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It has been a full on semester! I’ve had the joy of working
with students from Bond University, Swinburne
University and Griffith University this year!
We have been working on a series of stories to celebrate
war veterans across the world.
Some of these diverse stories include a Canadian
perspective of Remembrance Day in Australia to a video
series highlighting the Latvian and Russian Community
of Brisbane. It has been a true
pleasure to have the ability to
share these wonderful stories
within the community.
This year I met my idol Andrew
Denton.
4Follow our Mascot Ava to Page
Connecting young
people and seniors to
document stories for
future generations
Volunteers Melissa Haber and Jeana WongSemester 2: 2015
Words from Bev the founder
of Celebrate Living History
Words from Bev
Wilkinson
The Man that
Never Quit
Snap Chat Your
Future
Soar Con
Love at First
Sight

2. Celebrate Living History www.celebratelivinghistory.com Semester 2: 2015
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There is a man that was destined to make
great changes in people’s lives. This man is
someone who has seen it all. He has seen the
world evolve from the simplest of times, into
the big busy impatient world that we all live
in today.
His heart has been forged to withstand some
of the most painful challenges that any
human can endure, and his character so
strong that he would still walk out of the
rubble ready to take on the next petty
attempt of what life called “a challenge”.
This man’s name is Terry Nathan.
Born in a humble town from the north of
New Zealand, Terry came from a family of 15
children, all raised on a farm. Terry had a
wonderful childhood. Growing up on the
farm and living in a full home, his mother
would bake her own bread every day, and
most importantly, no one was ever hungry.
His family would raise their own chooks and
The Man that never quit
By Michael Walecki
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barter them for other food that they needed:
they had it all. As a teenager, he was a free-
spirited boy who loved adventure. After
working on the farm, all he got to do was run
around and enjoy the simplicity of life. One
particular day, Terry had an unbearable pain
in his tooth. Terry did whatever he could in
order to get the pain to stop. He took some
Aspros and pinched some of his father’s
tobacco and stuck it in between his gum and
his tooth. Nothing. After three days straight
of agonizing pain, Terry had enough. After
going to both the doctor, dentist, and
coming up with a few little white lies, Terry
fixed his problem. The funny thing is he
didn’t just take out the one tooth that hurt.
He took out all his teeth! A 14- year-old
toothless kid, imagine that! Terry said “I
never wanted a pain like that in my life, so I
figured I would take them all out. Have not
had a toothache since.”
Terry ended up moving to New Plymouth
and working with his brother in agriculture
Michael with Terry Bev with Michael on the Gold
Coast

3. Celebrate Living History Issue [#] :: [Date]
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making land suitable for farmers. Terry had many
interesting moments in that job, but there was one particular
day that stuck out to him the most. Terry was clearing some
bush, and one day he was working with four other men
cutting down the trees and he would bulldoze them down.
There were two trees that were standing over when he told
them to cut them down but they were still standing up. So he
decided to stop bulldozing and see why they haven’t been
cut. He asked what the matter was, why couldn’t they cut the
trees? They told him that they couldn’t do anything because
the trees toppled onto each other and are leaning on one
another. So Terry took the chainsaws and began cutting
them down. Made a few cuts. Nothing. Made some more
cuts. Still standing. Then as Terry continued cutting he heard
a loud CRACK. All of a sudden he looked up and saw the
trees were coming down. But Terry wasn’t relieved that the
trees finally were falling down, because they were falling
down on him! Terry dropped the saw and ran backwards, but
as he did, he fell into a ditch. At that point it was too late to
get up and make a run. Terry thought,”this is it…” closed his
eyes, and was waiting for the gigantic tree to come crashing
down and break his bones.
As he was ready to take the impact, he felt a gust of wind
and the shock of the tree followed by a loud crash. Other
than the rustling of leaves, and the dust settling, there was
complete silence. Terry opened his eyes. The only thing that
he could see was the gigantic tree on top of him. The ditch
that he had fallen into had saved his life. The silence was
broken with the revving of chainsaws; it was the men trying
to cut the tree in order to get Terry out. He left work early
that day, and he concluded that it must have been “the luck
of the devil.”
He moved to Australia to the town of Umina. The first house
that he rented was definitely a special one. Unbeknownst to
Terry, there was a little girl born in the very house that Terry
lived in a long time ago. And as Terry married his wife
Victoria several years later, he found out that she was the
little girl! Terry’s first house that he moved in to in Australia
was the house that his wife was born in!
To read the rest of Terry’s story visit
www.celebratelivinghistory.com
Our founder Bev was
invited to the Griffith
University Nathan
Campus in September for
the Snap Chat Your Future
Humanities event.
This involved students
‘dating’ various
professionals from different
industries in 10-15 minute
rotations.
While at Griffith
University, Bev was filmed
for the Alumni video with
intern Andrejs Boboks.
Snap Chat Your
Future Griffith
University Nathan
Campus

