The Queen’s Birthday weekend is the last Paluma Market for the year. It will be held on Sunday 3rd October from 9.00 am to 1.00 pm.
There will be a selection of stalls and the usual sausage sizzle. So, come up the mountain for the day and enjoy the cool ambience of Paluma. The kids can enjoy the playground while the adults scan the stalls in the hall for a bargain, enjoy a cuppa or a sausage or two.
You are invited to attend a public meeting on Saturday the 18th September at 10 am at the Paluma Community Hall. The meeting is being held to discuss the proposal to ‘not raise the fire levy’ for the 2021-2022 Financial Year.
Regards
Ross Hyne, 1st Officer Paluma Rural Fire Brigade
If there are any queries in the lead up to the meeting, please contact:-
Sonya Bryce, Secretary/Treasurer Paluma Rural Fire Brigade
Spring has almost sprung and Saturday Night Fever is coming to the village on 11th September at 6.30 pm at the Community Hall.
Whether you’re a mother or whether you’re a brother, get down and boogie with your friends and neighbours as we go back in time to the 1970’s.
Come as you are, or come in your favourite 70’s themed costume. Grow your moustache, find your flares or flaunt your flower-power. Be a disco diva or a Dylan devotee – everyone is welcome.
The Bar will be open for drinks and please bring a dish to share – hot or cold, sweet or savoury.
The love, peace and joy will flow from the Community Hall with a free drink for the best dressed male and female.
Jamie’s post on 2 August 2021 provided information on the new Paluma rainfall gauge at the Village Green. Most of you have probably seen the new rain gauge by now. You can’t miss it on the lawn near the PEEC side of the Village Green behind the Community Hall.
Since the installation of the new gauge the daily rainfall data has been checked and recorded, mostly by two very dedicated community volunteers. Barry Smith from PEEC has been taking the readings on weekdays and ever reliable Colwyn Campbell has been the rainfall recorder on weekends. The task involves visiting the Village Green every day at the same time to check the gauge and record any rainfall for the past 24 hours on the BOM record sheet.
Last weekend (14 & 15 August) with Colwyn being unwell with severe sciatica, it was my turn to step up and take a turn in checking the gauge. I was looking forward to the task, even more so when it began to rain on Friday evening. How exciting – there would be something in the gauge for my first recording!
Paluma’s gardeners will be pleased to know the rainfall stats for last weekend were 5 mm and 4.2 mm respectively for Saturday and Sunday 14 and 15 August.
Jamie Oliver is still seeking additional volunteers to compile a list of back-up people to assist with the rainfall recording, if and when necessary.
If you would like to volunteer and put your name on the list, please contact Jamie. You might only be called on once in a while to stand-in when other residents are unable to perform the task.
I can attest to the fact that it is a rewarding job in playing a (small) part in contributing to the historical record of Paluma’s rainfall. Not only that, but you can multi-task whilst recording the rainfall and take your best mate for a walk!
Process: The listed items are made available for sale by Paluma Environmental Education Centre via Sale by inviting offers (tender) process. Offers must be submitted on the attached Sale by Inviting Offers document.
Timeline: Offers will be accepted from Monday 9nd August to 3pm Friday, 13th August 2021. No offers will be accepted after this date. The person submitting the successful offer will be notified as early as possible from Monday, 16th August 2021 and then invoiced. Once an invoice has been raised, payment by Bpoint or EFT is preferred. Payment should be finalised prior to collection of goods no later than Friday 20th August 2021. Delivery charges are the responsibility of the purchaser.
Tenders must be submitted via email to: Gail Gannon – Business Manager, Paluma Environmental Education Centre, admin@palumaeec.eq.edu.au
Condition and Inspection of Goods: Goods are offered on an “as is” basis only. Goods can be inspected by arrangement with the Barry Smith, Unit Support Officer from Monday, 9 August 2021. Please phone Barry on 07 – 4770 8528 to arrange inspection
After the Sale: No warranty or backup service is available, either implied or stated. Paluma Environmental Educational Centre cannot and will not provide any support either by way of parts or expertise after items have been removed from the centre.
Conditions: The Department of Education reserves the right not to accept an offer and may set a reserve price. Whilst all care has been taken, the Department of Education disclaims all liability for loss or damage to person or property arising from the removal of the items for offer.
Last Saturday (July 31st) there was a great turnout of locals to the gardening working bee at the Community Hall. Graham Pope brought his mini-tractor along and quickly ensured that the huge pile of mulch near the kiosk was distributed among the Trees of Memory and along the freshly weeded garden beds around the Community Hall. With over a dozen pairs of hands, the mulching was quickly finished and we then got to work digging trenches for a new irrigation system for the garden beds. Using a hose and a piece of conduit to create a channel under one of the concrete paths resulted in a few muddy hands and trousers but we soon got the piping laid and the earth and turf replaced into the trenches. While all this was going on some of the group carried out a bit of vegetation trimming along the road.
