Greek cafe restoration 'As Australian As'
Photograph: Left to Right: Author, Anna Rose (formerly of Bingara), with John Wood.
By Anna Rose
Popular Australian actor John Wood has been in love with the small northwest town of Bingara for the past five years.
He first visited Bingara as part of a national tour with fellow actors in the David Williamson play, The Club, and was knocked out by the local hospitality and effervescent welcome.
He also fell in love with the town’s magnificent Roxy Theatre which was packed to the rafters for their performance.
Since then John’s returned on numerous occasions and enjoys fitting in with the locals and taking in the delights of the area.
Proof positive of his commitment to the town was screened on Pay Television’s the Bio Channel during May — his take on what it means to be ‘As Australian As’.
During the 30-minute documentary, the actor explored what makes him proud to be Australian and what places, events, or happenings embody the spirit of Australia.
One of these was the Roxy Cafe restoration project in Bingara.
John was proud to show off the ‘Gem of the New England’ to the rest of Australia.
A special screening of the documentary was held recently on the big screen at the Roxy Theatre with a number of locals in attendance.
Many had connections with the original Roxy cafe, including Mervyn Hall, who was a skinny 18-year-old kid when he worked with Jim Loulias and his family in 1965.
Joan Bull, one of Bingara’s favourite senior citizens, recalls attending the opening night at the Roxy Theatre and ‘married the man I came to the theatre with that night’.
John Wood said he was looking forward to receiving his invitation to the grand opening of the cafe.
The North West Magazine is a supplementary insert in the following newspapers: Barraba Gazette, Bingara Advocate, Coonabaraban Time, Coonamble Times, Gooniwindi Argus, Gunnedah independent, Manilla Express, Moree Champion, Mudgee Guardian, Narrabri Courier, Quirindi Advocate, Tamworth Times, Warialda Standard.
Out of the Wood-work
By Helen Ganska
From: PerthNow
May 08, 2010
A new series sees John wood baring his love for preserving the heritage.
Actor John Wood remembers the importance of tradition in three stories that are related by their respect for the significance of the past in Foxtel’s Bio channel’s series, As Australian As.
Other eminent figures who share their experiences that shaped their sense of our national identity include sports and business woman, Catherine Freeman, fashion designer Alex Perry, former Australian of the year Professor Fiona Stanley, political journalist George Negus and journalist, public sector employee and author, Anne Summers.
Wood opens the episode standing by his red MG TF roadster car and talks about watching the 1956 Olympics on a TV in a shop window – but struggled to see why he was one of the 10 Australians selected for this project.
“When I was phoned about this project I couldn’t think of things that would make me particularly Australian – but basically they told me to talk about something that interested me – and then there were plenty of things that sprung to mind,” he says.
“The thing that came from it was my interest in preserving our heritage – I would love to do more – maybe a heritage series – it would great be fun to do and now that you mention it I might phone and suggest it.
“There are places that I would like to show people such as New Norcia in WA and Bruce Rock – places that I went to with the play, The Club.”
In Wood’s episode he talks about restoring veteran cars, the naval vessel the Cerberus and the Roxy Picture Palace.
“The two things that really interested me most were the Roxy at Bingara (in NSW) and the Cerberus – two polar opposites in a sense,” he explains.
“Both are very important heritage wise, but one has been preserved (the Roxy) and the other one is in great danger of disappearing (the Cerberus).
“And if one good things comes from watching this series – would be saving the Cerberus – it is a very important ship.
“It is the first flag ship of the Australian navy – and it is the only one left – and in some ways it is understandable as it was obsolete and no longer useful – the lucky thing was that it was sunk in such shallow water in Phillip Bay – and not just towed out and sunk in the Bass Strait – then the only people who would see it would be divers.
“But there are places all over Australia that would be terribly interesting to go to and talk about.”
A line that Wood feels Australians are very good at saying is “so what” when it comes to preserving history.
“I think there is an element of this “so what” attitude in relation to all sorts of things – being in Queensland at the moment (for the David Williamson play, Let the Sunshine), it is a developer’s paradise, and has been for some time, and thinking back to the Joh Bjelke-Petersen time when buildings were surreptitiously knocked down in the middle of the night in protest – that’s part of the so-what attitude,” he said.
“The thing too about driving through hundreds of acres of scrub plains and tearing it all up – it is extraordinary.
“We do have a very laissez-faire and blasé attitude to what we have and what we need to preserve.
“We don’t take these things seriously enough.”
Wood has seen the episode with George Negus and found out a little gem.
“I know George to say hello to – but I certainly knew nothing about his passion for football and I had no idea that he was a champion player as a kid,” he said.
“And an interesting mix of people too.”
AS AUSTRALIAN AS, MON, 7.30PM, BIO
