Last week's Speaker: Richard Smith - Man behind the Badge
Posted by Franz Huber on Jul 28, 2016
Well, considering Richard has a degree in Accounting, his presentation was remarkably invigorating! Anyone who hadn't quite caught up with him at the beginning, would have woken up when he mentioned "Three bears, three little pigs, three musketeers, three blind mice..." Huh?? Well, it certainly worked: Richard referred to "the power of three", being a principle that, ultimately, "makes the speaker appear knowledgeable while being simple... - That's me, he declared..."His family moved from Armidale to Toowoomba when he was 1 year old, where he remained until, with his charming wife Sue they recently decided to retire to the Gold Coast. (Wistfully, Richard wondered why the idea didn't occur to them earlier!) Schooled in Toowoomba Primary, then Grammar School studying Science, he found that that was not to his liking. Nor was sport: Richard was diagnosed with Scheuermann's Disease, a degeneration of the bones. [Richard, just reading about it makes me shiver... Ed.] Instead of sport, he opted for Scouting. Still today, his then Scoutmaster is a perpetual idol to look up to. On to Darling Downs Institute of Education (now University of Southern Queensland) to study Accountancy, graduating with a Bachelor of Business.
Does an Accountant have passions? Yes. Besides marrying his childhood sweetheart Sue (yes! girl next door across the road!) Richard learned to fly, getting his wings in 1976. Later, he progressed to IFR (Instrument Flight Rules). "It is always a great feeling to come out of a cloud at the right place..."
So, coming to the third segment, Love... "Sue lived across the road when we were kids in primary school... ... we eventually married and now enjoy the the company of our children and grandchildren." Does it get any sweeter? Yes! Going to the Caravan & Camping Show last year to purchase some LED lights, they ended up coming back with an off-road camper trailer...
Read Richard's entire story in the Download Section on the right, together with a light hearted segment of his answers to 33 Questions. As always, the 'Behind the Badge' talks are among the most interesting - one never ceases to be quite surprised and amazed at what is behind the persona of an individual.