HEADING FOR
A CENTURY
At 99 years old, Goodwin Close resident Ken McKenzie is making the most
of every day with family, friends and a long-time love of sport.
There are three main things that make me happy: living
at Goodwin Close, watching sport on television and the
joy of regularly seeing my children.
I have four daughters, eight grandchildren and seven
great-grandchildren. Three of my daughters live in
Melbourne so they regularly pop in to see me. They look
after me very well – I haven’t had to call a taxi since I sold
my car six years ago!
In November I turned 99 years old. I don’t exercise much
these days but I keep my mind active by reading the
paper and keeping up to date with the sport. I particularly
love the tennis, golf and cricket, but I’ll watch anything
when it’s on the television. You can even get excited with
a darts match in the US nowadays.
My father was a member of the Melbourne Cricket Club
and he put me and my three brothers up for membership
on our birth. When I was 14, I became what they call a
junior member. It was fantastic –we had access to the
whole member’s area – though we couldn’t get into the
bar until we were 21. We saw all the greats play, including
Donald Bradman which was unforgettable.
When I was younger, we’d all go down to see the finals
of the football together. We used our membership purely
as viewers –we never actually played there, but I have
plenty of wonderful memories. A few years ago, I was
given the No.1 Membership Card, as the longest serving
member of the MCC– it’s been 85 years!
Before I moved to Goodwin Close, I lived in Echuca
where I was born and raised. My forefathers settled in
Echuca in 1865, five generations of my family have been
buried there, and when I left, it marked the end of 140
years of my family history.
Life at Goodwin Close is wonderful. I have my
independence, I enjoy all my friendships here and the staff
are brilliant. There’s a bus that goes to the shops; there’s
bingo and craft and exercise classes and all that –but if
you just want to have a sleep you can do that too. It’s a
remarkable lifestyle, quite frankly. It’s truly marvelous.
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