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FAREWELL TO MARG - MARCH 28, 2008
Marg came to Mt Martha House as Coordinator in 2002, bringing with her a wealth of experience in event and venue management.
A year after marrying G.A. McLean, she again went overseas, moving with her new husband to Toronto, Canada. While living in Ontario, she worked as Box Office Manager for the Playhouse Theatre, working in the other area that held her interest - the Performing Arts.
Also a very active community member, Marg was the Director of the Strolling Players Club, which was a State Appointment for the Girl Guide Association. A Touring Performing Arts club, dedicated to giving young performers aged 10-18 years, experience and training in the performing arts, the Strolling Players toured around Australia each year for 2-3 weeks, presenting a variety show prepared through workshops run every three weeks. In 1985 the troupe toured to Europe and performed in Holland, Switzerland and England, appearing on Thames TV, London. In 1997 - the year Australia was defending the America's Cup - the troupe was named Special Ambassadors by the then Prime Minister, Bob Hawke (pictued above with Marg during her time at the National Water Sports Center), and toured through country Victoria and South Australia to Perth, WA.
She is also often invited as a Special Guest to many events, such as the Opening of Seniors' Week 2007 in Melbourne, along with other notables such as the Minister for Community Services, Senior Victorians and Mental Health, Lisa Neville MP (pictured left with Marg on the day), and the 50th Anniversary celebrations for the 1956 Melbourne Olympics at the MCG in 2006 (Marg pictured below with fellow Olympians Ron Clarke, Bob Joyce and David Boykett on the day).
For more information about Marg, including the many and varied events she has run over the years, visit her website: Emjay Projects. Mt Martha House will now be managed directly by the Mornington Peninsula Shire Council. All previous contact information for the venue is no longer in use and all bookings for the venue will now go through the Shire offices. PHOTOS OF MARG'S FAREWELL - MARCH 28, 2008 Coming soon ... ARCHIVED NEWS Click on the links below to read excerpts from that month's news updates. The Mt Martha House Annual Morning Tea featured Balcome Grammar School Choir, soloists from "Foster The Arts" and the Child Care children with Christmas songs who provided a wonderful morning's entertainment for all the invited guests. Those in attendance included Mornington Peninsula Shire Councillors and Senior Staff, as well as representatives from all our Community Groups and tenants. The event was hosted by Mt Martha House Coordinator, Marg Woodlock-McLean on behalf of the Mt Martha House Committee of Management. We were also delighted to officially welcome our new Caretaker to the Mt Martha House family. The Christmas Morning Tea is usually held on the 2nd Wednesday in December and provides an opportunity for everyone to meet socially and enjoy entertainment from some of our talented groups. Once more, it was a very successful event and a great way to finish off a busy, yet satisfying year. The Mt Martha House Open Day, held in conjunction with Community One Inc., was a great success with every Community Group who meet at Mt Martha House represented with information booths and/or activities. Entertainment was provided by the Southern Cross Jazz Band, free tea and coffee was provided by the Mt Martha House Committee of Management and the Mt Martha Scouts ran a sausage sizzle to keep everyone well fed. We had over 500 members of the public join us, many joining in with the activities and some actually joining one of the 50-odd groups who meet under our roof. The event was organised by Mt Martha House Coordinator, Marg Woodlock-McLean with publicity and assistance provided by Mr Howard Bull, Manager of Community One Inc. Everyone enjoyed the day so much it has been requested that we do this again next year ... so stay tuned! Mt Martha House is delighted to announce that we are holding (in conjunction with Community One Inc.) our first Open Day on Saturday, August 18th, 2007. Mt Martha House Community Centre, in conjunction with Community One, is throwing open their doors to the general public and inviting everyone in for a day of fun, information and the opportunity to see what really goes on in this wonderful historical building. This is a chance for the general public and user groups to come together for the day to find out just what goes on at this historical property. All are welcome - doors open at 10am. To find out more about the day, CLICK HERE. We have been fascinated by the amount of visitors the House has received over the last year who have ties to the House in it’s previous incarnations. Several Armed Forces members, from Interstate provided some very interesting insights during the 1954-1970 period. They wrote down their memories, which has helped fill in some of the gaps during this period of the House’s History.
We are missing a lot of information also from 1891-1929, so old photos, letters, menus, horse & coach timetables, brochures, photos of the first beach boxes/change tents, etc would be gratefully received for us to photocopy. STOP PRESS!! Manni Harrison, a violinist with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, is looking for young violinists to form a Children’s Orchestra for the 2006 Mt Martha Carols By Candlelight. Rehearsals will be held at Mt Martha House next term. Phone Marg on 5974 2297 for more information.
