Actually Carch, the four or five gentlemen that made this whole thing possible are all 'great men' in the true sense, and after attending the opening yesterday I feel really priveliged to know some of them.
I had never met the Professor until about 6 weeks ago on a 'sneak peek' of the Museum as it was being finished off, but he's just amazing. A true 'bradman' of the Science world in Australia, no doubt.
Peter Hodgson is another guy who had achieved so much prior to getting involved with the collection, why on earth he felt the need to 'come out of retirement' and tackle this mission is beyond me, but I'm glad he did. Hows this - I actually dated his daughter as a 14-15 year old back in high school. She's now a diplomat! D'oh!Former Mayor of Bathurst Ian Macintosh, he's another guy I know very well, he got on board early too. This pair galvanised the whole corporate community in this area and 'milked' sponsorship from just about every business in town. Naturally, they tipped in plenty of their own cash and made sure their organisations (CSU and Bathurst City Council) coughed up plenty of support too.
AND...they played Bob Carr to a tee. Knowing he was a keen patron of the Arts, they worked him for all it was worth.
Important to note though, that the opening got underway a bit late yesterday. Before the ceremony, a private tour had been arranged with the Professor for Mr Carr, in the company of the school captains from some local primary schools. They had allowed half an hour.
Bob was, in his words, 'simply unprepared' for what he saw, and he took twice as long on the tour. Apparently he was asking the school kids heaps of questions and gushing on about what a valuable educational tool this is. I think he just really liked the Professor!
Anyway, we're a long way from Laurie Daley's commentary here, but I'll take this opportunity to tell all of you how good this new Museum is. Get out here! And if you're coming, let me know and I'll turn on a really good Civic Reception for you!
I had never met the Professor until about 6 weeks ago on a 'sneak peek' of the Museum as it was being finished off, but he's just amazing. A true 'bradman' of the Science world in Australia, no doubt.
Peter Hodgson is another guy who had achieved so much prior to getting involved with the collection, why on earth he felt the need to 'come out of retirement' and tackle this mission is beyond me, but I'm glad he did. Hows this - I actually dated his daughter as a 14-15 year old back in high school. She's now a diplomat! D'oh!Former Mayor of Bathurst Ian Macintosh, he's another guy I know very well, he got on board early too. This pair galvanised the whole corporate community in this area and 'milked' sponsorship from just about every business in town. Naturally, they tipped in plenty of their own cash and made sure their organisations (CSU and Bathurst City Council) coughed up plenty of support too.
AND...they played Bob Carr to a tee. Knowing he was a keen patron of the Arts, they worked him for all it was worth.
Important to note though, that the opening got underway a bit late yesterday. Before the ceremony, a private tour had been arranged with the Professor for Mr Carr, in the company of the school captains from some local primary schools. They had allowed half an hour.
Bob was, in his words, 'simply unprepared' for what he saw, and he took twice as long on the tour. Apparently he was asking the school kids heaps of questions and gushing on about what a valuable educational tool this is. I think he just really liked the Professor!
Anyway, we're a long way from Laurie Daley's commentary here, but I'll take this opportunity to tell all of you how good this new Museum is. Get out here! And if you're coming, let me know and I'll turn on a really good Civic Reception for you!
