Getting to know…

Almost every month, we profile another club member in this section. Most of the interviews have been done by veteran member, Gordon Keatch. If you are new to our club, you might get a call from Gordon for an interview. If you have a suggestion of someone who might be due for an update, please let us know. Click on the headlines to read the entire interview.


  • Yarn – Jan-Feb 2024 January 18, 2024
    24-Yarn_0102-JanFeb So, we’re into 2024 already, and The Yarn is right there, along for the ride with you. The January-February edition is available now, and here is the Editorial to get you started: Happy new year, Yarn readers! And it’s not just a new year, it’s also the Club’s 75th! That’s quite an achievement for a little outpost here in the middle of North America, eh?! Talk about the “Aussie/Kiwi battler” – the DUCW exemplifies just such a character. And this little Southern Yarn gazette plays a not so insignificant part in the battle to stay alive and relevant ‘midst the constant ...
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  • Sept-Oct edition of the Southern Yarn September 26, 2023
    The September October edition of The Southern Yarn is available for your reading pleasure. Yes, it’s later than we hoped, but some great content in there as usual! It’s also on the Yarn page. And here is Charlie’s editorial to get you started: As we remind readers, from time to time, most of the founding members of the Down Under Club of Winnipeg ended up here as a result of their involvement in WWII. More specifically, most had come here for air and navigation training, under the Commonwealth Air Training Plan, before being shipped on to more active duty. Then, having survived, they ...
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  • Did you know … January 26, 2023
    Australia is one of the top travel destinations in the world, and rightfully so. On January 26, we celebrate Australia’s diversity, rich history and culture, and breathtaking landscapes. Did you know… Australia has unique flora and fauna that cannot be found anywhere in the world; 90% of the animals are unique to Australia There are 60 wine regions in Australia Australia is the only continent in the world without an active volcano One of the most famous drives in the world, The Great Ocean Road, is dedicated as a memorial to those who died fighting in World War I Australia’s Indigenous people have lived on the ...
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  • Yarn January-February 2023 January 11, 2023
    The first issue of The Southern Yarn is available now, online and in colour, and will be making its way through the post to those still having our postal version in glorious B&W on yellow paper. Here’s Charlie’s editorial to get you started: With this first edition for 2023 it is probably worth another reminder of the origins of the DUCW – namely, a bunch of Kiwi and Aussie servicemen wanting to socialize together after making it through WWII and choosing to make Winnipeg their home. This newsletter evolved later, and while sadly those founding vets have all passed on, we try ...
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  • Southern Yarn October – December 2022 October 7, 2022
    The Southern Yarn is available for you to download. You can click on the image to the right or you can check out the Yarns page here: The Southern Yarn. Here’s Charlie’s editorial to get you started: It’s a beautiful Manitoba autumn – leaves changing to all shades of green, yellow and red; geese honking overhead; harvests in and gardens put to bed; returning songbirds singing to be fed. It has been fun enjoying in-person club events once again – the pool party, golf tournament, brunch – and more to come, as per the calendar. This issue of the Yarn features a brief recap ...
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  • The Southern Yarn August – September 2022 August 14, 2022
    The latest version of The Southern Yarn is ready for you now, Check it out. And here is the editorial to get you started. As I put this issue together, Folklorama is about to begin its 2-week run here in Winnipeg. Being the first time back, after COVID*, there are only 12 pavilions each week – about half of the usual number. Perhaps a post-COVID strategy on the part of the Folk Arts Council, or just a reality of the times – like our DUCW, members are few and sadly volunteers can no longer muster the oomph to plan and execute ...
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  • Yarn June-July 2022 June 8, 2022
    The June July issue of The Southern Yarn is available, online in glorious colour, complete with links to more reading. The cheerful yellow paper version will be making its way to postal recipients in the coming days. Here’s Charlie’s Editorial to get you started: Family issues dictated a hurried decision to visit Adelaide, Australia, for the first three weeks of May. With time to wander the streets in the Fullarton/Unley area, there was not only opportunity to think of content for this edition, but also inspiration for much of it. Being a bird nerd, the ever-vocal locals never disappoint: I settled on a ...
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  • Yarn for April May 2022 April 10, 2022
    Here is the Yarn for April and May, 2022.  There is a lot here to read on the 8 pages, including the cover story about a new land acknowledgement project that has created something we’d like you to comment on. Remember that, unlike the print edition, the PDF version of our newsletter allows you to connect to hyperlinks embedded in many of the text items. Enjoy!
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  • Southern Yarn Dec 2021 – Jan 2022 December 13, 2021
    It’s time for the last, AND the first Yarn of the years we are bridging with this issue. Stand by for the Dec-Jan issue of The Southern Yarn in your mailbox in glorious yellow paper and B&W print, or in modern full colour (with live hyperlinks!) via the PDF documents featured as always here on our website.  And good luck with getting used to saying and writing the new year 2022. That’s a lot of twos, but it has a nice ring two it, right?  And here’s Charlie’s editorial to get you started. As Peter reports, our recent AGM was fun and multi-national. ...
