Gabi Hollows and Harbourside North Circle

Province 21 Harbourside North Circle (HSN) Catenians and their wives held their annual Christmas dinner at the Mosman Arts Centre, a wonderful Burley Griffin designed venue complete with stain glass windows, and because it was Christmas, festooned with lights and a beautiful Christmas tree!

It may have been Christmas, and it may have been a great venue, but to a man and a woman everyone was there to hear Gabi Hollows: Our Australian Treasure! It topped off Project 5 Eyes, a fund-raising trial that was run in 2024 by the HSN Circle to support and raise funds for the Fred Hollows Foundation. With the help of P21, Project 5 Eyes saved the eyes of 33 people.

Ophthalmologist and HSN brother Prof Frank Martin invited Gabi, the wife of his late mentor and guide Prof Fred Hollows, along with her now husband of 30 years John Balazs, to speak.  

Gabi was outstanding, and the well-attended Ladies Dinner Meeting Night was also an outstanding success! All the ladies enjoyed the conversation around pre-dinner drinks with Prosecco and Champagne, and everyone polished off the canapes specially prepared by Phil Guiney, HSN Immediate Past President and Catering Officer.  There was a brief Circle Meeting that saw the new Circle President Roland McGready and Vice President Gary Molloy installed.  After this the assembled Catenians and their treasured guests sat down to a main course of Christmas turkey and ham with all the garnishing’s.

As the plum pudding was being served, the audience was charmed by Gabi who spoke of what was done in 2024. Gabi shared memories and wonderful stories of the early work as she and her growing family accompanied the late Fred Hollows as he developed his work to cure blindness among the aboriginal people in the Outback and then overseas. Gabi spoke of what was done in 2024 and what they hoped to do in 2025. The HSN Circle came away thinking that this was a wonderful family project, worthy of ongoing community support!

One of the topics discussed with Gabi was how they had ‘reached out’ to wider community to help set up and establish and expand the work of the Fred Hollows Foundation. They talked about Project 5 Eyes Fred Hollows foundation and how it saved 33 eyes – and how we would like to expand it in 2025.

In 2025 HSN circle would like to link arms with members of the Holy Family Parish and Our Lady of the Way Parish, and with all the brothers from the Australian Circles to raise funds for Project 5 Eyes. Twenty-Five dollars saves one eye and by Reaching Out in a spirt of collaboration, each circle could help save 5 Eyes – or more! Now there’s a great vision!