If you are not a fan of the ABC Radio's Ian (Macca) McNamara's regular Sunday morning programme 'Australia All Over' then you missed out on a gem last week. This Sunday just gone Roger and I were on the show! Ian caught us at the Eat Local Thursday Market in Wagga and he asked us where we were from. We gave him a potted history of the Blue Bird and he was charmed by the story of the resilience of Kyriakoula overcoming sudden widowhood with a large young family. Not to mention Jack and Peter, the colourful characters behind the bar at the cafe. It was fun hearing ourselves on the radio so I wanted to share the interview for anyone who missed it. We are about 5 mins 20 in on the podcast.
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
Saturday, February 21, 2015
Booth Boost
Late last year the booths went back in. It saw the completion of a project that had caused us much heartache over the last two years. We never intended them to be absent from the cafe for so long however a long priority list, logistics and the sheer amount of work that was overwhelming us meant that it took two years before everyone else was finally able to see the vision I had for the cafe from that first day. I had been steadfastly holding an image in my head, resisting the doubts and the doubters, knowing that it would all be worth the heartache in the end.
In the meantime we tried to reassure customers who recognised that there was something missing from the cafe. We fielded the frequent question: "why did you take them out? Didn't you like the booths?" Unthinkable. Of course we loved them and felt that they were an intrinsic part of the cafe. It was not complete without them but there was one light bulb moment some months ago when we realised why so many people were puzzled and in some instances, angry about their absence. The booths are deeply personal. People have memories of booths in cafes all around the country that tie into important life moments. It doesn't matter that you may not have ever been into The Blue Bird in Lockhart before but people recall booths in the cafe that used to be in your home town. And as one of the last remaining Greek cafes intact, The Blue Bird represents those moments in people's lives when important things happened. And so I was inspired to write a piece about the booths and am pleased to say that the ABC Open has published my essay. It is the first story about The Blue Bird but it will not be the last. Others are already in the pipeline and I am working on a book about the history of the cafe. You can read a taste of things to come on the ABC Open.
https://open.abc.net.au/explore/88989
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