Thursday, May 15, 2014

Barry Gibb's sister makes surprise visit to Scarborough, drops in on old Bee Gees family home

          

 
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Lesley Evans and granddaughter Layla Evans visit the old family home at Scarborough, where a sign hangs marking 'Bee-Gees Place'. Source: Quest Newspapers
Barry Gibb's sister Lesley is hoping he will get the chance to drive past their old family home at Scarborough while he is in town on Thursday.
Lesley Evans visited the Fifth Ave home on Wednesday and told Redcliffe & Bayside Herald columnist Richard Lancaster ``this was the best house we ever lived in''.
``I loved living here, Barry and I used to go fishing down at the Scarborough jetty,'' Mrs Evans said.
``It was wonderful in those days.''
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Lesley Evans and granddaughter Layla Evans visit the old family home at Scarborough. Source: Quest Newspapers

Mrs Evans said she was looking forward to the official unveiling of Bee Gees Way in Redcliffe on Thursday and thought it would be an emotional return for final surviving Bee Gees member Barry.

``I wish all the boys had been here to see it, and dad,'' she said.
``He was so proud of them.''
Current owner of the Scarborough house Val Sullivan said she was more than a little surprised when she received a call that Lesley was on her doorstep.

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Lesley Evans, Barry Gibb's sister, visits the old family home at Scarborough and catches up with Val Sullivan who lives there now. Source: Quest Newspapers

The Fifth Ave resident said she rushed home ``as fast as I could`` to show Lesley Evans and her granddaughter Layla through the home, where the Gibb family had lived more than 50 years ago.

``When we got back - oh my god - everybody was there. It was a hive of activity,'' Mrs Sullivan said.
``We went inside and Lesley came upstairs for a chat."
Mrs Sullivan said the only change Mrs Evans had noticed was the home had been extended from its original three-bedroom form to include a new lounge room and another bedroom.
``She was so excited. She kept going back to have a look at her old bedroom. She called five years ago with her mum but it was too dark to really see," she said.
``She was really excited and really appreciative."
Mrs Evans stopped at the home as part of a nostalgic tour of the Peninsula that also included another family home site and the Palace Hotel where the boys once had a regular gig.

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Lesley Evans and granddaughter Layla check out a today's special edition of the Redcliffe & Bayside Herald, marking the return to the Peninsula of Barry Gibb and his family for tomorrow's unveiling of Bee Gees Way. Source: Quest Newspapers

The family is in town for the unveiling of a statue and walkway dedicated to the famous brothers, and Mrs Evans will join Barry for the 2pm ceremony on Thursday

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