DAVID HARTNELL: ONE MINUTE INTERVIEW

DAVID HARTNELL: ONE MINUTE INTERVIEW WITH LINDA LUXFORD

Linda Luxford is the Friendship Officer for the Variety Artists Club of New Zealand and is one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet. We asked her a few quick questions.

What does a friendship officer do? I am very passionate about our club. I really enjoy my position. We have an entertainers’ evening on the first Monday of the month at the Pt Chev RSA where the public are most welcome to come and enjoy the evenings. I make sure I go around all our tables and make sure I touch base with all our members. Covid-19 has been difficult as I couldn’t visit any of our members in hospital as there was only one designated visitor to one patient. I send cards, flowers and telephone calls to our members if I am told they are unwell.

What do you like about Ponsonby? It is so vibrant and alive. The cafes and restaurants are fantastic. There is so much variety of where you can go and eat from food market’s to high end restaurants. A lot of the restaurants and cafes have live music, which really appeals to me. The shopping is so diverse; you can go to designer stores, upmarket recycled designer boutiques to hospice shops. It’s so easy to spend a day or evening in Ponsonby.

Did you ever go to the Cameo Picture Theatre as a child? I was very lucky as my nana lived in the pensioner flats opposite The Surrey Hotel. Nana was a movie buff, so we would walk down to the Cameo Theatre on a Saturday for either the 2 o’clock or 5 o’clock movies. I don’t think there was any censorship in those days, so I saw a lot of the most inappropriate movies.

How did the pandemic affect you? I found the first lockdown extremely hard. I am very social and I like to go out often. I usually go to one musical event per week, or visit friends, or go to dinner. I usually meet my friends once every couple of weeks to go to a movie. I live alone, as do a lot of people, and it was really depressing not being able to see your family or friends. After the first two weeks my son rode his bike down to see me, parked in the drive and I saw him from my front doorstep. Gosh that was just so fabulous, seeing another person. Yippee. Covid-19 has certainly changed people’s lives and lifestyle. I used to ring my best friends in the morning, but there really wasn’t any news, so the daily calls dwindled to chats with friends on messenger.

What was your childhood like? I was very fortunate in my childhood. I had a stay at home mother as did a lot of children in my generation. I was a very independent child and was off on my bike after breakfast. Did the usual things, went down to the creek catching tadpoles and frogs. Hung out with my cousin and friends. I was lucky to talk my father into letting me have a horse.

Dream holiday? Spain, my father made me promise to go there after he died. He thought it was my country. I have always wanted to go to Spain so it certainly won’t be too difficult.

What’s best about your age? I accept myself as I am, and hopefully learnt a lot on my journey - realising that life is not just black and white and not to be judgemental as we don’t walk in that other person’s shoes.

Biggest disappointments? Trusting people that didn’t deserve my trust in them.

Give your teenage self-advice? Believe in your gut feeling and believe in your own ability. Get a good education if you can.

Most treasured possession? My Mason’s china. I have been collecting since my late twenties. I have far too much now, as there is nowhere to keep it. I am no longer collecting.

What cliché do you most hate? The cliché I probably dislike the most is “what will be will be”, as though there is nothing that you can do about whatever it is.

What gizmo can you not live without? My vacuum cleaner. Since getting a puppy I have turned into an even more mad-vacuum-cleaning woman.

A handshake or a hug person? I am definitely a hugger and if a friend, a kiss on the cheek as well. If I don’t know the person, a handshake.

Comfort food? A roast dinner.