Barbara Elliott (Park) YHS 1950: I would like to add to my thoughts and memories on Sonja Bates (Ostlund), a true friend to so many. We had a close association in my early days when originally I lived in Broadway West, just a block from the Ostlund home. A family who lived next door to them (the Watson’s) moved from Yallourn and gave us their little dog, Terry, a black mixed terrier. When we moved to Boola Crescent up on the hill, dear little Terry would move between our new home and Ostlund’s - three days at our place, four at theirs and fed at both respectively. As Terry got older, he made the hill less times. Sonja and Stan would amuse the children in the area with their fairground set up in their back garden. We had a coconut shie to try and win a prize and all sorts of other things. The Mussared children were always there to try and win a prize of some type, fruit, etc. Sonya and Stan had some mechanised toys from Sweden. We would sit in awe at the man doing acrobats once he was wound up. We had never seen anything like this and we would sit with our mouths . Mr. Ostlund used to cut boys hair in the laundry. If I went over after school to see Sonja, there would be three or four boys sitting on the paved area outside the back door waiting their turn. Once I was of High School age, Sonja would round us local girls up and train us into basketball players. Her patience knew no bounds as we were all so raw. Her patience paid its reward as we slowly developed into reasonable players. We played all over - Moe, Morwell, Newborough, travelling by bus to get there. We even ended up winning as the top team one year. Sonja took us all to Country Week in Melbourne, what an experience! Most of us had not travelled out of our own area and we went by train, stayed overnight and played many games against teams from all over Victoria. Sonja had even organised for us to buy blazers to wear away. She would always call to us on the court with ball directions. The other teams used to get most annoyed at this, but nothing deterred Sonja. I worked a couple of times at the library in a clerical position and of course, worked with my idol, Sonja. Her happy, cheery disposition made her most popular. I also met Sonja and George through the church young people’s group, and was thrilled to catch up with her again. When my mother (Kitty Park) passed away in Melbourne, Sonja was our first friend there with condolences. Two days later, she lost George. What a sad time for her - she was so close to him. Thank you Sonja for so many wonderful memories and a friendship never to be forgotten
