Member Profile with... Michael Hall

My name is Michael Hall and I live in Mount Eliza with my wife Jenny. We are both members of the Mornington Life Activities Club. Jenny holds the position of Treasurer and I am on the management Committee. We have both been members for the last five years.

I am the convenor for the Walking Group (started in Feb 2017). We started with five members and now we have twenty nine names on our list. Our walking takes us to various locations on the Peninsula every Tuesday morning, meeting at 9.15am to avoid the school traffic. Some of the locations include Frankston foreshore, Briars at Mt Martha, Mt Eliza and the Hastings foreshore.

I joined LAC Mornington with the idea that I would meet people of similar age and interests. When I first came to Victoria in July 2014 I joined Rotary. After trying with two clubs in the area I realised that Rotary Victoria was not for me. I was looking for a club that I felt part of and could possibly put something back into the community through friendship and assisting people with loneliness and other ageing issues.

Family story that I enjoy sharing is the birth of my only child to my first wife. We had been married for a number of years living with the impression that having children was out of the question for us. Then in September of 1990 my wife went to the doctor complaining of stomach cramps. After examining her he said “you are pregnant and you will be having a baby before Christmas”.

There was jubilation and lots of joyous tears. Our daughter is now 29 yrs old and working in a managerial role in Adelaide.

My favourite holiday was to the West Coast of Canada. Cruising and bus trip through the Rockies was something I will never forget. I repeated the holiday last year but included Alaska and the eastern side of Canada and the USA without revisiting the Rockies. My favourite memory from the holiday was staying in Jasper (Fairmont Hotel) on a lake with the mountains as a background.

I enjoy spending time in our lovely garden working on ideas to improve it.

The biggest impact on my life has been my current wife and I am enjoying married life.

My biggest accomplishments have been coaching and administrative duties with junior Australian Rules in my country town in S.A.

The hardest things to overcome have been moving to Victoria 6 years ago which left me having to start a new life with new friends and environment, but joining Mornington LAC has helped enormously.

By Michael Hall, Mornington LAC