your mention. I
am enjoying your broadcast from
Thailand, great match.
Graeme Blumfield.
Hi there, Barry ... this is John in Sarasota,
Florida. Tuned into your show again this
week, sure is a nice way to start my Friday
morning. You do an excellent job, thank
you for providing we listeners with a topnotch musical treat! Thank you also for
playing another song from Miss June's
CD ... even though I created the CD it is
the first time I had heard You Take The
Table (I'll Take The Chairs) on the radio ...
hmmm, maybe I heard it back in 1959,
chuckle.
Have a great week! John
Hi Barry, how in the world are you doing ...
I sure hope all is well with you. You are
terrific at putting together and delivering a
country music show ... I got a kick out of
listening to your stuff as I went through it to
put together your segment of the DJ Tribute ... outstanding! The DJ Tribute is up
and running on the site
[junewebbmusic.com] ... it came out very
nice. Due to all of the info we wanted to
post I had to add 4 pages to the site, yikes.
VAFA FOOTBALL
RON LOPES AND PETER
FORBES
Saturday Express
Listening from the pit in Wodonga
via the Web Terrific music and
Forbesy's knowledge of music is
underwhelming. Keep up the good
work lads. The Cook.
Our Ethnic programmes
And we send our greetings from
GREECE to our cousins Vasili and
Sofia by the family Graikou.
Kevin White