It is with sadness we have learnt of the passing of Christine Darby (née Curtin) - a very caring and creative person, always with a smile.
Christine joined Bennelong Northside Orienteers in 1999 and was a much-loved club member bringing brightness, warmth and camaraderie to all club activities. She was a regular participant in Sydney Summer Series as well as club events, Metro and State Leagues plus Australian Championships. The spirit and warmth that she contributed are fondly remembered. After meeting Stephen (Garingal) their relationship grew through many orienteering adventures. Marriage and the World Rogaining Champs were highlights in 2006. Along with their two beautiful girls, Joanna and Angela, the family joined Garingal and have been regulars at the Saturday Orienteering Series in recent years. Christine could be seen on many Saturdays encouraging, teaching and patiently following one of their girls around their course. Most recently the family also came to the Garingal Christmas Party held on that very hot 40°+ day early February, in order that the girls could meet other Garingal juniors.
Stephen tells how Christine fought a four-year long battle with ovarian cancer with determination, dignity and compassion. He relates how it was hard for even him to know how much she was suffering because she was always thinking of others first, and just wanted to be treated as normal. For as long as she could, Christine volunteered each week with Hornsby Connect, a charity that provides food and support for those in need.
Just last year, Christine was also volunteering to help with the orienteering program at her girl’s school. She was generous with her time and energy and a wonderful, caring role model as well as advocate for orienteering in the community. She will be missed by many.
Stephen is keen that if you have any photos or special memories of Christine, you please send them to Barbara Hill
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for collation. We would love to preserve some of these memories for her young family.
Our hearts go out to Stephen, Joanna and Angela at this most difficult time for them personally. With limitations on social gatherings, Stephen says a time to meet and remember will be organised at a later date. In the meantime, Stephen suggests that donations to Hornsby Connect would be preferred rather than flowers if people are of that mind [see https://www.hornsbyconnect.org.au/].
Barbara Junghans, Wayne Pepper, Barbara Hill [photo with thanks from Wayne Pepper]
Sadly, Garingal had no option but to postpone our NSW Middle/Long Champs events at Eugowra (now the weekend after Easter next year). It seems so long ago that we technically could have conducted our events because we were not expecting 500 participants. Now today, April 2nd, we would be limited to one person organising at the venue, and only one competitor!!
But you can still leave your house to exercise...
Get creative... At-home O activities are popping up all over the web and social media sites. If you have children, consider getting them to map your house and garden and set courses. Does not matter if it is only a sketch, but for older children you might introduce them to Open Orienteering Mapper software. Or, the free trial of OCAD today offers symbols suited to the home environment (https://ocad.com/blog/2020/03/map-your-home/).
With all events cancelled or postponed for at least another 90 days to the end of June at least, we need to rethink a lot of things. Income for those in the office at ONSW and OA relies on events. Please tell friends who have not renewed because they think they are getting no bang for their buck, to renew anyway if they are in a position to do so? Think of it as a donation to keep Orienteering in NSW ready to roll again when this virus gets subdued.
Take care
Barbara Junghans, President.
Garingal has achieved a fantastic array of class wins and placings, as shown below: 21 first places, 6 seconds, 5 third places in classes spanning ages from under 10 years to over 75 years. What an amazing sport is orienteering! The parklands in Botany presented a picturesque setting, even with a sculpture zoo [photos taken from SHOO FB page]! The extensive tracks and grasslands led to some fast performances.
1st Place: Nicola McConaghy W10A, Anneke Corry W14A, Iida Lehtonen W16A, Aniko Fozo-Kertesz W35A, Toni Bachvarova W45A, Barbara Hill W50A, Sue Thomson W75A. Wendy McConaghy W45AS, Barbara Dawson W55AS, Barbara Junghans W65AS. Kirsten Horley WOpenB. Eamon Corry M12A, Timothy McConaghy M14A, Cooper Horley M16A, Riley Grainger M18A, Tom Kennedy M20A, Toby Wilson M21A, Jim Merchant M75A, Ian Jessup M55AS, Dennis Sparling M65AS.
2nd Place: Lilja Lehtonen W14A, Ben McConaghy M12A, Aidan Dawson M21A, Eino Lehtonen M/W10N, Miia Lehtonen WOpenB, Juha Lehtonen MOpenB.
3rd Place: Melissa Annetts W21A, Nikolett Halmai W35A, Clare Netherton W45A, Andrew Smith M35A, Peter Annetts M50A.
