THE BYRON SHIRE Volume 23 #30 Tuesday, January 6, 2009 Mullumbimby 02 6684 1777 Byron Bay 02 6685 5222 Fax 02 6684 1719 editor@echo.net.au adcopy@echo.net.au www.echo.net.au 21,000 copies every week
A N E W S TA R T O N O L D H A B I T S
Farewell to Jenny Verroen Eve Jeffery
New Years Eve marred by tragedy in Byron Bay Jann Gilbert
Jenny Verroen, Mullumbimby identity and much loved Echo staff member, died of complications arising from a recent stroke, at Tweed Heads Hospital on Monday December 29, aged 63. Born Jennifer Dorothy in March 1945, Jen was the oldest of Ted and Dorothy ‘Doff ’ Wareham’s three children. The family including Jenny’s younger brothers Steven and Geoff, lived at Maroubra in Sydney’s southeast. She was an extremely bright child, which was recognised when she won a scholarship to Sydney Girls Grammar. Jenny grabbed all knowledge from every source and at quite a young age headed overseas to explore the world, arriving in the US in the late 60s where she worked firstly for Chris Craft Boats then at the Radio TV Station, KMSP. In 1969 she became the administrative assistant to Jack Chestnut, the campaign manager to former Vice President of the United States, Hubert H Humphrey, in his successful bid to be reelected to the Senate. DJ Leary, political commentator and former media director for Vice President Humphrey has fond and vivid memories of Jen. ‘That campaign was where Jack, Jen and myself first forged a friendship that has weathered time for almost 40 years,’ says DJ. ‘After the campaign, Jen went briefly to Australia but Humphrey was being pressed to run for President in 1972. When he decided to make the run for the White House, he told his campaign manager to bring Jennifer back from Australia, as he wanted her in the US to help him campaign. Humphrey lost the nomination to George McGovern, who lost to Nixon and then came Watergate.’ In 1972 Jen moved to Duluth, Minnesota, as comptroller for the Upper Great Lakes Pilots. The pilots navigated foreign ships through the Lakes. She was also comptroller for Seaway Services, an umbrella corporation
whose companies provided tug boats on the Lakes, stevedoring services for the Port of Duluth, and line handling services in several Great Lakes ports. Jen stayed in the shipping industry for about ten years, finally becoming the overall administrator of the entire operation.
Love of her life It was during her service on the Lakes that she met ‘Verroen’, the love of her life. Gerard Verroen had retired from his career as a ship’s captain and was the general manager of the freezer terminal for shipping in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The corporation that Jenny worked for bought out the firm which employed Gerard and he was ready
to fight for the jobs of his workers when the new company rep entered the room. ‘She was dressed in a white ruffled blouse and a purple jacket,’ recalls Gerard. ‘She had flaming red hair and I thought “God, what a picture”. I was worried that she was going to fire us all but it was settled well, though Jenny kept coming back to Wisconsin for the most minuscule reasons. I thought it a long way to travel for such small things. Then I caught on.’ The two became a pair and were inseparable for almost 30 years. When Jenny fell in love with Gerard she also became a part of the Verroen clan, and Gerard’s son Hans Peter in Holland found a kindred spirit in Jen. ‘I found a new mother and a good continued on page 5
Police have released the name of a French national who died at The Pass on New Years Day. Yonas Mauiner, a 22-year-old tourist who was celebrating with friends, is believed to have fallen from the lookout in the early hours of the morning. Surf Life Saving NSW media officer Donna Wishart said that Mr Mauiner had been sleeping at the lookout with two friends, who awoke at around dawn and found him missing. ‘Mr Mauiner was discovered in the water below and emergency services were alerted,’ said Ms Wishart. ‘Two lifeguards assisted police with crowd control on the ground and another two were in the water assisting with the rescue.’ Inspector Darren Steele from Richmond Tweed Area Command said that Mr Mauiner was retrieved by the Westpac rescue helicopter and airlifted to the Gold Coast hospital in a critical condition but died approximately five hours later due to multiple serious injuries. ‘The French Consulate assisted police with notifying Mr Mauiner’s family in France,’ said Insp Steele. ‘Tragically, the gendarmes would have been knocking on his parent’s door right about the time they were welcoming in the New Year.’ Insp Steele said a post mortem would be carried out in the next couple of days. ‘Detectives at Tweed Heads have interviewed the people who were with Mr Mauiner and noticed him missing, and they’re continuing their investigations,’ said Mr Steele. Mr Mauiner’s family have made arrangements for his body to be returned to France following the post mortem. Surf Life Saving NSW Manager of Lifesaving Services, Craig Roberts, is urging people to take care on beaches and waterways during the holiday season. ‘Not only are incidents like these tragic for the families of those
involved, the increased pressure on our lifesavers and lifeguards at this time of year puts them at risk as well,’ he said. Aside from the fatality, Insp Steele reported that the 10,000-strong crowd spread across Byron Bay’s CBD and beaches on New Years Eve was generally well behaved. ‘Sixteen criminal infringement notices were issued for minor street offences,’ said Insp. Steele, ‘and one man was charged with three counts of assault, all of which occurred between 12.20am and 12.50am on New Years Day.’ In a first for Byron’s Main Beach, lifeguards were on duty until 2am. Northern NSW Lifeguard coordinator Stephen Leahy reported significant numbers of people on the beach and said that although lifeguards were kept busy conducting rescues and preventative actions in an attempt to keep punters from getting into trouble there were ‘no major incidents or rescues’. Byron Bay Hospital however experienced another (sadly) recordbreaking season of alcohol- and drug-related injuries including fractures, lacerations, alcohol poisoning and side effects from other substance abuse. ‘Busy would be a gross understatement,’ remarked one unofficial hospital source. ‘It’s been flat out since New Years Eve and it just gets busier every day.’ In other news NSW Minister for Police, Tony Kelly, has reminded partygoers to take care following a steep increase in drink and food spiking incidents. Data from the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research reveals a 150 per cent rise in spiking incidents between January and June last year. ‘It is important not to take a drink of anything you are unsure of and if you feel strange, particularly after having only a small amount of alcohol, ask someone you trust to immediately take you somewhere safe,’ Mr Kelly said.