35th ANNIVERSARY
CELEBRATIONS AND 20th ANNIVERSARY OF THE JAPANESE GARDEN
Welcome
everyone to the celebrations of the 35th anniversary of our sister city
relationship with Susono and 20 years to the day that the Japanese garden here
at Frankston High School was officially opened.
Today
we are 40 people in number who represent the journey that has been undertaken
in those 35 years.
With
us to today are:
Mayor Brian Cunial
|
Frankston City Mayor
|
Not only Mayor but member of
delegation in 2104. Former FHS student. Thank you for your support.
|
Deputy
Mayor Steve Toms
|
Frankston City
Deputy Mayor
|
We hope a new found friend and
former FHS student. Welcome Steve and we look forward to working with you.
|
Cr
Colin Hampton
|
Frankston City
Councillor
|
Member of 3 delegations and
great supporter of our work. Thank You Colin for your vocal support of our
work.
|
Simon
and Tonia Hast
|
Deputy
Chairperson FSFA
|
Current custodian and champion
of our garden and teacher at FHS. Tonia is a Japanese Teacher at FHS.
Daughter Jess has created and is managing our website. Thank you Simon and
the Hast family.
|
Margaret
Patterson
|
Committee
Member FSFA
|
Patient, better half to me and
long running member of our Executive. Our catering expert for the many
function we have organised. Also Australian cooking expert in Susono during
our visits. Thank You.
|
Fran
Menting and Tom Hood
|
Committee
Member FSFA
|
Fran an Executive member, and
mother of two short term Exchange students to Susono. Fran also looked after
our website and expert in Chocolate bananas. Thank You Fran and Tom for your
help.
|
Therese
Sakamoto, Mick and Emily
|
Committee
Member FSFA
|
Former Exchange students and
English Language teacher in Susono. Japanese teacher at Derinya. Now
Executive member. Thank you for your involvement.
|
Suzie
Zagami
|
Committee
Member FSFA
|
Newly found member of the
Executive and member of our last delegation to Susono. Thank You Suzie.
|
Helen
Wilson
|
Committee
Member FSFA
|
VP at FHS and head of the Senior
school. Member of our Executive. FHS have had a representative on our
Executive for many years. Thank You Helen.
|
Julie
Darcy
|
Committee
Member FSFA
|
First Exchange Student to Susono
and is marking 34 years this week when she went to Susono. Japan was a very
different place then. Julie is a member of our Executive. Thank You Julie for
your support.
|
John and Debbie
Albiston
|
Principal
Frankston High School
|
Our host and landlord for our
Garden. Thank You for your support as a past Executive member. Thank You to
FHS for their support over the whole 35 years.
|
Chris
Hodgins
|
Frankston
Council
|
Fantastic administrative support to the
Executive at our meetings. Thank You Chris!
|
David
and Barbara Lee
|
Former
Mayor and Former Chairperson FSFA
|
One of the 5 names inscribed on
the stones in the Garden. Was Chairperson of FSFA at the time. Thank you
David and Barbara for your support.
|
Ken
and Sue Rowe
|
Former
Principal of Frankston High School
|
Former Principal and another
whose name is inscribed on the stone in the garden. Great supporter in the
earlier years. Thank You Ken and Sue.
|
Noel
and Lorraine Ferguson
|
Former
Mayor and Former Chairperson FSFA
|
First Chairperson of FSFA and
the keeper of the history of the garden. One of our founding fathers and
built the foundation on which we have prospered. Thank You Noel and Lorraine.
|
Steve
Walker
|
Life
Member FSFA
|
Life member of FSFA and one time
Community English teacher is Susono. Long-serving Executive member and Member
of a number of delegations and wise counsel on our ASCA award submissions.
Thank You Steve for your continued support.
|
Vic
Walker
|
Life
Member FSFA
|
Life Member of FSFA. Executive
member and Treasurer. Member of delegations and bus driver. Thank You Vic.
|
Rod
Johnston
|
Life
Member FSFA
|
Life member of FSFA. Passionate
and active member of the Executive in the earlier years. Thank You Rod.
|
Des
and Marj Dean
|
Life
Member FSFA
|
Life member of FSFA and long
serving member of the Executive. Des was the longest serving member of the
Executive and Champion of our Speech Contest. Great to see you Des and Marj.
Thank You.
|
Bev
Womersley
|
Former
Committee Member FSFA
|
Bev and Fred Womersley we
involved at the beginning and members of our Executive. Thanks You Bev and
pass on our thanks to Fred who could not make it tonight.
|
Phil
and Ellie Barber
|
Former
Committee Member FSFA
|
Phil and Ellie were parents of
Exchange Student Skye and Phil a member of the Executive. Thank you for your
support.
|
Bill
and Sandra Speirs
|
Former
Deputy Principal Frankston High School
|
Vice Principal of FHS senior
campus and great supporter of the sister city relationship. Thank you Bill
and Sandra for being with us to today.
|
Yuka
Mukaiyama
|
Teacher
Frankston High School
|
Yuka is a long-serving Japanese
teacher at FHS and involved with our work over many years. Thank you for your
support Yuka.
|
There are many others who have made valuable
contributions and I thank them also.
Several who are not with us today are:
The late John Richards, Former Chairperson of
FSFA, his wife Lillian.
Judy Thomas, Life member and Secretary of FSFA
Fred Womersley member of First delegation to Susono
Marian Heale, a former Principal at FHS and
custodian of the Garden.
Bev Hannan Treasurer of FSFA and long serving
Executive member. Husband Vic Webster Executive of FSFA.
From
the beginnings in 1982 through to today. Many highlights and many memories. We
have displays around the room that capture many of these special moments. The
people who have created those memories and the friends here and in Japan that
we have made.
In
total 100 people from Frankston have served in some formal capacity to manage
and celebrate the sister city relationship with Susono. Japanese fairs, speech
contests and delegation visits are some of the many activities we have
organised and shared with the community
of Frankston. A great big thank you to every one of those 100 people.
The
Japanese Garden has an interesting story that Noel Ferguson will share with us
shortly. I thank those who created it, those who have looked after it and those
who have taken pride in it. We have photos of the Garden through the years and the
people who were part of getting it to where it is today. Considered by some to
one of the finest of its type. Thank you to all of you.
To those
of you here today, I wish to acknowledge you for contributing to the rich and
robust fabric of the Frankston Susono relationship. There are very few sister
city relationships that have lasted and been so actively promoted as ours. For
example, our Japanese Fair last April attracted some 2000 people. In turn the
recent Australian Festivals in Susono
have attracted record attendance. The interest in our respective cultures has
not diminished.
We
have won national awards for our efforts, given the youth of our city life
changing opportunities and for many of us an avenue to display our passion for
Japan.
Thank
you to the Frankston Council who have delegated the responsibility for the
administration of the sister city relationship to a group of enthusiastic
volunteers. Some have come and gone and few have stuck around for a few years
to keep the wheels turning.
In closing I report on the work behind the
scenes on a public tribute to the Frankston Susono Sister City relationship.
For a short while we had Susono Way that became the laneway behind the South
East Water building. At our request the Council has been evaluating a number of
other more suitable sites. One looks very promising and hope that the
formalities can be settled quickly and we can get on with the work. I hope to
announce more details soon.