Latest news with #JimRobertson
The Courier
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Courier
Tunes and tries in Strathmore Rugby Club summer sessions line-up
Four months of tunes and tries are set to kick off as Strathmore Rugby Club boosts its role as a community hub. It is about to launch its Summer Strathmore Sessions music events and Lochside 10s rugby festival, held since 2022. The programme begins at the end of this month with a Britpop-themed event featuring Oasis tribute band Stop the Clocks. The success of previous years has led the rugby club to expand the number of events. A DJ set at a previous Summer Strathmore Sessions event. Image: Supplied And it is doubling the licensed capacity at Inchmacoble Park to accommodate up to 1,000 people in the clubhouse and outside bars. Strathie hopes it will bring the crowds – and cash – pouring in to support the club and the seven community groups it plays host to each week. Summer of songs The Strathmore Sessions music dates are: May 31: Oasis tribute Stop the Clocks, Parka Life, Verve tribute and High Voltage June 15: Sunday Chill Country and Western and easy listening session with Bob & Marco and Jim Robertson. June 21: Country & Western and bluegrass music from Don Crabb and Andrew Calvert. July 5: 80s covers band Ganked. Lochside 10s rugby festival Rugby takes centre stage on July 25 and 26, when the club will host the fourth Lochside 10s rugby festival. It will feature under-18, women's, over-35s and senior men's tournaments. Lochside 10s rugby festival action. Image: Supplied The festival will be rounded off by live music in the Strathie marquee with Eddie McNaughton and Friends from 7pm to 11pm. The final event of the summer will be the fourth Strathmore Sessions music festival from 2-11pm on August 2. It is the only event of its type in the area and will bring DJ sets from Hayley Zalassi, Morrison Street, Disco T*ts and Paul Findlay. For more details and to book tickets for the paid gigs, go to High Voltage will play at Inchmacoble this summer. Image: Supplied Nicol Welsh of the club said: 'We pride ourselves on providing a safe, family-friendly environment to all of our community. So by increasing the number and variety of music events, we can engage with friends we've not met yet. 'Also, the club facilities lend themselves to providing the wider community with access to live music events for all ages and genres. 'Add this to a great rugby offering and it's a win for everyone this summer.'
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Late to the game, Illini Bluffs triple jumper Tori Brown now one of the state's best
GLASFORD, Ill. (WMBD/WYZZ) — Senior Tori Brown is flying high. One of the top triple jumpers in the state in class 1A is really in a groove. 'I feel like I understand it logistically now. I am able to jump and realize what I did versus when I had no idea what I just did,' the Illini Bluffs senior said. 'I missed a good chunk of my sophomore year because I broke my foot. this year has been better than any other year. The jumps I get upset about now, I would have been rejoicing last year.' Late in her freshman year, Brown decided to give the triple jump a shot. Although she had no experience with it. 'At a fun practice, my coach said 'we need someone to go try triple jump,'' said Brown. 'I thought I'd try it.' That practice was late in the season. There were only two meets left before sectionals. 'Triple jump is a complicated event. So, I said, 'are you sure?' She said, 'Yeah, I think I want to try it.' She jumped 32 feet her first night,' said Illini Bluffs girls track coach Jim Robertson. 'And I said, 'yeah, you're a triple jumper.'' Her injury-plagued sophomore year followed that shortened freshman season. So Brown really only has been a triple jumper for two full seasons. Yet she's one of the top contenders for a medal at this month's state meet. Her jump of 37.125 set a Roger Washburn Invitational girls record at Eureka last week. Brown finished a program-best fourth place at state last year. 'This year I feel like I'm still learning things as I jump because the more (frequently) I jump, the more I learn,' said Brown. 'No matter what happens, I'm just happy to get (state). I want to make my school proud. Hopefully do something no one has ever done before.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to
The Guardian
24-04-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
While secularism is growing in Australia, Anzac commemorations remain fervently Christian
The official commemorations for Australian military personnel who've died on the battlefield or whose lives were marred due to war service have long been adorned with ecclesiastical language. Friday's services across the country are the most profound cases in point even though, after almost 110 years of Anzac Days, many Australians may have become culturally inured to the way our national remembrance has become – and remains – so imbued with religiously inflected rhetoric. That's why we will hear referenced, repeatedly on Anzac Day, the 'spirit' of Anzac and of those killed on the battlefield, of their 'sacrifice' and how death somehow transforms them into the 'fallen' though not as often these days do you hear them referred to as the 'glorious dead'. Surrounding it all will be Christian prayer. When previously writing about the politics of commemoration I've referenced an Australian Vietnam veteran Jim Robertson who wrote a submission to the federal government ahead of the centenary of Anzac in 2015. His words are just as salient today. He took exception to the term 'fallen' (which I agree is something of a sanitisation of battlefield death) as used by politicians when speaking of the war dead. For, Robertson pointed out, they 'did not trip over a stick or a garden hose, they were drowned, burned, shot, gassed and eviscerated to lie face down in mud or sand at the bottom of the ocean'. To think of the war dead as fallen may once have been comforting to some in the same way that the famous though historically highly dubious Atatürk letter (whereby the 'Johnnies and Mehmets' lay side by side in the earth at Gallipoli) gave solace to the families of those killed on an obscure finger of the Ottoman Empire which must have seemed a world away then. The Australian War Memorial's Anzac dawn service is popularly revered as a solemn and respectful commemoration of Australia's participation in the Gallipoli invasion in 1915 – an event many still (fallaciously, I've long argued) cling