Wednesday, February 5, 2025

Issue:

Mackay and Whitsunday Life

Sweet History Hour

We all have our stories or adventures that we tell, but for Sweet FM’s historian, Glenis Cislowski, telling stories brings on a whole new level. You see Glenis goes back in time, getting lost among the old stories told from a bygone era and bringing them back into the now. It’s something she thrives on, and has done since she first became interested in the stories of others and their history.

Part of what was formerly called ‘Nostalgia Hour,’ these days you’ll find Glenis regaling listeners with ‘Those Were The Days’ on Mondays at 10am. So popular is her segment, she’s also branched out beyond the radio to share her incredible storytelling among these very pages at times.

She has written for various publications, including the Burdekin Advocate and the BCA newsletter since 2002, covering diverse topics such as cyclones, shipwrecks, and local infrastructure changes, Glenis is a wealth of knowledge, wisdom, and little, fun, unknown facts that enlighten many.

“I present a bit of history of the area. It can be with people, it can be floods, it can be the irrigation that we have here. I do a bit on everything. Might be a ball or something that I've read in the paper, just to create an interest of what went on in the district over the years,” Glenis reveals.

Not only has Glenis been presenting at the station for nearly five years, but she herself, has a great personal history. Her ancestors came to the Burdekin in the 1890s, while she’s lived here all her life.

“I have always enjoyed listening to old people's stories and my grandparents' stories, and I just got interested in family history. It's amazing what history you get from family that you can then get the history of the place. I just like some of the stories around the place, they're really fascinating,” Glenis beams.

Glenis's passion for history, coupled with her personal experiences and community connections, make her a valuable local historian, and much loved Sweet FM radio presenter. At 76, there’s no slowing Glenis down, driven to discover and uncover many more stories and histories, of people, the Burdekin, and more.

“I just observe what is going on around me, and I love reading, particularly about this area. It’s amazing what was going on in this area, and how it’s not that much different today. I was reading in the 1920s in the Home Hill observer, that they were all whinging about the roads and how they were. And while I was reading it I was thinking, they’re still whinging about the same roads,” Glenis laughs.

Check out Glenis’ ‘Those Were The Days’ on Monday mornings from 10am. If you’d like to join the station as a presenter, contact Sweet FM on: (07) 4782-8394 or email: admin@sweetfm.com.au.

Glenis Cislowski, a woman full of history. Photo: Mark T. Rasmussen

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