MEET OUR LOCALS
interview: Scott Frank Bird Scott Frank Bird is the new Chairperson of the Diddy – officially known as the Longueville Sporting Club. A born and bred Lane Covian he chats here about his time growing up on The Riverview Estate, what the Diddy means to him and what a perfect day in Lane Cove and beyond looks like.
Your parents built a house in Riverview and you attended Lane Cove Public School in the 70s. Give us a snapshot of your memory from back then… Growing up in Lane Cove in the 70s, it seems like such a long time ago. The Riverview Estate I grew up on was a quiet place, and most houses had vacant blocks next to them. The kids all played in the streets on bikes, homemade billy carts, or maybe played ‘chase’ in the bush. We had the occasional rock fight, but we all played well together and went back home when the streetlights came on. There was no form of instant communication, so you would hear whistles from parents on their balconies, or they drove around the streets and parks hoping to find us. Dad would come home on a hot summer day and take us down to the rock pool in Tambourine Bay next to the Scout Hall. Most kids caught the bus to school from the age of five, and the older kids always had the back seat. For the Lane Cove Public and St Michaels students, it was a competition. The older boys would try and make us fight for entertainment. Sometimes you’d go home with a black eye. I was lucky that I had three sisters and the older boys wanted to impress them. That meant I was protected. You played sport with Lane Cove’s rugby union and soccer teams, and the Lane Cove Tigers. Is this where your commitment to clubs and their role in community started? Everyone seemed to play a sport, with most starting at Lane Cove soccer on the weekend and then moving onto Lane Cove Rugby Union. We all had to participate in the swimming carnivals - if you couldn’t swim, they would teach you. It wasn’t about being the best. It was about being a part of a team, even though there was some stiff competition in the older groups. Not being the great footballer, I only played until I was 16. I always surfed though, even from an early age. My understanding of community didn’t just come from sport though - my Mum started an ice cream shop in
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Lane Cove Plaza (Birdy’s). Someone needed to make ice cream, so I learnt the process and found a job. I moved out of home and was living on top of the shop in Lane Cove, so I was in the heart of all of it. As a Carpenter/Builder by trade, what do you think of the developments that have sprung up around Lane Cove? I worked on the tools for almost 20 years as a Carpenter, and then started my own business working on commercial projects as a subcontractor to large construction companies, now in a head contracting role with one of my sons at Refit Australia Pty Ltd. I see local development through the eyes of someone whose world is Lane Cove. We have no option but to allow growth, but we need to improve infrastructure.