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  • The Southern Yarn August/September, 2021 August 15, 2021
    The August/September issue of The Southern Yarn is available for download.  Here’s Charlie’s editorial to get you started: Well, the severe drought foreshadowed by last winter’s minimal delivery of snow is now manifesting itself big time in the form of wildfires. The inconvenience of smoke in our air is nothing compared to the sad ordeal of having to leave one’s home and belongings to the mercy of the wind and flame. When it last struck Australia in 2019-2020, Canadian firefighters were quick to respond. Now, Aussie counterparts are deployed to help contain the blazes in Northwest Ontario.  You never know where you will ...
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  • Southern Yarn – April/May 2021 April 8, 2021
    The April=May issue of The Southern Yarn is available now read it online now, or await your version on glorious yellow bond paper through the post, if you prefer.  Here is the Editorial, by Charlie Powell, just to get you started: It seems like the “dry” has started here in Manitoba – so little snow during winter that there is no spring runoff! The rural community is worried, therefore we all should be. “The Dry” also makes the list of top 25 Aussie films at the box office. Of course, we all know which one is still way out ahead of the ...
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  • Yarn February-March 2021 February 16, 2021Yarn February-March 2021
    The February-March issue of The Southern Yarn is available for download now. Also check out the back issues at our dedicated Yarns page. To get your started, here is the Editorial: A common theme to much of our content for this issue is “nostalgia” – not by design, it just turned out that way. You will especially find some of that if you follow the links provided in the OZ and NZ News to the respective Film and Sound Archives – thank you to Ed in Adelaide for those. Maybe during the pandemic lockdown(s), you watched a Bond movie, or two. A ...
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  • Yarn Dec 2020 /Jan 2021 December 14, 2020
    The final 2020 issue of The Southern Yarn is also the FIRST issue for 2021. Read it now, or if you prefer, some of you can wait for the B&W one on yellow paper version to wend its way through the post to you.  Here is the Editorial to get you started. Just as “Google” came into our vocabulary several years ago, now, thanks to the pandemic, the new understanding of “Zoom” has become commonplace. What a gift! (Every cloud has a silver lining!). Meetings and birthday parties have been enhanced, under the circumstances, by this sharing technology, which facilitates virtual togetherness. ...
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  • Yarn August September 2020 August 6, 2020
    The new Southern Yarn is ready online, and this month there is a bonus page (p 9) of photos for those of you lucky enough to download it!
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  • Yarn June-July 2020 June 8, 2020
    The Southern Yarn for June and July is ready for you to download, either directly, or through the Yarns page. Many of our anticipated events will be impacted by the Covid-19 restrictions, but perhaps now more than ever, we value our connections with one another, even if meeting in person is harder to achieve. Here’s Charlie’s editorial to get your started:  One thing I enjoy about this “job” (as editor of The Yarn newsletter) is hunting for good news stories to share. So, it is encouraging to find a good number of sites devoted to offering just that. You will find some of ...
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  • The Southern Yarn – April May 2020 April 13, 2020
    The Southern Yarn is available for download in glorious colour, while others await their brilliant yellow paper version through good old Canada Post. See the whole list of Yarns at the dedicated web page. Note also that the online (PDF) version has links throughout to lead you to more content online.  
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  • Yarn 2020 Feb-Mar February 4, 2020
    The Southern Yarn’s February March issue is available as a PDF for download right now! Why wait for the yellow paper version in the post, when you can get it now, in glorious colour, with live links as well! Check it out. And how about all those past issues? Get them on the Yarn’s own webpage. Here’s the editorial of this issue to get you started: Well, there’s movement at the station … our DUCW is mobilized at many levels to make the Feb 22 fundraiser a success. (One member commented that it reminded him of when we used to plan for our Folklorama ...
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  • Yarn Dec 2019 – Jan 2020 December 16, 2019
    The December-January edition of The Southern Yarn bridges the start of a new decade as we enter 2020. We’ve got reports on the not-so-formal dinner, the AGM, the Christmas party, and other club events, Give it a read, and we look forward to seeing you all next year.  And here are some photos from the Christmas party that we could not fit into the Yarn. ” order_by=”sortorder” order_direction=”ASC” returns=”included” maximum_entity_count=”500″] Enjoy the photos. And Charlie’s editorial takes the form of a good old Aussie Christmas Bush Yarn this time, so here it is: A Bush Christmas “C.J. Dennis” Herald, 24 December 1931, p4 This poem was also published ...
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  • Southern Yarn August – September 2019 August 14, 2019
    The Southern Yarn for August – September of 2019 is released with a bit of sadness, as it marks the first issue after the passing of Gordon Keatch, the person behind the creation of the Down Under Club of Winnipeg.  Lots of other news in this issue, and mark your calendars with the events coming up, including the golf tournament this month! You can explore previous issues of the Yarn on our page dedicated to the current and back issues. Here’s the Editorial from this issue:  Most members will know by now of the passing, on June 25th, of one of the Club’s founding ...
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  • Thank you, Gordon Keatch August 13, 2019
    The following words were shared on behalf of all the members of the DUCW at the memorial reception for Gord on Thursday August 8. Twenty four Club members attended the service to say farewell and thank you to our dear friend. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Ah Gordon, you were the best mate any of us could ever hope for, especially those of us in the Down Under Club of Winnipeg. We loved your kind and generous heart, your wit and wisdom, and your willingness to step up whenever anything needed to be done. You were our friend, mentor and sage, and ...
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