A reminder that there is a Free Workout on offer this Saturday afternoon 8th April – otherwise known as a Paluma Working Bee. Many hands make light work and there are always plenty of jobs to do around the village to keep things maintained and looking beautiful.
If you have a couple of hours to spare this Saturday afternoon, please meet at the Community Hall at 2 pm. Everyone is welcome.
It will be a great opportunity to work-off those extra Easter calories from chocolates and hot-cross buns and working outside in the fresh Paluma mountain air is always good for the mind and body.
A free beverage is on offer after the work is completed.
This year’s Annual General Meeting was well attended with 25 people in attendance. Don Battersby and Lynda Radbone manned the BBQ to provide a lunch beforehand which may have helped to bring in a range of members from around the village.
The AGM minutes will be posted on the Member’s area shortly, together with the President’s Report, Financial Statement and History Project Report.
This year there were advance nominations for two new members of the Committee, who were elected unopposed (Anneshka Brown as Vice-President, and Juanita Poletto as Secretary).
Sarah Swann decided not to run for office this year, and I would like to thank her on behalf of the PDCA for her efforts on several PDCA initiatives and inputs into discussions over the last few years.
The remaining Committee Members agreed to stay on for another year and were elected unopposed. After a call from the floor for other nominations to fill available positions, I am delighted that Leonie Crennan and Linda Whitely agreed to join the committee.
It is great that we start this year with four new faces on the Committee and with the position of Secretary filled after more than two years.
The final composition of the PDCA Committee is listed below.
President
Jamie Oliver
Vice-President
Anneshka Brown
Secretary
Juanita Poletto
Treasurer
Wilfred Karnoll
Committee Member (SES)
Charlie Allen
Committee Member (RFS)
Ross Hyne
Committee Member
Lyn Hyland
Committee Member
Jill Meads
Committee Member
Leonie Crennan
Committee Member
Linda Whitely
If anyone is interested in reading a summary of events and achievements for the year, you can download the President’s Report here.
There is no doubt that the Rooster on the Range Road has been the talk of the town over the past few months since he first appeared along the roadway at culvert 147 or thereabouts. I can’t recall the number of times I’ve been asked or have heard people remarking, ‘have you seen the rooster lately’?
Well, now some of Paluma’s local artists and craftspeople have taken inspiration from the wee Rooster. Jennie recently painted a portrait of the feisty fowl in all his splendour. She took inspiration from a photo taken by the Cooke’s in early January soon after the Rooster took up residence on the Range.
Ros and Jennie are now planning to transfer the image of the Rooster to coffee cups/mugs for sale at the upcoming Easter Market. Other images of birds native to Paluma are also being transferred to mugs from photos taken by local residents. The Riflebird will be featured as one of Paluma’s iconic native birds. Make sure you check out the Paluma-inspired crafts at this Sunday’s market stalls.
The ‘Portrait of a Rooster’ has already been sold and now hangs on the kitchen wall in a local Paluma residence.
Text & Photo by Michele Bird (no relation to the Rooster).
Did you know that Koalas can be found in the open forests west of Paluma and much of the sclerophyll forests in the eastern Queensland coastal area of north Queensland? If you would like to know more about koalas or share any sightings you have made in the region, The Australian Wildlife Conservancy is hosting a community workshop leading up to some targeted Koala monitoring later this year.
Felicity L’Hotellier, Senior Field Ecologist for the AWC is inviting Paluma residents to attend the workshop on Wednesday, April 19th. The workshop will be hosted on site at Mount Zero-Taravale’s bush camp. The day will kick off at 9am, and wrap up by 3:30pm, with informal discussions throughout the day including a round-table with those in attendance.
Attendees are invited to camp on site (would need to supply their own tents/sleeping gear), with AWC to provide basic catering from the evening of the 18th through until the morning of the 20th. For anyone interested, an evening spotlight drive and a visit to our new feral predator-free exclosure fence is also planned.
This invitation is restricted to Paluma residents and you are asked to register for the workshop before April 10th. To register or obtain further information contact Felicity on 0408084 617 or 4770 8025.
Don’t forget to come along for a free lunch prior to our Annual General Meeting this Saturday, April 1 at 12:00pm. We need a quorum for these meetings so please come along to support the work that you PDCA officers do, and to ensure that we can elect officers for the next year. More details here
We will be sending out press gangs around the village if it looks like we will be short on numbers. If you are unable to come but would like to assign a proxy vote to ensure we have a quorum please email Jamie Oliver or any other PDCA Committee member to let us know.
Following on from last week’s post about the Ramp Renovations at the Community Hall, the new ramp is now installed and completed. The fine weather last weekend meant that the hard work to build the new ramp took place as planned. We have numerous volunteers to thank for their hard work on this project including Wilfred, Colin, Jamie and Don. If you haven’t seen it yet, here’s a few photos of the new ramp. Be sure to thank our dedicated volunteers in person next time you see them round the village!
Text by Michele Bird with Photos courtesy of Jill and Colin Meads
In recent days you will have noticed that the Community Hall entrance-way has been cordoned off with hi-vis barrier netting. This is because the old wooden ramp to the front entrance of the Hall was removed last Sunday. To gain entry to the Hall at the moment you will need to undertake a rather impressive long jump of several metres on an incline ……….just joking people, please don’t try this!!
The removal of the old ramp was completed last weekend in preparation for the installation of a new improved ramp. The old wooden ramp had seen better days with some of the boards starting to rot and the aged timber was becoming very slippery when wet. The new ramp is to be made from flash new plastic boards to be installed next weekend. I have been reliably informed that the new ramp will be in place by the end of next weekend, weather permitting of course.
The renovations are being carried out by a team of dedicated volunteers. We need to thank Colin, Wilfred and Jamie for their hard work in renovating the ramp to ensure safe and reliable access to our beloved Community Hall.
Work in progress to remove the old wooden ramp.
Work in progress to remove the old wooden ramp.
Careful planning and deliberations on the job (otherwise known as having a rest).
The hall entrance way ready for the new ramp to be installed.
April is shaping up as a busy month in the village of Paluma. Here’s a reminder about some dates to put in the diary.
Firstly, Wilfred would like to advise everyone that the next Working Bee has been rescheduled to Saturday 8th April (Easter Saturday) at 2 pm. The change of date is to avoid double-bookings with other community events. Meet as usual outside the Community Hall and then teams of volunteers will be deployed for various jobs and projects such as continuing work on the Rainforest Walking Track steps, pruning and tree removal at the Hall and maintenance jobs at the Hall, etc.
The PDCA AGM will be held on Saturday 1st April. The event commences with a FREE BBQ for residents at 12 noon, followed by the meeting at 1 pm. Come along to have your say and/or to nominate for a position on the PDCA Executive Committee. Everyone is welcome.
The Paluma Easter Market will be held on Sunday 9th April from 9 am to 1 pm. We have already put the call-out for cooks and bakers to donate goods for sale, but as always other volunteers are needed for the bbq sausage sizzle, tea/coffee stall and other jobs on the day. If you can spare a few hours to volunteer at the Market please advise one of your friendly PDCA committee members.
