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Here you'll find stories or pictures that were on the NEWS page and had to be moved to make way for new News!

ALVA 30th Anniversary Banquet

What a beautiful night for a banquet. The city was in turmoil with a blackout, but the atmosphere was delightful at Castel D'Oro where we gathered, for the first time, to celebrate our 30th Year.

Bruno, Sandra and their team looked after us in grand style.

The ladies wore pearls and the decor (supplied by the ever imaginative Julie T and Marty Morton, and Merredene Hall) suggested a sea floor full of the oysters that gave birth to them.

The music was provided by the Macathur Strings and it was ever so dignified and wonderful to have a string trio on the night.

A large number of girls joined us for this very special night, and it was lovely to see some faces we haven't seen for a long time. We had some girls travel from the Gold Coast, Newcastle, the Central Coast and even had Kerri Dyer all the way from England!! Many girls brought along memorabilia, various photos and items from years gone by, and their were many giggles and memories brought back by all of that.

Our special guests for te evening were Lady Joan Hardy (after she got out of the lift and got the bow dryer working, in the wake of the blackout!! and Benita Collings from The Actors Benevolent Fund (and Play School!!)

New members and life members were badged (Shiloh Khader, Faye Warnock & Julie T) and the big awards were presented. The Golden Girl went to Tabbi Francis (who was giggling at the memorabila table at the time and nearly missed it). Tabbi was genuinely taken by suprise and was very gracious in her acceptance. The Alva Honours went to Marty Morton. Yes, he's not an ALVA girl but his contributions to ALVA and all our event are tireless and generous to a fault. It also gace him 5 minutes to practice some new material. Heehee. We love you Marty!!

In all it was a wonderful celebration of 30 years of ALVA goodness!

ALVA Girls in the News

Most of you will know that some of our girls have been through some rough times of late, and we have lost some more of our near and dear friends lately.

It's always hard to lose someone, but lovely to remember them with great fondness.

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We have learned of some lost soldiers/airmen being found in recent times. One of our ALVA girls, Sylvia Raye, was touched directly by this story.

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ALVA special offer for Candyman

We don't usually advertise shows on the website, but we made a special exception for this one.

Wayne Scott Kermond and his lovely wife Katie, are staging "Candyman" at the Theatre Royal for two weeks only. They are doing it all on their own, and we all know how difficult it is to get a show off the ground without the help of a backer.

If you can get along to the Theatre Royal and see this amazing show....book your tickets now.

You won't be disappointed.

ALVA very own opera chanteuse, Helen Zerefos, has been painted for an exhibition entitled

"Unsung Heroes". This beautiful portrait will be displayed during this exhibition.

The trivia nuts gathered once again, in the hallowed halls of Campsie RSL, for a battle of wits.

Our Trivia Queen, Liz Layton, once again baffled our brains with her probing questions of a trivial nature. Every possible subject was covered, and the teams crumbled under the onslaught.

regaining their title as uber-trivia team of ALVA universe. Due to the generosity of this team (they donated $160 of their winnings to ALVA) we raised over $600 for ALVA. A great result for just 40 people.

Thanks so much to all those who attended, it was a really fun, and funny, night.

ALVA girls descended on The Fishos for the first time, but our Chef for the day was ready for us!

Particularly excited by a lovely day, the chance to catch up with ALVA friends, and our special guest Bronwyn Bishop, the ALVA girls turned out in force.

After a fabulous lunch we were treated to a very entertaining speech by Bronwyn Bishop. She might be pint-sized, but she has packed a lot into her career. She told the story of a gala dinner with the Marcos clan (and how any jewellry that Madame Marcos liked would be taken from the ladies present) and how she was the first woman to "go down on a submarine". With a warning to be careful of your prepositions, she left us to pose for photos and generally enjoy the day.

Our luncheon at Mosman saw yet again another change of staff! The ALVA girls didn't mind at all this time, taking a particular shine to "Ronnie" - or at least parts of him! Anyway......

We gathered this time for a very special ocassion - to launch "The Inconvenient Child", a book written by ALVA girls Sharyn Crystal and Lindsay Lewis. What an emotional day it was. With Sharyn sharing her remarkable story, and some of the girls who shared her experiences also in the room, there weren't many dry eyes in the house!

Another star-studded "MO" Awards at Bankstown Sports Club saw old friends and new gather to celebrate our wonderful business we call "Show". The ceremony featured many fine performances and all the best in each category were rewarded for their excellence.

ALVA's Luncheon @ Ramsgate

The 2nd of June saw ALVA once again come to Ramsgate RSL for our luncheon. The inimitable Barry Crocker regaled us with his escapades as a wharfy, tales of his first gigs and his new books and cd.

ALVA and the P.M

Some of our ALVA girls have been hobnobbing lately. For the story from Sylvia Raye CLICK HERE

ALVA's 29th BANQUET

This years' banquet was held at Dante's Italian Restaurant. Our very special guest speaker was the legendary Judy Stone. Judy was introduced by long time friend, and sometime partner in crime, Carol Jacobsen. This was nearly as entertaining as the actual speech! Judy then took us on a journey of the "ol days" and some of the things she has seen and done.

The ALVA Honours was presented to Karen Beckett, and the Golden Girl was presented to Kerri Lacey.

Pat Scroope received a special thanks for her incredible service to ALVA. She was horrified that anyone had noticed!!! We gave special mention to Tabbi Francis and OJ, that dynamic duo who have been dancing together for 50years. What an achievement!! This ALVA girl hasn't been ALIVE that long yet!! Heehee. A special guest with us was the very handsome Dave Burke and his daughter Gillian.

We cut the cake & wished ALVA a Happy 29th Birthday.

A great night to re-instate the committee and keep up our ALVA work.

ALVA & the Great Wall

What an adventure ALVA girl Melinda Schneider has had. She went to China to scale the Great Wall, as part of Olivia Newton-John's "Great Walk to Beijing" raising money for breast cancer research.

Melinda was part of a fantastic group of dedicated people who's lives have been touched by cancer.

Here's an offer any ALVA girl can't refuse. A standing 10% discount on any skin care or spray tanning purchase at Pink Hibiscus just for being an ALVA member!!

There's no time limit, just mention ALVA and receive this very generous discount care of the fabulous Natalie Aroyan. Natalie is an ALVA girl and a great supporter of our functions, donating many raffle prizes for us in the past.