In ‘Meet A Villager’ for the month of October we introduce you to long-time Paluma residents John & Junita Tubman.
Following the recent opening of the new community hall extension and the ‘John Tubman Room’, it seems fitting to highlight the dedicated and tireless work of John and Junita (Junie) Tubman to the village community of Paluma. This tribute to a very special couple has been compiled by James Jackson.
John and Junie started visiting Paluma regularly around 1986. They both loved the cool climate and the opportunity to get close to nature. Following a family Christmas in Paluma, they noticed a block of land for sale at 46 Mt Spec Road. According to the then neighbours, Don and Glad Parry, the property was previously owned and occupied by Mr Willowdean, one of the real characters of Paluma. The family decided to purchase the block and build a holiday house.
John was winning Housing Industry Association (HIA) awards for domestic construction and with his building expertise, the Tubman’s and the Jackson’s started construction of a house in 1990 with a modest budget.
Around this time, John and Junie became involved in the Paluma Progress Association, in conjunction with the neighbours on the other side, the McGoldrick’s. John and Junie were soon involved in the Paluma Rural Fire Service, then under the wing of Cec Carpenter.
In the mid to late 1990’s, John and Junie joined a strong force of local volunteers and began the Paluma Rainforest Festival. These were great times with the entire community actively involved. It was from these events that much of the money was raised for the reconstruction of a new ‘Town Hall’. Later, the then Thuringowa Shire Council deemed this hall unsafe and scheduled it’s demolition. It was after the ‘Demolition Fancy Dress Party’ held in the old hall the night before it was knocked down that an idea dawned to ‘just build another one’.
John and Junie were now members of the PDPA, SES and PRFB. John saw the opportunity to bring the three organisations together with a common goal and to build a combined facility. John recognised that by not duplicating facilities and services for the different organisations, there would be major advantages in making all three organisations economically viable. With funds from a grant, PDPA, SES and a donation from the Gleeson Family, John drew plans and started construction of a new Community Hall. He worked relentlessly in driving the project to its successful completion.
By then the Jackson/Tubman family house at 46 Mt Spec Rd was being extended to provide for longer stays in Paluma, now needed to discharge the now substantial local community duties. John and Junie have many SES and Rural Fire Brigade activations under their belt including ‘The Night of Noah’, the ‘Five Acre Block Fire’, many SES Road Crash Rescue activations, at least 10 Search and Rescues and several Helicopter Medivacs. Apart from all these duties, John and Junie still found time to support and volunteer for the Paluma Push Bike Race. In fact, they have volunteered for every Paluma Push to date, with the only exception being this years (2018) event.
With all the work and activities going on in the village, Junie decided we needed something special on the social calendar. As soon as the new community hall was opened with support from the entire community, she organised and delivered the ‘Federation Ball’. It was a sell-out event and and it was soon followed by the ‘Medieval Ball’. Both events were a resounding financial success, but better than that, it proved just what the small community of Paluma could achieve if everyone worked together.
More recently John stood up again and supported the extension to the current Community Hall. With persistence and dedication from Michael Drew and the members of the PDCA, this too has now come to fruition.
These days, John and Junie recognise that it’s time to pass the baton to the next generation of Paluma residents. John and Junie spend their time relaxing in Paluma, playing squash, caravanning and cruising. But, you can’t keep a good builder down and John is again back on the tools building a house.
John and Junie join the long line of dedicated ‘Palumarites’ who have worked hard to progress the village for the benefit of residents and visitors since the 1930’s.
Text by James Jackson & Photo by Michele Bird