The Governor of NSW David Hurley AC DSC (Ret’d) will command the first “public” ceremonial turning of Bowral’s Mary Poppins’ Birthplace Statue this weekend.
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The special event is to welcome the Spring Equinox as part of Tulip Time celebrations.
It will occur at 10.30am on September 22 at Glebe Park (adjacent to the Bradman Museum and International Cricket Hall of Fame).
Since former NSW Governor Professor Marie Bashir AC CVO gave the command for the tug-o-war of children to unveil Bowral’s Mary Poppins’ Birthplace Statue in December 2013, a mystery began.
To the amazement of locals, and especially children, the Mary Poppins bronze statue – weighing several hundred kilograms - would mysteriously switch direction on its axis overnight.
It was facing west when unveiled in December 2013 but the following March it had switched to be facing east.
Later in the year, it was reported in the media that it was back to facing west.
Various theories were advanced, including the magic often associated with the Mary Poppins’ character, and rumours abounded.
The best theory given by two children – sisters Gabrielle and Rosana Smyth – was that Mary Poppins would get bored standing still and occasionally jump off to go dancing around the park during the night, but as she was prone to drinking lemonade, which made her “fizzy dizzy”, she would forget which way she was standing when she got back on the base.
Aside from eventually realising that each switch in direction coincided with the solar equinox in March and September, little headway was made in solving the mystery until the statue disappeared earlier this year and an abduction note was left on the statue base reassuring the community that Mary Poppins was in fact safe, but was enjoying a “jolly holiday”.
That was borne out as photos began being published on her Facebook page from sightings at landmarks all over the world www.facebook.com/MaryPoppinsBirthplace/
The abduction note was signed by “The Neleus Guild” and it can be now be revealed that this is a secret society that was formed at the time the statue was installed and has been operating stealthily under the cover of darkness over the past five years to engineer Mary’s gyrations in synchronisation with the solar equinox in March and September.
The creator of the Mary Poppins’ character – author PL Travers – lived in Bowral with her family as a child and teenager from 1908 until 1917.
To mark the centenary since the author left Bowral for Sydney – having created the Mary Poppins’ character as a bedtime story for her younger sisters while they were living here – the Neleus Guild and SHYAC (the Southern Highlands Youth Arts Council) has decided to now make the statue turning a public event.
This is to celebrate the change of season in the Highlands each March and September.
The statue has been relocated in Glebe Park and a new swivel base manufactured by JCA Steel Fabrication has been installed with a special key to operate.
The first “public” turning of the statue as part of the Tulip Time festivities in the Southern Highlands will take place at about 10.30am with a command from the current Governor of NSW, His Excellency The Honorable General David Hurley AC DSC (Ret’d).
The project originator Melissa McShane and her longtime friend Tom Farquhar will be in costume, reprising their roles over many years as Mary Poppins and Bert the Matchstick Man/ Chimney Sweep, and have the honour of doing the first public turning but shall be assisted by others present.
