I was part of 125 Year Spectacular this year and had an absolute ball. I was in the ‘Ballarat Squad’ segment set in the 1960’s with Gold Coast zone and I loved every minute of it from the weekends of learning and practicing to the final performance. I’d like to say thank you to BJP for organising such a tribute to Physie and for giving us all the opportunity to be part of the celebration retelling the story of physie. My family has a long Physie history: two of my grandparents did Physie, my mother, my aunties, my cousins and my daughters have all done Physie and many of us are still involved and loving Physie. My mother played the piano for Engadine Club and then Como Club for over 40 years.

At the 125 Year Spectacular I was moved to see a segment dedicated to ‘Angels’. My late father-in-law, Reverand Dr Gordon Moyes, was the original man behind the idea of the “Darling Harbour Christmas” and was the host of the pageant. I was always so proud of the fact that the physie girls from my beloved sport were such a feature of this wonderful Christmas event. I hadn’t expected to see it as a segment in 125 and, as you can imagine, I felt emotional at all the memories it brought back.

Last year my husband, who is also a Pastor, started a tradition at our church of a ‘Christmas Carols Extravaganza’ along the lines of ‘Darling Harbour Christmas’ (but on a smaller scale) and of course we knew we would have the Angels covered using the physie girls from my club, Burleigh Waters. It was a big success and the physie girls have been one of the evening’s highlights for two years now. I am still proud to tell everyone that those wonderful dancers are from physie, representing my fabulous sport in their local community.

Leisl Moyes