Our new car park was officially opened by the Mayor Councillor Brian Stahl and Councillor Ann Shaw. Entertainment was provided by The Mt Martha School of Dance, Justin Brady (Off The Lip Harmonica School), Nicho Falcone (singing student of Monique Brynnel) & the Child Care children with Christmas songs. The M.C. was Sally McLean of Acting Up. Certificates were awarded to the following:
Distinguished
Long Service
More news coming soon ... |
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Mt Martha House bids a sad farewell to the last Mt
Martha House Coordinator, Marg Woodlock-McLean, who is leaving
to pursue her career in event management. Marg has been an absolute
joy to work with at the House, facilitating a professional, friendly,
warm and fun environment for all users of the venue and carrying
out her duties to an extraordinarily high standard. All fifty
four user groups are extremely sad to see her go and wish her
all the best for the future.
A 1956 Olympian when still a teenager,
going onto gain the title of Australian Champion in 1958,
which she held until 1962 when she retired from competition,
Marg began her professional life as a physical education teacher,
becoming Head of Physical Education at Melbourne Girls Grammar
at the age of 21. Two years later, she took a leave of absence
to travel to the UK, going on to teach in the Physical Education
Dept. at the Lady Eleanor Holles School, Twickenham, UK, as well
as becoming Head of Physical Education and Matron of the Boarding
School at Birklands School, Herts. and Head of Physical Education
at Heathfield School, Ascot, Berkshire. After two years of working
in the UK, she returned to Australia and her first job of Head
of Physical Education at Melbourne Girls Grammar.
After bringing up her two children,
and moving back to Australia, she became Development Officer
at Toorak College, raising $1.2 million dollars to build the
school's new Sports/Performing Arts complex. She then went on
to become Manager of the National Water Sports Centre (NWSC) in Carrum, Victoria for six
years - a venue established for the Melbourne bid for the 1996
Olympic Games, and now runs her own event management business,
Emjay Projects, delivering several highly successful events,
including her flagship event "Making The Most Of Life"
for COTAVIC, held at the Royal Exhibition Buildings, Carlton
and winner of the Minister for Sport and Recreation Award for
"Outstanding Contribution to the Sport and Recreation Industy"
in 2000.
In 1990, Marg came out of retirement
from athletics, and competed in the Vic Health Masters Games.
She walked away with a gold medal in Shot Put and Discus and
a Silver Medal in Javelin. She then went on to compete in the
World Masters Games in 1994, where she won a Silver Medal in
Shot Put and Bronze Medal in Javelin. In 1995 she entered the
Vic Health 5th Australian Masters Games and again came away with
a Gold Medal in Shot Put and Discus and a Silver medal in Javelin.
In 2002, Marg became the World Masters Games Shotput Champion,
winning Gold at the World Masters Games, Melbourne. She was also
invited to run with the Olympic torch as part of the Sydney 2000
Olympic torch relay in Frankston (pictured above), and volunteered
at the Sydney Olympics at the International Olympians' Centre
at Darling Harbour.
Marg is also a Public Speaker and has
been invited to speak for various audiences including Rotary
Clubs, International Toast-Mistress Clubs, Probus Clubs, Retired
Teachers Association, International Soroptimists, Schools, Country
Women's Association, Conferences, and The Australiasian Institute
of Fundraising. She has done many television and radio interviews
about the events she has organized and her experiences as an
Olympian.
Marg is a member of Athletics International,
and a recent member of the Victorian Olympians Club (Executive
Committee Member), The Australiasian Institute of Fundraising
and Australian Red Cross . She has received the Emu Award from
the Australian Guide Association - National award for outstanding
service to Guiding Australia, Long Service Award from Red Cross
Australia for outstanding service to Red Cross Victoria and the
International Directory of Distinguished Leadership Award from
the American Biographical Institute Inc. for outstanding service
to youth, sport and recreation, amongst other accolades.
Archives/Historical
Group
A small
group of interested people would be a great help to us in gathering
the information from 1930-1975 while there are still members
of the community and Armed Forces around to tell us.
We
were delighted to see so many of our diverse community groups
represented at our 2005 Christmas Morning Tea.
Award
of Excellence
A Heritage
display of various artefacts dug up from the car park during
construction, plus historical documents, photos and articles
was viewed with interest. We are collecting ANY information and
photos to add to our history of the House. If you have any information
over the past 100 years that can be photocopied, please bring
it into Marg at the office. Anecdotal stories are also very welcome,
as they add colour and flavour to any history.
The Christmas Morning Tea is usually held on
the 2nd Wednesday in December and provides an opportunity for
everyone to meet socially and enjoy entertainment from some of
our talented groups.