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8 iNarrabri Magazine June 10th - June 23rd
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patricia Hadley
Celebrant For all your beauty needs
4/115 Maitland St Narrabri  6792 3538
Interview by Craig Jollow
Barry, you have been part of the local com-
munity for much of your life. What are your
earliest recollections of your Narrabri school
days?
I went to the Narrabri Public School and my
first classroom was in the present administra-
tion block that they are about to pull down.
My first day at kindergarten I went home for
morning tea instead of having it at school. I
went through to the old high school when Mr
Ferguson was the headmaster though I wasn’t
much of a scholar.
You worked for many years with AE Collins /
Permewans Supermarket. How do you think
the big stores of today differ from those of
yester year?
I learnt more in my first three months at AE
Collins than I did at school with Mr George
Rooney as my boss and Jack Delaney as the
manager at the time. Everything was done
with pencil and docket books with sums done
in your head and not a calculator. Your dress
was first class with starched white shirts, long
pants and shiny shoes – no shorts! The gro-
cers had to wear heavy white coats through-
out the year. I worked with Charley & Doreen
Shepherdson, Joan Nott & Jean Hall among
many others in the grocery department – it
was a great family store.
Maybe working so closely with the public
assisted you in developing self-confidence
with your latter day public performances (eg
singing, acting, hosting of public engage-
ments etc) Could you tell me about your
involvement in the Narrabri Music & Drama
Society and some of the big productions
you were associated with?
The Narrabri M&D Society was one of the best
times! We had so many people with great
talent such as Bill & Beryl Heath, Elizabeth
Spicer, Pam Thomas, Nerida Gourley, Harvey
Black, Clinton Freer and the late Jeff Crapps to
name a few. We performed in so many great
shows such as ‘Oklahoma’, ‘Taming of the
Shrew’ & ‘Cinderella’. I was one of the few that
couldn’t sing or act - I just tagged along and
made people laugh. My first performance was
Honey Bun from ‘South Pacific’ at our first out-
ing. The M&D Society also did many theatre
restaurants with Apex.
Now John Cavallaro tells me he could have
been the next big thing on the stage after
his performance in ‘The Pied Piper’…. care
to comment?
John was a very accomplished actor and yes
he could have been a star, but his dedication
to teaching and sport certainly outweighed
any stage ambitions.
Other community interest groups have
also been prominent in your life including
Legacy, Men’s Choir, Probus and the local
radio station. Why your interest and what
were some of the highlights you recall?
Legacy became a really big part of my life es-
pecially when we had the units in the west but
unfortunately I had to resign due to ill health.
Probus now takes up much of my time and I
would urge anybody who is retired and wants
to join an organisation to consider Probus. We
have great fellowship, guest speakers and trips
away. I joined Max FM to assist in finding them
a new suitable home and they found one at
the old Andersons Carpet Store –a great suc-
cess.
The Narrabri RSL has been a big part of
your life. You have been the President for
25+ years and were one of the first Direc-
tors of the Narrabri RSL Club without being
a returned serviceman. What was the mo-
tivation in initially becoming involved and
later being responsible for such things as
the introduction of the RSL Sporting Body
and Schooner Club?
The Narrabri RSL is the biggest part of my life.
Eric Gordon and I were asked to join the board
sometime back in the late 1970’s by the then
President, Mr John Schmeide. Eric and I were
barry stanford
a man of the
community
photo: chris jollow
Feature Interview