4. Celebrate Living History www.celebratelivinghistory.com Semester 2: 2015
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I tried to act cool, but it was like meeting a member of a
boy band that I have admired for so long.
Andrew is the man that inspired me to really delve into an
interview. I remember I did an interview with Brian
Milton who was the first man to fly microlight around the
world. Brian was a major journalist who was best mates
with Dick Smith. Needless to say I was nervous, so I
studied Andrew Denton.
I tell all my interns that if they are nervous about doing
an interview to study Andrew Denton.
He has a style that is conversational but gets to the heart
of the issue. Plus he has a sense of humor that puts
anyone at ease.
I have been meeting with mentors from Small Business
Victoria and the Australian Businesswomen’s Network
over the past few months.
While I love Celebrate Living History, the one main issue
is the ability to be sustainable long term. Over the past
four years I have been picking away at many puzzle pieces
and trying to make everything fit. An organization cannot
depend on just one person and I am afraid once I pass
away that all this good work will slowly filter away.
So we have been working on a structure that will build the
foundation for Celebrate Living History to live long term.
And I am looking forward to making this new business
plan a reality over the next few months.
With new insight, I hope I can continue to make this
program bigger and better! There are so many stories to be
shared with the world!
Till Later gang!
Bev Wilkinson Founder of Celebrate Living History
Kate Hart and Bev
Soar Con
Celebrate Living
History was nominated
in the Community
Volunteer or employed
by not-for-profit
category for the Soar
Con awards held at
Peppers Resort on the
Mornington Peninsula
in November.
Bev with Tania
Treasure from
Mornington
Peninsula Shire

5. Celebrate Living History Issue [#] :: [Date]
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It was fate that bought Nathaniel and
Antonia together in 1943. “I was walking
past the bus stop when I first saw Antonia.
She was with her brother but I did not know
that it was her brother. She was staring at
me and I was thinking how cheeky she must
be to be with another man but still be
smiling at me,” Nathaniel laughs.
Every Sunday the families of Trieste would
go to the local hall where they would eat,
dance and socialise. “I was having a great
time talking to friends and laughing”
Nathaniel remembers. As he moved around
the room he saw a familiar face… the girl
from the bus stop. “She looked like an angel”
Nathaniel describes, “I still remember the
dress that she was wearing and the pretty
necklace around her neck.” Antonia also
remembered who Nathaniel was and smiled
at him from across the room. “She was with
her brother again who I thought was her
boyfriend so I did not want to cause any
trouble. I smiled politely at her and kept on
moving around the tables to socialise” But
Nathaniel couldn’t get her out of his head.
He spoke to his brother who knew of
Antonia’s family and told him she did not
have a boyfriend, that the man she was with
was actually her brother. “My heart skipped
a beat I was so excited! I wasted no time in
going over to her table and introducing
myself to her and her family.” Nathaniel
asked Antonia to dance and they had a
wonderful time together laughing and
dancing.
After coincidently seeing each other twice in
one week, Nathaniel knew that it must have
meant to be and so he asked if Antonia
would like to go on a date.
For the next couple of years the two enjoyed
each other’s company, going to the movies,
going out dancing or for walks. “One time,
when we were first going out, I took her to
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the movies and her mum made her bring her
cousin. I got stuck paying for three tickets
instead of two!” Nathaniel joked cheekily.
As time passed the two fell more in love and
Nathaniel asked Antonia if she would be his
wife.
The war had left both of the families with
very little money and so Nathaniel and
Antonia had to work very hard to be able to
get married and move away from home. In
1947 they were married and a year later their
first daughter Anna was born. Not long after
some of Antonia’s family moved to Australia
and as the years past more and more of
them moved to Australia to live. “We spoke
about it and Antonia wanted to go. She was
close with her family and she really missed
them.”
In 1955 they arrived in Australia and lived
with Antonia’s cousins in Richmond before
moving into their own home in Deer Park.
They both found great jobs, Antonia working
for Rosella soup factory and Nathaniel
working for Melbourne transport as a
mechanic in a bus depot. “It was an exciting
time,” Nathaniel reminisces “And then
another little surprise, our second daughter
Suzanne.”
After the children had grown up and got
married, Nathaniel and Antonia enjoyed
their little love nest. They used to entertain
and have friends over, they played cards,
spent time in the garden, did dancing
together and Antonia used to enjoy baking
cakes. “She made the most delicious cakes.
She used to fatten me up and say that it
would keep me cuddly” Nathaniel laughs.
‘Love at First Sight ‘ Nathaniel & Antonia’s story
By Jeanette Bonnici

6. After about four years Antonia had lost both of her legs to
diabetes and sadly had to move out into a nursing home. “The
separation was so hard and the house felt empty and
Antonia spent three years in the nursing home where she passed
away peacefully in 1999.
“It’s been sixteen years since she left. I think of her everyday and
miss her so much” Nathaniel says with sadness in his voice. “I
like to have some cake every year for her on her birthday and put
fresh flowers near her photo all the time.”
Nathaniel still lives at home where his daughter takes care of
him. This year would be their sixty-eighth year of marriage.
Antonia and Nathaniel
Funnies
Contact:
Celebrate Living History
PO BOX 11253 Frankston 3199
www.celebratelivinghistory.com
celebratelivinghistory@gmail.com

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