to as the birth of the Australian nation. But not everyone believes the ceremony ought continue to include elements of traditional Christian worship as it conventionally has, and as it did last year and doubtless will again this year. Last year, again, there were Christian hymns. The Lord's Prayer. A presiding Christian chaplain. There is no doubt many soldiers of the First Australian Imperial Force took solace in their predominant Christian faiths amid the horrors of Gallipoli, the European western front and the Middle East. But times change as do religious affiliations, as reflected by the Australian Bureau of Statistics which records that at the last Australian census (2021) the most common religions were Christianity (43.9%), Islam (3.2%), Hinduism (2.7%) and Buddhism (2.4%). Some 38.9% of Australians said they had no religion. The census found, 'The number of people affiliated with Christianity in Australia decreased from 12.2 million (52.1%) in 2016 to 11.1 million (43.9%) in 2021. This decrease occurred across most ages, with the largest decrease for young adults (18-25 years).' It can be reasonably assumed the affiliations and beliefs of contemporary Australian service personnel are reflected in these numbers too. While secularism is growing in Australia, particularly in younger demographics, official Anzac commemorations across the nation (especially the biggest, televised and most observed – that at the war memorial in Canberra) remain fervently Christian. The memorial, generally slow or resistant to cultural change on a range of salient issues (not least on appropriate commemoration of the Australian frontier wars between First Nations resisters and British troops, settler militias, vigilantes and police) is not, it seems, about to lead the way when it comes to de-Christianising the Anzac Day service. The memorial hosts the annual service on behalf of the Australian Capital Territory Returned and Services League, which apparently remains intransigent on lowering the Christian tempo of the performance. The Rationalist Society of Australia has been at the forefront of the push to expunge the Christian rites and practices and prayers from the service, complaining to the ACT Human Rights Commission that the service has discriminated against and excluded some Australians who might otherwise commemorate Anzac. As Australia's first world war veterans (all dead now) fade from living memory, just as those of the second world war will too within a generation, commemoration of Anzac and its profound impact on Australian society and identity must surely evolve with the times. An abundance of Christianity in Anzac Day services stands to emotionally and culturally isolate more and more people. Many Christians, in their celebration of Jesus as a peacemaker, also feel uncomfortable about the pervasiveness of Christianity in military commemoration, not least Anzac and 11 November, Remembrance Day. They've got a point: it does seem increasingly anomalous, given the pervasive capacity of religion and its territorial affiliation with land to spark wars. Look at the TV any night. In that, perhaps, might be found a parallel with the war memorial's acceptance of sponsorship funds from weapons manufacturers. Religious faith, of course, gave considerable succour and comfort to the men in opposing muddy, bloody trenches during the Great War. To have God on one's side was comforting – even when another avowed Christian was shooting at you from the enemy dugout. Paul Daley is a Guardian Australia columnist
Yahoo
15-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Last-minute Valentine's Day shoppers look for perfect gift
Businesses are blossoming with Valentine's Day deals and some last-minute shoppers are out trying to find their loved one the perfect gift. 'There's nothing like chocolate and when you put chocolate over strawberries it says Valentine's Day. that's why I got an assortment here of some of these different strawberries,' said Jim Robertson, a shopper. Snow-heavy winter makes for good times at Peek'n Peak Some may say all you need is love but it appears a little chocolate every now and then doesn't hurt. That's why Jim Robertson makes a trip to Wegman's every year to buy the sweethearts in his life something special. And while browsing the delicious strawberries, Robertson saw a familiar face. 'My grandson's right here and he's picking up flowers and strawberries for his wife,' Robertson said. 'It's just a day dedicated to the loved ones my wife especially,' said James Zillman, another shopper. Road crews preparing for another round of Erie winter weather Robertson and Zillman weren't the only ones taking advantage of the grocery store's Valentine's Day display. Several people were browsing their fresh-cut floral arrangements and balloons. There's even meat and seafood items for the couples that want to stay home and cook like Zillman and his wife. 'Our floral team set up this beautiful display as well as working hand and hand with other departments to create something that our customers literally stop in their tracks,' said Virginia Sawdey, a cooking coach at Wegman's on Peach Street. 'Today we're looking forward to seeing a lot of people come in our teams are ready to go, we'll be here throughout the evening.' Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Another popular gift for this holiday is jewelry. Whether you're looking for a sparkly diamond or a unique piece like jade, you can find what you're looking for at Dempsey & Baxter. 'there's an expectation on Valentine's Day that candy and flowers are affordable, jewelry doesn't have to be more expensive than candy or flowers but it has more permanence and can carry more of an emotional impact,' Jack Dempsey, the owner of Dempsey & Baxter. Dempsey has been in the jewelry business for over 50 years and says they have a lot of traffic this time of year. 'We sell a lot of sterling this time of year, silver hearts with jewelry, there's some signature pieces, we have new engraving equipment,' he said. 'Customers don't have to be worried too much whether or not if there's going to be something available.' Remember to keep those Valentine's Day treats away from pets 'Happiness is one of the things that make life go longer and sharing things with people, that's what life is all about,' Robertson went on to say. Dempsey and Baxter closed at 6 p.m. Friday night but opens Saturday at 10 a.m. and Wegmans is open until the evening. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
