Helga & Horst Berg - have been members of our Assoc for several years now just to keep up with snippets of Yallourn in our newsletters - now Helga writes: "I want to congratulate the committee for their work in keeping the spirit of Yallourn and the school alive. All of us who have lived in that wonderful town, although we grizzled about the coal dust, can never forget our years there. For us, the Berg family, it meant an easy integration into Australian life (from Germany), we came to the town as raw immigrants, having been in the country for all of 4 years. 23 Parkside was our haven, we had wonderful neighbours in the Bowens and the Browns. Our children's childhood was magic - in summer, the swimming pool, just across from us, saw us all enjoying ourselves. How often do our girls talk about the pictures on Saturday afternoons! The library was a special place for the Bergs - we all loved reading.
The shopping in the town was so easy for us mums. One did not have to go into the neighbouring towns to shop, it was all there. I guess we were easily satisfied too. When our parents visited from Germany, they too sang the praises of that perfect town.
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Horst and I are living in a suburb of Adelaide (since 1984) - another perfect town! We are both 80 years old now, still enjoying our life and are especially thankful for the 20 years in Yallourn. Love to all...Helga & Horst Berg (PS: I hope you can read my handwriting - not the best. As you realise, I have not had the perfect education you all got at Yallourn High!)
One of Helga's daughter's - Susanne YHS 1964 in a separate letter in Feb 06 added: “Always enjoy getting the newsletter and the stories about the rotten egg gas incident and the crystals in the fountain brought back the memories! What an impact this little town had on us all! The current bushfire situation in Gippsland brought to mind a summer (I think it was 1960-61) when there were fires in the vicinity of Yallourn North (not sure exactly where) and Dad was sent to fight the fires (I guess as a part of an SEC contingent). The summers were hotter then, weren't they?!! We spent almost every day at the pool, going in the morning, home for lunch, back in the afternoon and, if it was hot, back in the evening after dinner! One of the great joys of living in Parkside was that the pool was up on the corner and so handy. We used to feel terribly sorry for the poor folks from Newborough etc. who had to take the bus or car to get there!”