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Peter Roberts-Thomson AM is a retired clinical immunologist and immuno-pathologist and Emeritus Professor of Flinders University. He was awarded the Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for significant service to medical education and to immunology. In 1976 Peter was the first physician in South Australia to commence formal training in clinical immunology. “Today there are over 25 accredited clinical immunologists in our State,” says Peter. “They are serving the needs of 15 per cent of the population who have immune and allergic disorders.”

Peter, of Erindale, has particular expertise is in the diagnosis and management of systemic autoimmune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). He has also established the South Australian Scleroderma Register. “Scleroderma, a disease that causes hardening of the skin and scarring of internal organs, affects 350 South Australians and, in some instances this disorder follows an aggressive course with severe complications,” Peter says.

Peter, 74, is thrilled but humbled to receive his award and is especially grateful to his wife of 47 years, Lesley, his family and friends and colleagues who have given him great support and encouragement during his 50-year long medical career. “I have enjoyed immensely my interactions with my immunology and rheumatology trainees who continue to astound me with their curiosity, intelligence and application to their chosen specialty.”

Now retired, Peter enjoys bush walking and has used COVID restrictions to explore walking trails in the Adelaide Hills. He has a special interest in the Tasmanian wilderness and has published a book on the early explorers. He has already travelled to Tasmania to share his passion with his some of his six grandchildren.

Mrs Christine Joan HALBERT, OAM (Medal of the Order of Australia)

Rose Park resident Chris Halbert has been awarded an OAM (Medal of the Order of Australia) in the Australia Day Honours for service to the history of Australian Rules football, and to music. Chris was instrumental in the ‘140 years of SANFL’ exhibition which debuted at the State Library in 2017.

Chris, 74, has spent most of her adult life around football. Her husband John played for Sturt Football Club from 1955 – 68. “He had lots of memorabilia that he had collected over the years, including a Magarey Medal.” She thought others of his generation would also have lots of ‘stuff’ stored in sheds and spare rooms.

“I approached the SANFL Commission and said ‘What should we do with all these items’. They thought it was a good idea to pull it together and asked me to do it.”

Through word of mouth and her football connections, with the profile of the AFL and the wonderful SANFL history which should not be lost, she gathered a diverse collection of memorabilia. She recruited a team of fellow volunteers and they were given a space at AAMI Stadium.

“We received more and more and started to run out of room. “ With AAMI Stadium to be demolished the group moved to Bowden, above the Lutheran Church Archives. Chris says it is not a museum and they do not accept visitors, however they are always looking for opportunities to promote the collection including May History Week.

The inaugural display ‘In a League of Its Own’ launched at the State Library in June 2017 and ran for 10 weeks. The memorabilia included trophies, scrapbooks of players, and photographs of the teams, spectators, Football Park and Adelaide Oval. The exhibition attracted some 70,000 visitors, making it one of the most highly attended exhibitions in the history of the State Library.

”It was special because it resonated for so many,” Chris said of the exhibition. “The reaction of people who came in and hadn’t seen photos of their grandfather or other memories was overwhelming. The exhibition was important as was the search for all of the Magarey Medals. The fact we have now got all of them except six is just fantastic and people are amazed when they have a look at the display.”

Chris has also contributed to music as a skilled pianist, singer and teacher. She organised the Lutheran 175^th Anniversary celebration and taught at the Elder Conservatorium of Music.

Chris was surprised and honoured to receive her Australia Day Honour. “I received an email late last year with the Governor General’s insignia and I thought it was a joke at first.”

”I’m delighted because it is an acknowledgement of all the people who have worked with me along the way,” Chris says. ”It’s not as if you do things by yourself, you are always part of a team.”

Chris credits her team of volunteers for her achievement. “Without them I wouldn’t be here receiving this Award,” she says. “Volunteers bring experience, wisdom and common sense and there is a real camaraderie within the group.”

Married to John for 54 years they have three daughters and six granddaughters. Chris is eagerly planning a 145-year exhibition at the State Library in mid-2022.

She will receive her Medal at a ceremony at Government House in April.

The group of buildings at 325-331 The Parade, Beulah Park is known as ‘Ransom’s Corner’. This site was originally the Ransom family’s farm.

In 1922, Robert Ransom subdivided the farm and built the row of shops. One of the first tenants was butcher F.W Clements who remained there for 42 years.

High above the corner shop, set in the stonework of the façade by Robert 97 years ago the words ‘Ransom’s Corner’ remain.

Photograph: Ransom’s Corner, 1932 and today.

Sophie Stephenson is an amazing, beautiful and resilient 3 year old girl who has a rare form of childhood cancer, Stage 4 Neuroblastoma, that has attacked her central nervous system. After completing 18 months of gruelling treatment, the cancer returned in late-2020 with Sophie’s best chance of survival now lying through treatment only offered overseas. The Stephenson family will relocate to Barcelona at the end of February to give Sophie every chance of overcoming this enormous battle. One of our Elected Members knew that her family was looking for a venue to host a fundraising event to raise money towards the $300,000 that the treatment and associated activities is going to cost.

Council’s Community Connections Team organised for the amazing fundraising event to be held at the Glenunga Hub.

Key players from the Adelaide United Soccer Team donated their time to help make the day a massive success. Sophie almost couldn’t make it due to the side effects from a recent chemo treatment. Thankfully she felt strong enough to be part of the day!

More than $5,000 was raised and Sophie and family fly out on 28 February to Barcelona for treatment.

Images from the day can be found here https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1y4Kma0ut8OXNtmd8g7I9vtYMdJQfr5JE

Opened August 1981, the Constable Hyde Memorial Garden is dedicated to the memory of Constable William Hyde who lost his life while on duty in Marryatville in January 1909.

