Today, Acting President PP Darren introduced a remarkable young man from the farming area of Weethalie, situated 58 kilometres West of West Wyalong on the Mid Western Highway. Not the place you'd expect to find an Olympic champion.
But Josh Hanlon is no ordinary young man. At age 16, a simple sore throat led to a catastrophic bacterial infection that almost took his life. He is a triple amputee, having lost both legs below the knee and his right hand.
He is also an Olympic downhill skier who will again participate in the Para Olympics in '26
Josh gave us an amazing 20 minutes of his crammed busy life, relating all that happened to him, his near death situation, his "friendly" doctor, and how he learned to ski.
We learned so much from this laid back laconic young man who lives the "it is what it is" life philosophy and just gets on with it. His answers to the many questions from the floor betrayed not an ounce of bitterness, but spread a great deal of laughter across the room An inspirational Australian!
https://youtu.be/l7cVq64XlsE?si=e0CB_ysX8nJbW28B This link is Josh's debut as an Olympian
https://youtu.be/Q-d5L2YT4kc Josh's talk today
The Market Report.
Mark Hillis reported on an extraordinary team effort. Mack Armitage, Geoff Breust, Davis Byefield, Phil Burgess, Rob Pearson, Darren Wallace, Doug Conkey, Gerry Gerlach, David Milne, Peter Wilesmith and he managed a $2163 profit for the day. (Found some extra in his pocket!)The site was moved to the front of the Civic Theatre this week because the Festival of Wagga Wagga light show made a bit of a mess of our normal area. This brought some testing times as stall holders were moved to the new area,
Power was a problem, but a call "to Bombay" soon sorted it out! Eventualy a mares nest of cords saw hot food back on the agenda. Note: The 1300 emergency number really doesn't have a clue where the civic theatre is!
All in all, Mark is really looking forward to his next stint as OIC.
Phil Macintosh reported on his visit to Coolamon Club to thank them for their contribution to the Gears and Beers. They have now arranged to have three farms on the Dirty 130, a unique riding experience for many of the city dwelling riders.He also mentioned that Legacy has a dedication of the Chair which we donated .
It is this Thursday 15th Aug in front of the old Knights building, at 10.30am
Doug Conkey, our member at Legacy, would like as many as possible to attend in uniform.
James Hamilton has a working bee for the Saturday Markets Committee at the Saturday Markets site Civic Precinct . Bring rags, and mould remover if you can. They are meeting at 9am, also on Thursday 15th.