Maitland Memories 1960's part3

This is the 3rd in series of blogs that I have written on my memory of Maitland NSW in the late1960’s

(Corner Of High & Eligin St by OZin OH)
This blog starts us on a journey down High street which was the heart of the Maitland shopping district in the 1960’s. As these are the memories of a small boy some facts may be a little blurred but I believe them to be reasonably factual. I don’t remember them all & there are some gaps
Starting at the “Long” bridge at the top end of High St on the left Side just after the bridge was the Little Red Apple restaurant of which I know very little. A little further down High St was Young & Green Holden dealer, now the site of the Mineral Council offices; it was here in 1969 that we purchased our first Kingswood car. Not far from here was located the police station which was next to the court house. Across from the road from the Mineral offices was the Alma Hotel (now a coffee shop) one of about 10 hotels that lined High St.
A major intersection on High St is Belmore road. From here to Church St shops that were located left were the following Fosseys , O’Brien supermarket which was basically an oversized corner store, Jakemen’s chemist shop & S&W Miller electrical. Also located of this side of the road was Galtons department store, Maitland’s answer to David Jones, which took up 3 buildings each being 2 stories. On the Right hand at the Belmore intersection was a service station which I think was called Advanx. Also along the right hand side is the Presbyterian glebe that houses a number of shops. Just on from here was one of my favourite stores being Barden & Ribey Saddlery these were real saddlers who made saddles & harness. This was a wonderfully disorganised place with 100 years of scrap leather mixed with jobs at various stages of completion & topped off with that wonderful aroma that only new leather can omit. It all had a wonderful painted window that can still be viewed today.Wilkes Tobacconist, sports & gun shop was also located in this block
Next was the section from Church to Elgin St. On the right was Woolworths that occupied two buildings. There was no supermarket section & must have been the forerunner to Big W. One of these stores was blown up by a bomber in the late 70’s. On the right was the CBC bank (now Dicksmith). Near here was located the now political incorrect “Black Boy “, a statue of a n African American boy who was a hitching post in bygone days

(A photo by L Bridge Flickr)
McElwein’s sports store was located in this section. I also think there was a branch of the CBA bank. Wilk’s were Maitland’s leading retailer of electrical goods in this part of town. Located in the rear of their store was a workshop dedicated to the repair of valve TV’s. Wilks were also where young teenagers collected their weekly 2NX top forty hits chart. Next door was located Capper’s Hardware selling general hardware. Cappers were once the giants of hardware in Maitland but there influence declined after a fire destroyed their shop that located opposite the Maitland Mercury building. Alongside Cappers was the Dutch cake shop with their window full of sweet delights & a yearly highlight was their display of handmade chocolate Easter Eggs.
In the next blog we will travel from Elgin Street down what is now the mall but in 60’s it was the main road through the town.

A Starlight Story

A Starlight Story
Recently Carol Duncan ran a story on how the Starlight Foundation granted a young girl a wish to publish a book.
Late in 2003 our family was touched by Starlight & I would like to relate what Starlight did for our son.
In April 2003 our son, Alex, was diagnosed with Leukaemia. He underwent intensive chemo that resulted in a hospital stay of almost 3 months. Most of that time spent unable to leave his hospital room which overlooked the hospital car park & was 60Km from his classmates back at Dungog High School! After the 3 month stay it was back to the hospital every few weeks for more chemo to keep the Leukaemia in remission.
When the doctors were sure Alex’s Leukaemia was in remission they sent us to Westmead Hospital to see a specialist about a bone marrow transplant. Unfortunately none of our family was a match & at Westmead we were given the news that no matching donors could be found on the world data base. The doctor did his best to break it to us gently that what had been Alex best chance of long term survival had evaporated.
A lovely lady called Karyn ,the hospital social worker, spoke to us basically to see how we were coping. It all seemed a blur but I do remember her saying that Alex should put in for a Starlight wish & handing us a form to fill in. My wife carefully folded the paper work & filed it in her handbag. The long silent drive back from Westmead meant that Starlight was soon forgotten. After a few days at home we received a phone call asking had we considered the Starlight wish. We thought about it for a few days & decided that we shouldn’t deny Alex an opportunity that he may never receive.
Alex filled in the form on which he was ask to list several wishes his number1 wish was a laptop computer & his 2nd wish was a drive in a V8 super car with a day at the car races.
A few days later Delores from Starlight came to speak to Alex. Delores came with small gifts for the whole family which was a special treat especially for our youngest son who was 3 years old at the time. Delores is one of those special people whom you think is a slightly crazy & whimsical character but has a loving heart made of gold. For younger gift recipients Delores is Fairy Del whose role is to grant the wishes to those in her care but she spreads her magic to other members of the family by showing you that someone cares & is prepared to give up their life to bring joy to others.
Alex wish of a computer was granted & Dolores arranged a day to drop off his wish. We organised a small party with family & friends. Alex wish was a basic laptop computer & as long as it had a modem he was happy. Dolores arrived with a top of the range HP laptop computer, Microsoft software, printer, scanner & 12mth internet with AOL. These companies had donated all these products.
As Alex lovingly toyed with keys of his computer tears streamed down his mothers face at the generosity of people & the joy that Alex was receiving.
Now you may ask why a computer? Well Alex chemo at that time was planned to go for another 18 months with regular stays in hospital. That computer was to become his link to the outside world via Hotmail & Yahoo messenger. When feeling like crap from the cocktail of chemo drugs he was able to retreat to his room & listen to his favourite songs loaded on the computer. It was to become his DVD player during the mind numbing boredom of blood transfusions. Alex returned to high school part time & he used the computer for homework & writing assignments.
Alex was onto his last chemo session when his Leukaemia returned. Another heavy round of chemo & he was back in remission. This time the only option was a cord blood transplant that was an imperfect match. So back to Westmead for a 60 day stay in isolation & another 40 days recovering in a flat near the hospital. That computer that was all that stop Alex going stir crazy.
In October 2006 Alex relapsed & this time the chemo failed to get him back in remission. In early November we were given the news that Alex had about 4 weeks to live & on the 17Dec Alex died at home in his room with his beloved computer playing his favourite Robbie Williams album.
On that computer Alex had organised his funeral & it was from that computer that I downloaded songs for his funeral. It also it contained the phone numbers of all his friends.
Alex had been saving to go to Uni & so after his death we donated $5000 to the Starlight Foundation which was the average cost of wish then. I think that a young boy with cancer got his wish of special cubby house. Alex himself was so thankful for his computer that he spoke at charity golf day that was raising money for the Captain Starlight room at the John Hunter Hospital.
The End
P.S Dolores did get Alex 2 hot laps in a V8 supercar with Mark Skaife on a day they were testing the car.