Popular former radio presenter Lisa Ridgley is revelling in first-time motherhood at the age of 41.
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Lisa, who won plenty of fans as the long-time breakfast presenter at MIX 106.3 and who has most recently been working at PR firm Morris Walker, gave birth to Lachlan James Box on Australia Day at Calvary Hospital. He weighed 3.02 kilos.
She and partner Daniel Box, the venue manager at the Ainslie Football Club, are thrilled.
“I’ve just turned 41 and we thought, ‘Oh well, we’ll see that happens’. Never expecting it to happen so quickly. We are feeling very lucky and very blessed,” she said.
A seasoned traveller and committed career girl, Lisa says she could happily never get on a plane again, so enthralled is she with her baby son.
“I kind of feel I’m in a really good place,” she said.
“I’ve travelled the world, I’ve seen so many things, I’ve helped to raise bucketloads of money for charity. I feel like it’s just the right time.”
Little Lachlan already seems more than alert to the world, his big blue eyes taking everything in.
Lisa says motherhood is definitely the hardest job she has every tackled.
“I think he’s a really good baby, but doesn’t every parent think that of their child?” she said.
“But no one tells you how hard the first three or four weeks are – the emotional rollercoaster you are on from the moment they are born. I’ve never felt so much emotion before – good feeings, bad feelings, guilt – I just couldn’t get over the depth of the emotion.
“A lot of that has to do with hormones, but it’s just so intense. I guess no one can prepare you for that. You definitely know you’re alive.”
Lisa says she’s been getting to see a lot of the Winter Olympics live with all those sleepless nights. But she wouldn’t change it for the world.
Chef comes to dinner – and cooks
As raffle prizes go, it was a pretty good one – TV chef Justine Schofield comes to your house and cooks dinner for you and your mates.
Andrew Benson, the former editor of The Chronicle now media adviser to Attorney-General and Police Minister Simon Corbell, enjoyed just such a treat, on all days, Valentine’s Day.
He won the prize by buying a ticket at last year’s Camp Quality Supper Club (which this year will be held on May 8. See http://www.supperclub.org.au/)
Andrew and his partner Lisa O’Donnell decided to have the dinner at their mate’s house in Evatt – he’s a chef and his kitchen is whiz-bang.
The menu sounded pretty mouth-watering – entree was pan-fried scallops with Persian feta and cauliflower puree, main was roasted lamb rumps with chickpeas, labne and chilli coulis and desert was chocolate fondant with creme anglaise and hazelnut ice cream.
“It was amazing, it exceeded all expectations,” Andrew told us.
Schofield, who finished in the top four of the first season of MasterChef in 2009, has gone on to host Everyday Gourmet with Justine Schofield on Channel Ten as well as running her own catering company. And she’s still keeping it real, bringing along to Canberra her mum who is French, and the inspiration for her cooking, to help out in the kitchen on the night.
Former newsreader dies
Very sad news this week with the death of Canberra’s original WIN Television newsreader Peter Russell just hours into a walking tour of Tasmania on Thursday.
He suffered a heart attack while on a trek of Cradle Mountain with his wife Alison, who tried vainly to resuscitate him.
Mr Russell, 68, had retired to Wollongong. He was the original news reader at WIN after aggregation until the early 1990s and also read the news on Capital.
He also had senior roles with organisations including the Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association and Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation.
His son Matthew told us that his father passed away on the mountain, 11 years after suffering his first heart attack.
“He was a brilliant man, unbelievably generous,” he said. “He was very good at bringing the family together and will be very much missed.”
Matthew said his father looked fondly on his time in Canberra. Matthew attended Marist College and his sisters Melanie and Amberley St Clare’s College.
“We had 15 years in Canberra as a family so it was a significant time,” he said.
Born in Melbourne, he also read the news in Maryborough, Ballarat and Wagga Wagga.
The Russells had six grandchildren. Funeral details had yet to be confirmed but it would be held in the Wollongong seaside suburb of Thirroul.
It’s ratings time
Ads on during the tense last minutes of My Kitchen Rules? Giveaways and competitions galore? Can you tell it’s radio ratings time in Canberra?
The first survey period of the year for Canberra started in mid-February and will continue until mid-April, with the results due out on April, 30.
Even the non-commercial 666 ABC is getting in on the giveaway act, with a competition to see The Lion King and visit Taronga Zoo. MIX 106.3 has been running ads for its breakfast program during the high-rating My Kitchen Rules and has been staging competitions galore. 2CC will be giving away Raiders season passes – as long as listeners tune in to breakfast and drive. And 104.7’s mega-popular Skyfire event falls conveniently in the survey period, on March 15.
New provider GfK will conduct two rather than three ratings surveys in Canberra covering 24 weeks of the year, and everyone wants to be top dog in the first results.
Calling all models
It’s being billed as the biggest model casting to be held in Canberra.
At least 140 models will assemble at East Hotel in Kingston on Sunday to audition for FASHFEST, the fashion extravaganza which will be held April 30 to May 3 at the Canberra airport.
The judging panel includes FASHFEST’s co-founder Andrea Hutchinson, a former model from Switzerland, and another beautiful Canberran, Belinda Riding, who enjoyed a stellar international modelling career spanning 25 years.
‘‘We’re looking for men and women, including different nationalities and some plus-size models,’’ Andrea said.
Radio move
Some new horizons for Mariam “Maz” Hakim. After two years as an afternoon radio announcer for 104.7, she is moving to Virgin Radio Dubai as a morning announcer.
Helicopter patrols
No, it’s not the police looking for an absconder. And it’s not the paparazzi trying to peek into your backyard. Those helicopters that have been flying low over Canberra suburbs for the past couple of weeks has been none other than ActewAGL conducting helicopter patrols as part of its network maintenance program.
The helicopters have been hovering at about 250m to check out trees and vegetation growing too close to powerlines. They are expected to continue until the end of the month.
What's on
- Canberrans hoping to see Steve “The Commando” Willis in action on Saturday should note there has been a change of venue. The Australia’s Biggest Loser star will be leading two boot camps as part of a free health and fitness day on the Patrick White Lawns outside the National Library of Australia from 9.30am to 4.30pm. Tickets to the boot camp are sold out but the public can enjoy all that pain from the sidelines. There will also be lots of stalls including health and fitness outlets and Defence Force Recruiting.
- The Canberra Classic Boatfest will be held on Saturday and Sunday on Lake Burley Griffin, with activities centred on Lotus Bay and the Canberra Yacht Club. A grand parade of boats including nine steamboats is planned for 3pm on Saturday, with the best vantage point at Lotus Bay.