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.
Red-browed finches (Neochmia temporalis) are a relatively common sight around village gardens at Paluma, mostly in open areas on lawns – especially when the lawn gets a bit long and there are seed heads. They are often seen feeding on the ground where there are crimson rosellas also feasting on grass seeds. They are said to feed on both native and non-native grass seeds. They are a beautiful and distinctive small finch easily recognised by their bright red eyebrow, red rump and red beak with otherwise olive green and grey plumage. If disturbed they will quickly fly away into dense undergrowth where they are hard to spot. They are also hard to photograph as they are fast-moving little birds and they don’t sit still. The two photos below have been reproduced from the Birdlife Australiawebsite.
Red-browed finches (Photos from Birdlife Australia website).
Over the past couple of weekends (about 8 days) I have been lucky enough to watch the progress of a pair of very busy red-browed finches building their nest in close proximity to my place. The finishing touches to the nest were being made late last Sunday afternoon and one of the birds had taken to sitting in the nest – perhaps eggs had already been laid?
The nest is located in the high crown of a native tree fern in an open (garden) area. Birdlife Australia describes the red-browed finch nest as “a large domed nest with a side entrance, woven from grass and small twigs. Nests are usually built 2 to 3 metres above the ground in dense shrubs”. This description is entirely accurate for the nest I have observed. The photo below shows the (largely) completed nest in the top of the tree fern, dome-shaped and with a small rounded entrance. The entrance faces westerly away from the prevailing winds and rain in that particular location/micro-climate. Clever little finches!
According to my research, both parents share the nest-building (which I also observed), the incubation of eggs and feeding of the young. Four to six white eggs are laid per clutch two to three times per year, mainly between October and April. Juveniles are said to be fully independent within 28 days. I look forward to observing the nesting process and hopefully the fledging of some new little red-browed finches in the coming month.
The Paluma Easter Market is fast approaching on Sunday 9th April and so this is a call-out for Paluma’s amazing cooks to donate some baked goods to sell for community (PDCA) fund raising.
If you are interested in doing some baking and donating your goods for sale at the Easter Market then please read on…..
Here’s what to do:-
Please divide your baked goods into small batches for sale. We suggest batches of 2, 4 or 6 individual pieces as this has worked well at previous markets.
Please plate the goods (in batches) and secure with glad wrap or suitable packaging. (We have previously used paper plates and glad wrap and this works well).
Please add a sticker or other suitable label outlining the contents of your baked goods. You will need to add this label to EVERY individual batch of goods. This is required for health & safety reasons.
Please add a price sticker to your goods, with what you think is a fair and reasonable price for your baked delights.
Please deliver your goods to the Community Hall on Sunday morning 9th April at 8.30 AM (for a 9 am market start).
If you have any questions or need any further information, please contact Lynn Hyland by phone or email:- leshyland@icloud.com
Previous cake stalls have been a roaring success, so please contribute if you can for the upcoming Easter Market.
One thing we do pretty well at Paluma is celebrate our multiculturalism, what with our themed Chinese New Year, International Nights and last Saturday night (18 March), the St. Patricks Day celebrations of all things Irish.
A good crowd attended the evening and the Community Hall was a sea of green with everyone enthusiastically embracing the theme of the night and dressing in green – of all shades. As always, the food produced by residents for the community dinner was astounding. There was soup, freshly baked breads, Irish stew, colcannon, barbecue meats and many other delicious dishes too numerous to mention. Of course, there were plenty of dishes featuring ‘tatties’ – the most favourite of all Irish foods.
The dessert table on Saturday night was something to behold. There was Guinness cake, savoiardi cake, Irish green chocolate cake, mango pudding, Shamrock biscuits, Irish pavlova, bread and butter pudding, green cupcakes, and the list goes on. Of course, Guinness was the choice of beverage for the evening.
The Irish quiz was hotly contested and there was a fair bit of conferring (and cheating?) going on over the course of the quiz. Google searches were strictly banned on the night. Les told a few Irish jokes to entertain the crowd. A couple of visitors to Paluma joined us on the night and were impressed by the community spirit and the very warm welcome they received from everyone.
The PDCA held an auction of several historic Paluma prints after dinner and the bidding was lively. Jamie and Juanita were the auctioneers. Several lucky patrons scored a bargain in acquiring a unique historical print for their Paluma homes. The PDCA was the big winner with the auction and sale of prints raising some $300.00 for the community.
Anyone hoping to catch Len Cook’s ‘Fire and Rain’ pottery exhibition at the Perc Tucker Regional Gallery this month will be sorely disappointed.
Len has advised that due to unforeseen circumstances at the Gallery, his exhibition has been postponed (all other scheduled events at the Gallery are also postponed for the time being).
In the mean time, ‘Len Cook Ceramics’ is open for business and you can visit the ‘gallery in the clouds’ to pick up unique pieces from our own award-winning Paluma potter.
STOP PRESS – Len has just advised that his exhibition is now rescheduled to open on 12 May 2023.
The ‘Fire and Rain Exhibition’ is a retrospective exhibition featuring work going back to the 1980’s. It features pieces from the collections of regional galleries and also private collections.
A reminder to everyone that next Saturday night, 18th March we will gather to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with a social at the Community Hall.
Celebrations kick off at 6.30 pm. Bring a plate of food to share with your friends and neighbours. Bring your good humour and good spirits – and if you don’t have any of the latter, you can buy some at the Bar!
Wear green in honour of St. Patrick, the Patron Saint of Ireland.
Did you know that St. Patrick is also a patron Saint of Australia, Nigeria and Montserrat? He was born in Roman Britain in the 5th century and at the age of 16 he was kidnapped and taken to Ireland as a slave. After some years, he escaped and returned to his family. He entered the Catholic Church, just as his father and grandfather had done before him. He eventually returned to Ireland as a missionary where he worked in the west and north of the country. He died in 461 AD and is said to be buried at Down Cathedral in Downpatrick, Northern Ireland.
The most common symbol of St. Patrick’s Day is the SHAMROCK. The shamrock is the leaf of the clover plant and symbolises the Holy Trinity.
GREEN is also a common symbol that many people choose to wear in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day.
Now that you know all about St. Patrick, see you next Saturday night !
Come rain, hail or shine, nothing stops a working bee at Paluma.
A very successful working bee was held last Saturday (4 March) to carry out some much needed maintenance and clean up work round the village. The planned track repair works along the Rainforest Walking Track was postponed for the time being due to the wet weather, but there were plenty of other jobs to complete. The targeted works included installation of new signage at Whalley Crescent and the H-Track, pruning of vegetation along the road verge at the western end of the village and removal of wattle clippings near the tennis courts.
The seven very keen volunteers were: – Wilfred, Ian, Julie, Rob, Annesheke, John and Michele. The crew worked through the persistent and sometimes heavy showers of rain and nothing could dampen the enthusiasm for the jobs at hand. Well done to all those who came along to lend a hand.
The (damp) volunteers at Saturday’s working bee. Putting your back into the working bee.
New signage at the western end of the H-Track.
New signage at Whalley Crescent.
Pruning of vegetation from the road verge at the western end of the village.
On a walk around the village you might also have noticed some new signage at the western end of Lennox Crescent to alert visitors to the H-Track and Len Cook Ceramics.
New signage at Lennox Crescent.
A recent clean-up of vegetation encroaching over the signage at the entrance to the village has also been undertaken, this volunteer work by Jamie. Some new signage to welcome visitors to Paluma is planned for this area in the future. Stay tuned…
Tidy up around the signage at the village entrance (volunteer work by Jamie).
