Category: Events

Call-Out to Paluma Bakers for the Easter Market

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:-

  1. 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.
  2. 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).
  3. 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.
  4. Please add a price sticker to your goods, with what you think is a fair and reasonable price for your baked delights.
  5. 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.

Community Hall Goes Green

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.

Well done Paluma – it’s all about community!

Text & Photos by Michele Bird

Len Cook Exhibition Rescheduled

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.

Reminder: St. Patricks Day Social, Saturday 18 March

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 !

St. Patrick’s Day Community Social

Put the date in your diary…..On Saturday night the 18th March, Paluma will celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with a Social at the Community Hall commencing at 6.30 pm.

St. Patrick’s Day actually falls on Friday 17th March, but we will hold off on celebrating until Saturday evening.

Please bring a plate of food to share – Irish inspired if you wish – the more tatties the better as far as I am concerned!

The Bar will be open for low cost beverages.

And don’t forget to embrace the theme and wear emerald GREEN.

See you there!

Simply Red…..

The Paluma Community Hall was bathed in red on Saturday night for the Lunar New Year with a large crowd gathering to mark the event. Where else but Paluma could you spend your Saturday evening commemorating Chinese New Year, Water Rabbits, four birthdays and a Scottish poet. But celebrate we did!

There was a banquet of the most amazing food, many Chinese inspired dishes plus an array of other sumptuous treats. My vote for the dish of the night was Tony and Julie’s contribution of roast pork – cooked to perfection and a very generous contribution to the community dinner. Many were heard to comment that the pork crackling was the ‘best they have ever tasted’. Quite a few people tried to ply Tony for his secret in creating the perfect pork crackling, but I don’t think anyone was successful in extracting the secret recipe.

January is filled with Paluma birthdays and so we celebrated with black forest cake and other desserts. Don’s birthday was yesterday (Sunday) and Colwyn’s birthday was last week. Whilst Colwyn couldn’t join us on Saturday night she is ever-present in our thoughts. Mark and Leonie celebrate their birthday mid week – on the same day. A rowdy chorus of ‘Happy Birthday’ echoed from the Hall.

Speaking of singing, Leslie paid tribute to Scottish poet Robert Burns with a rendition of his own favourite Burns poem in song. He belted out a tune, helped along the way by Beth. Burns Night is this Wednesday evening, so a good excuse for a wee dram.

Lynda took over the duty of bar person for the event and ran everything like clockwork. Leslie was able to relax for a change and enjoy his dinner and conversation. Many thanks to Les for all his years of dedicated service as resident Barman at PDCA Socials, a role he has reluctantly decided to pass on to others due to his hearing difficulty. Lynn provided information on ‘Year of the Water Rabbit’ and it turned out there were a few ‘bunnies’ amongst the crowd. No one got rich on the Lucky Scratchies hidden under selected chairs, but that didn’t seem to matter on the night.

Paluma Socials are about fun, laughter, good spirit and community – and this one was no exception.

Reminder: Chinese New Year Social, Saturday 21 January

A reminder to Paluma residents that the first PDCA Social of 2023 will take place this coming Saturday at the Community Hall. Chinese New Year celebrations will kick off at 6.30 pm. Come along to mark the lunar new year and to catch up with your neighbours after what has been a soggy start to January.

The Bar will be open and please bring a dish to share. Red is the lucky colour to wear for Chinese New Year.

Rumour has it that quite a few people are celebrating birthdays at this time of year. Colwyn had a birthday last week, Don has a birthday this week (on Sunday) and Mark and Leonie both celebrate their birthdays next week (on Wednesday). There are no secrets in Paluma….. A little bird told me that there will be cake….!

Keeping with the multi-cultural theme, for those of us of Scottish ancestry it is an important time of the year in celebrating Rabbie Burns Night on 25th January. Without any bias, Rabbie Burns was the greatest poet that ever lived. I mention this just in case some people want to wear tartan in honour of Rabbie Burns birthday.

Whatever you wish to celebrate, come along and join in. It costs nothing to relax and enjoy the company of good friends. And the weather forecast is for sunshine on Saturday! Bring it on.

Chinese New Year Social, Saturday 21 January

The first PDCA Social for 2023 will be held at the Paluma Community Hall on Saturday night, 21 January at 6.30 pm when we celebrate Chinese New Year.

Chinese New Year actually falls on Sunday 22 January, but we will celebrate early the night before. 2023 is the ‘Year of the Water Rabbit’, symbolising longevity, peace and prosperity.

Wearing red is considered lucky at this time, so please raid your cupboards for your most resplendent red attire.

Please bring a dish to share – you can embrace the Chinese theme of the night if you wish. The Bar will be open for drinks as usual.

In case you were wondering just what are the personality traits of someone born in the year of the ‘Water Rabbit’, Google says……

They are very precise and like to do everything thoroughly. They also have a wonderful memory. The Water Rabbit tends to be quiet, calm, and sometimes keeps aloof. Water Rabbits have good ideas and are very respected and successful in many aspects of their lives by all their family, friends and colleagues.

Working Bee this Saturday 7 January

Wilfred is again calling for keen volunteers to join him at a Working Bee this coming Saturday 7th January at the Rainforest Walking Track at Paluma Village.

Please meet at the Paluma Community Hall at 2 pm (opposite the Rainforest Walking Track). Please bring your wheelbarrow, shovel, spade, pick, rake, other garden tools and plenty of elbow grease and enthusiasm.

Further repair and refurbishment works is required along the Rainforest Walking Track including the installation of some more steps, drainage works, erosion control and filling-in the washouts.

Wilfred said he might even find some refreshments for the volunteers after the event! If you can spare an hour or two next Saturday afternoon please come along. For any inquiries, please contact Wilfred.

New Years Eve at Paluma

Graham and Julie invite all Paluma residents to New Years Eve celebrations at the Pope residence on the hill. Everyone is welcome to come along and join in the party.

The event will kick off about 6.30 pm on New Years Eve, Saturday 31 December.

Please bring a plate of food to share and BYO drinks.

This is always a fun event for the Paluma community.

See you there friends and neighbours.