As soon as the work was complete it was time for the Paluma Push Thankyou Drinks and BBQ hosted by Paluma RFS. This was a great success, although it’s hard to fail when the drinks and food are free!
Before everyone got down to eating we were very fortunate to have Felicity and Josh from the Mt Zero -Taravale Sanctuary gave a very informative talk on the great work being done by the Wildlife Nature Conservancy just down the road from Paluma. The new $1.5 million project to build a predator-free safe-haven for the endangered northern bettong was a highlight of the talk. Judging by the number of questions flying during and after the talk it was clear that their work generated a lot of interest and possibly some new volunteers to help out.
After the meal, Sam Stedman from Outerlimits gave a brief talk on the outstanding success of this year’s Paluma Push and highlighting near-record number of participants, the quality of the challenging tracks, and the funds raised for our local SES and Rural Fire Services. He presented substantial cheques (both in size and dollars) to the two RFS branches and the SES, and expressed his gratitude to all the volunteers who helped to make this year’s push such a success.
Paluma is one of the wettest places in north Queensland (see post from 2019) and most residents take an active interest in annual, if not monthly or daily rainfall records around the village. After many years of faithfully recording official daily rainfalls at the Ivy Cottage, Ian Marshall is no longer able to fulfil this volunteer role. Many thanks to Ian and Sandy for performing this important and valued service to Paluma.
The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) originally decided to close the official Ivy Cottage rainfall station after they received notice that observations were no longer able to be provided. However, after repeated representations from several Paluma residents, the BOM has agreed to relocate the rain gauge to the village green while keeping the old “station identification” so that a continuous record going back to 1969 is maintained.
Our new rain gauge on the Village Green
The Paluma Environmental Education Centre (PEEC) has agreed that Barry Smith will officially take on responsibility for recording daily rainfall from our new gauge during normal workdays. On weekends Colwyn Campbell has agreed to take the readings. Thanks to both of them for agreeing to take this on!
There will still occasionally be times (especially over the summer holidays) when neither Barry nor Colwyn will be available to take readings. We are therefore seeking additional “backup volunteers” who are willing to be called when needed. If you are interested in helping us keep a continuous official rainfall record for Paluma please contact Jamie. He will draw up a list of residents who can be called on when needed.
On Saturday, August 7th, Paluma will host a “Freedom of Entry Parade” to celebrate the decommissioning of the HMAS Paluma (IV), a Navy hydrographic survey vessel that is (indirectly) the source from which our village got its name.
The original Paluma in ca 1890
Paluma IV ca 2010
When the vessel was originally commissioned in 1989 it was granted “freedom of the city” of Thuringowa at Paluma. This included an official ceremony in which armed navy officers marched into Paluma, where challenged by Police and, on producing an official scroll that authorised their entry, were formally granted permission to continue marching through the village. Following other formalities and speeches, refreshments were served and there was a cricket match between the Navy and villagers that was handily won by the village!
Some three decades later the HMAS is now to be decommissioned and the Navy has suggested that one final march through city would be a fitting part of its final days in service. It promises to be quite a spectacle!
The ceremony and parade will be similar to the one in 1989 and all residents are invited to attend as spectators. The event will start at 11am. Food and refreshment will be provided afterwards at the Community Hall.
The original vessel that Paluma was named after was a gunboat built in 1884 in response to a perceived threat to the colony of Queensland from the Russians. Upon its arrival in 1885 its defence capabilities were considered redundant and it was converted into a hydrographic survey vessel. During its early surveys, it named the northern extension of Hervey Range as the Paluma Range. Our village was subsequently named after the mountain range it is embedded in. There have been four vessels bearing the name Paluma. The most recent is the HMAS Paluma (IV)
For a more detailed and highly readable account of the history of all the Paluma vessels, Linda Venn’s book on “Paluma, the first 80 years” has a section dedicated to this topic. You can read this section here.
The Paluma Rural Fire Brigade would like to thank all volunteers who helped during the Paluma Push by hosting a BBQ and drinks at the Community Hall on Saturday July 31, at 4pm.
This year’s Push was a great success due, in no small part, to the wonderful effort of the many volunteers who help to man checkpoints and attend to various logistical tasks leading up to the event. We hope you will be able to come along for a drink and a feed as a token of our appreciation.
There is a huge pile of garden mulch at the Community Centre which we would like to move onto garden beds and other more useful areas. Also, a bit of weeding and planting in the garden bed wouldn’t go astray. So if you would like to help out, we are planning a working bee the Saturday after next, from 2pm to 4pm.
If you would like to help out in beautifying our Village Green and Community Hall surrounds please come along.
This will be followed by a BBQ hosted by the Paluma Rural Fire Brigade to thank all volunteers who helped out during the Paluma Push.