Hyde was called to the Marryatville Hotel on Saturday 2 January 1909 at 9.30 pm because of a disturbance between three men and the hotel patrons. The three men were suspected of being about to rob the local tramway office. When Constable Hyde arrived the three men, who had entered the tramways office, ran off with the Constable in pursuit. In the affray Constable Hyde grappled with one of the men, holding him to the ground, and the two others ran off. They then turned back to assist their companion. Five revolver shots were fired, the last of these hitting Hyde in the cheek. Extra police and a tracker were unable to capture the men.

34 year old Const Hyde died in the Royal Adelaide Hospital on January 4, 1909, two days after the suspects he had chased on foot shot him.

Hyde was well-liked and a capable officer and around 12,000 people attended his funeral.

At the time, a Stg250 pound reward was posted for information leading to the conviction of the killers, but no one was ever arrested.

The Burnside Historical Society have an excellent written account of this incident in one of their newsletters https://bit.ly/2Z4tvph

A memorial is located in the park in memory of the Constable. The artwork consists of a bronze policeman’s jacket, helmet and newspaper on a sandstone bench. The jacket and helmet are modelled on the exact items worn by police in 1909, with Constable Hyde’s police number featured on the helmet. The sculpture is incredibly detailed, capturing features of the jacket’s buttons, stitching, and a police whistle; the newspaper contains words from the newspaper of the day concerning the incident.

“The Old Gum Tree” on Glynburn Road, Kensington Gardens is approximately 300 years old. The state heritage-listed River Red Gum is 29 metres tall and has a 10.4-metre girth.

Pre European settlement, trees such as the River Red Gum, South Australian Blue Gum, Peppermint Gum and Golden Wattle once wooded the slopes of Burnside generously.

Photograph: Glynburn Road, c. 1905.

The Burnside Library is turning 60 this year!

On 8 April 1961, the library opened with a book stock of 7,800 and one full-time staff member. In January 2000, the old library building was demolished. The current building opened in October of the same year.

Pictured here is the former Burnside Library. Do you have any memories of the ‘old’ library?

Young Citizen of the Year John White

John White, 29, has been named as City of Burnside’s Young Citizen of the Year for 2021 at this morning’s Australia Day Ceremony at Hazelwood Park. John has been a band conductor since 2014 for several community bands. He was awarded the South Australian Band Association Band Person of the Year in 2018. John often mentors youth and provides learning support for children with disabilities and general students. Since a young age he has performed in community bands and will often volunteer to fill in on instruments. John wasn’t expecting such an accolade but says it is good to draw attention to the Band.

Jenny Cooper has been named 2021 Citizen of the Year at an Australia Day Ceremony at Hazelwood Park this morning. Jenny, 58, was recognised for her efforts in starting up the Australian branch of Breadtags for Wheelchairs, a not-for-profit organisation which collects bread tags and recycles them to raise funds. Jenny, of Rosslyn Park, set up a national collection network and engaged a local recycler, Transmutation in Robe, to produce bread boards, bowls and platters. By September 2020 Aussie Breadtags for Wheelchairs had recycled over 2 tonnes of breadtags, (approximately 5.4 million) and in that time has funded 14 wheelchairs. It was quite humbling to receive the Award," Jenny says.

After nearly 30 years, John Moore has handed in his resignation as a dedicated volunteer at St. Saviour's cemetery, Glen Osmond. His many years of volunteering have earnt him the award of 2021 City of Burnside Citizen of the Year.

John, 94, took on this voluntary work when he retired from teaching at Pulteney Grammar School.

An active member of St Saviour's Glen Osmond parish, John learnt that the volunteer who tended the cemetery had retired and he took on the task. “I was my own boss, week by week,” he says.

He attended regularly on Mondays, even on public holidays, to do little projects, always ready with his tool box. These projects included re-aligning monuments and edging, removing old tree stumps (“I dug them up by hand”), trimming hedges, making sure that gates shut properly, fences were secure, maintaining paths, spreading gravel, unearthing an old headstone and keeping other headstones upright or safe.

“It is important to respect the dead,” he says. “Some of the gravesites are so old that they don’t have headstones so we don’t know the history.”

But what history he did know he regularly shared while conducting history walks during History Month in May for a number of years, as well as showing classes from local schools and the Burnside Historical Society members. Each year he organised the skip for the annual cemetery working bee and kept attendance records. He also looked after the application for Council green bins and made sure they were put out each fortnight — always as full as possible!

John made many improvements, discussed management plans, dealt with vandalism, floods and drainage problems, trees and large branches falling, always with a positive attitude. John's achievements have been recognised by the parish and members of the public, who access the cemetery for walks, quiet contemplation, learning about social history of the area and visiting family members.

With his 95th birthday coming up in March he thought it was time to fully retire. “I still go to see Liz, who took over from me.”

His reaction to being selected as Senior Citizen of the Year was “I am staggered. Volunteer of the Year yes but Citizen of the Year!”

Asked his plans for his own burial he says “I have decided, when my time comes, to be cremated and my ashes to be in a memorial at the cemetery.”

History:

The cemetery, belonging to St. Saviour's Church, lies to the north-east of the Church, further along Pridmore Road. As with the church it is situated on land gifted by Osmond Gilles in 1854.

On the south side of the cemetery stands the tombstone of Glen Osmond's first resident, Edwin Olliver. Nearby are the headstones of other pioneers, including those of Redman Goldsack and his wives, Elizabeth and Christiana.

In a central position, under the shelter of a cypress tree, is the oldest headstone, recording the resting place of Moritz F. Weidenbach (interred 1858). Many of the oldest graves are without headstones, possibly due to the relatives having left the neighbourhood.