HAVING attended Bong Bong Picnic Races for the last 15 years with a lovely atmosphere and no trouble from fellow racegoers, I was very disappointed with the new rules and regulations pertaining to the purchase of alcohol.

It is not the aim to discourage over-consumption or misbehaviour I objected to - that is to be commended, but the way in which it was implemented.

To ban sales of bottled wine after 1 pm only resulted in a bun rush for the bar which resembled the old days of the "six o'clock swill".

Some of the small group (5) I was with were not able to get to the races before 12.30 due to work committments and by the time we parked, had bags searched and walked to our spot it was almost 1 o'clock.

The queues at the bar on the roadside of the track were almost out to the front gate.

We didn't bother joining them.

I estimated at least 50 per cent of the crowd were mature local residents who are quite capable of conducting themselves properly at an event which allows alcohol and it is a pity that we could not enjoy a couple of bottles of wine with our picnic.

At around 3.30 I went to the bar hoping to buy a cold G and T only to find everything had run out, with the exception of lite beer and the cheapest sparkling wine.

The day ended for us at 5.30 and on leaving the gates were subjected to a search of bags for alcohol again on the WAY OUT.

A very officious police woman confiscated a bottle of champagne from a woman going out in front of us.

Am I missing something here? With respect it sounds a bit like an Irish joke.

I know I risk being labelled alcohol dependent. Not the case, just can't understand why we can't buy a bottle of wine at an event such as this.

I notice the numbers were really down this year which is defeating the object of having the event on a Friday to attract more people (including visitors from Sydney who will make a weekend of it and spend money in the district.)

The Sydneysiders I spoke to couldn't believe the archaic arrangements when trying to buy a bottle of wine.

Perhaps it could be better managed next year?

Ros Vidgen

Wildes Meadow

A friendly train trip

TRAVELLING down to Sydney last Friday on the train, I was reminded how our rail service has changed in the last few years. 

The driver on the Campbelltown run, was on his final day, celebrating 39 years of service. 

At the Bowral, Mittagong and Picton stations extra rail staff were there on hand to congratulate the driver who responded in a gracious way. 

As we approached Macarthur Station, our guard communicated over the speaker system that those passengers continuing to the city should disembark at Macarthur station as on-going passengers would find it much easier than disembarking at Campbelltown.

Back in the fifties, the then Railway Commissioner Reg Windsor claimed that the "Rail Way was the Safe Way". 

These days we could also say ... "The Rail Way was the Friendly Way."

Richard Ruhfus

Bowral

Thank you

I WOULD like to say thank you to the kind woman at Moss Vale IGA who paid for my shopping on Monday morning when I forgot my purse while out with my baby. 

I was very touched by her generosity and hope to have the opportunity to show the same kindness to another one day.

Thank you

Beth Atkins

Willow Vale

Gratitude is good

CHURCHES occasionally hold special thanksgiving services, but regardless of people's religious affiliations, or lack of them, many people see it as important for their well-being to express gratitude for blessings. 

In our modern society, the word "blessings" is under-used. 

When something good happens, it is much more common to hear someone say, "that was good luck" than to say "that's a blessing".

On the surface, these two responses might appear interchangeable, but there's a big difference between them. 

Luck is, by definition, notoriously unreliable, whereas the notion of blessing is based on the existence of a constant, dependable source of good - in the same way as the principle of mathematics is always available and reliable for anyone to apply.

As a young newly-wed living in London, I began to suffer from homesickness, loneliness and depression. 

I was in an English-speaking country, yet so many things felt foreign. 

I had a loving husband, a good job and was beginning to make new friends, but the negative feelings were overwhelming. 

When I began analysing these feelings, I realised I had succumbed to self-pity and loneliness because I missed my parents. 

Then came the thought that they hadn't stopped loving me, just because I was 12,000 miles away. 

Love couldn't be restricted to any place or person and, like the principle of mathematics, had to be right there where I was, as well as where my parents were. 

The feeling of gratitude at this realisation swept away the gloom and allowed me to experience the good that had always been there - but note that the gratitude came first. 

I came to understand why Mary Baker Eddy, writing over 150 years ago in her seminal book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, defined God as "the divine principle, love", a reliable source of good to everyone, everywhere. 

In other words, gratitude is good - for us!

That is why I will be attending my church's annual thanksgiving service.

You will be very welcome too if you would like to join us at the Christian Science Church, corner of Bowral and Bendooley Sts, on Thursday, November 27 at 11am.

Judith Mee

Clerk, First Church of Christ, Scientist, Bowral