KEVIN SMITH

Amongst his memories of life in Our Lady of Mt Carmel parish was moving into the parish in the 1960’s when it was a small community. 
Kevin recalls cleaning the church with his wife when on one occasion whilst cleaning they were confronted with a brown snake on Our Lady’s Altar.  They had to work out a way of removing the snake without doing damage to the Altar.  They managed it without incident.
Bad cracks appeared in the front of the church and the front door had to remain closed whilst the cause of the cracking was under investigation.  Entry to the church was by the side door.  It became evident that a “short cut” had been taken when the church was built.  Instead of putting a foundation on the front wall the builder had dug a small trench and filled it with rubble with the result the front wall had no foundation.  When work was completed on the foundation the front door was again in use.
Kevin was a member of the Knights of the Southern Cross who were involved in the Eucharistic Festival held each November at the Salesian College grounds.  During the procession of the Blesssed Eucharist around the designated area, either four or six of the Knights would walk alongside the priest carrying the Monstrance.
The Knights were primarily involved in looking after the car parking – a big job –  lots of arguments with people arriving late but wanting to park near their mates who had arrived long before them – a few confrontations were experienced.
Both Kevin and his wife were supporters of fund raising for the parish and the primary school.  Fund raising was the major source of income and therefore involved lots of hard work and organisation.

Taken from an interview recorded in 2007
Used with permission