If you’re a resident up for the day or one of our (lucky) lovely permanent residents in Paluma village, come and take a look at what happens during our History Project display day. Every Wednesday from March till November we open up the Community Hall and set out a variety of displays and resources that document the rich history of the region.
There are fact sheets and a dvd about the history of Paluma for viewing. You may learn something about where you live and even have some fabulous ideas on how to improve our display. We love feedback but we also would love some help.
We are needing interested volunteers to help with keeping the display open. Come along during April and May to see how it all works as there will be a range of people there who are experienced in manning our display. They will happily show you the ropes if you think you’d like to give it a go. Check with the person ‘on duty’ to see which dates during the year you may be free to support.
At the very least, come along and have a cup of coffee or tea and a chat with our local history enthusiasts.
Record breaking crowds attended our Paluma Community Easter Market on Sunday. Despite how the weather appeared as late as Friday night, the sun and Paluma blue skies put on a fabulous show and drew people from near and far to enjoy what our village market and community had to offer.
The rain and clouds on the range Thursday afternoon did not bode well for Sunday.
There were a variety of stalls full of fresh local produce and preserves, plants, textile goods, Paluma souvenirs and Knick knacks. Loretta Brennan and her husband from Mutarnee had a table full of fresh goodies that were very popular. Also, the lovely Kath who with Anne Briers, had an array of fascinating plants and produce as well as sweets and preserves that had people commenting.
Kath with her wares all displayed and ready for sale.
Loretta with her fresh produce and preserves stall.
‘Buddha’s fingers’ citrus – one of the fascinating fruits on Anne’s stall.
Bobbi’s beautiful mini moss gardens and painted saws were once again a big hit with some customers taking photos of her lovely work. The colourful textile stall, “Stitches…” (apologies for not remembering the full name) had some gorgeous items which were popular. The stall holders themselves were very pleased with the market as they doubled their takings compared to the last market.
The PDCA had its own stalls with fresh local produce, souvenirs, baked goods and preserves as well as an Easter hamper raffle. All of which were popular and sold well. It can be confirmed that this market made over two thousand dollars for the PDCA as a result of the tremendous efforts of our community.
The PDCA sincerely thanks all of those amazing PKRs! (Paluma Kitchen Rockstars!) who helped make this Easter Market such a success. And to all the ‘quiet achievers’ who organised, lifted, swept, washed, cleaned, cooked, made the tea and coffee, served the public, were accountable for the money… a heartfelt “thank you”.
Les ready for the hoards at the sausage sizzle.
Our next market will be on June 23rd, and if you would like to be part of it either volunteering or hosting your own stall, please contact Wilfred Karnoll or any other PDCA executive member.
The PDCA bake and preserves turned a record-breaking profit.
Members (and prospective members) are advised that the Annual General Meeting of the Paluma & District Community Association Inc. will be held on:
Saturday,April 6, 2024, at 12pm for a BBQ lunch followed by the AGM at 1:15pm in the Community Hall
Nominations are open for all Executive Committee positions. Nominations should be forwarded to any member of the Executive Committee or by email to PalumaPDCA@gmail.com. Please use the nomination forms, which can be downloaded here.
Positions are:
President,
1 or 2 Vice-Presidents
Secretary
Treasurer
General Committee members (numbers flexible)
Members are reminded that Annual Subscriptions are now due and should be paid prior to the commencement of the AGM. Membership is $45.00 Please use the subscription form here to submit your dues. New members are more than welcome and should use the same form.
Please note that you must be a PDCA member to nominate someone to the Committee or vote for any Committee member.
The AGM will be followed immediately by a normal General Meeting with the new Committee.
The PDCA would like to thank everybody for their combined efforts to make Paluma’s final market day of the year and the NRL grand final viewing in the hall such a great success this past Sunday.
The PDCA Bake and Preserves table. Photo by Anneshka Brown
Locals and tourists alike were a strong and steady flow starting quite early in the day. The bbq didn’t shut down till quite a bit after 12pm and did great business with many coming back for seconds (and thirds) for “‘the lot’ please, that bbq-ed pineapple is amazing!”
The hall was filled with chatter and laughs with some shoppers making beelines to the baked goods stalls and others slowly meandering and enjoying the sport of browsing and selecting what they desired. Our community was on show and did itself proud at these markets. So many smiles.
The NRL grand final evening was also an opportunity to quietly socialise prior to the game for some of the locals as well as an opportunity for all – locals and visitors – to watch the footy showdown on the ‘big screen’.
Our PDCA treasurer, Wilfred Karnoll, is likely still grinning as this post ‘goes to air’ as the markets and grand final viewing made a net total of $1366 for our community. This success comes with effort from all the volunteers who:
Paluma and district produce and preserves… YUM!
worked hard to ensure the hall was ready for vendors and shoppers alike;
Made the effort to set up their own stall to raise funds for the rural fire service
ensured all ran smoothly throughout the duration of the market;
prepared many a preserve, cake, slice, cookie and sweet and savoury treat for the PDCA bake stall
Collected fresh produce and plants from local growers for the PDCA fresh produce stall
A great big “Thank You” to our volunteers. Your service makes our community stronger. As Wilfred said, “…just goes to show what a small community like ours can do when we all pull together.”
Text and photos by J. Poletto unless noted otherwise
On Sunday, August 20th at 10am the PDCA is hosting a community meeting with our Townsville City Council representative, Margie Ryder. This will provide an opportunity for Margie to report on what the Council has been doing and to listen to any concerns that Paluma residents may have relating to council facilities and initiatives. Items that we will be inviting Margie to comment on include:
Plans for signage at the village entrance, and upgrade of other signs around the village
Dog Poo bag dispensers and other issues on animal control (Cats, noisy dogs)
Community security in the light of multiple recent events in and around the village
Road Maintenance
Vegetation control (weeds)
The meeting is open to all Paluma residents. Please mark this date and come along to have your say.
1. A proposal for refurbishment of signs in and around the village including the village entrance, is being put together.
2. Security – After the community meeting which followed the PDCA meeting, actions are being taken to officially register our community with Neighbourhood Watch through our local police station. Our local security issues will be raised at a meeting in August with our local council representative, Margie Ryder. We encourage everyone to register on our Paluma WhatsApp group set up solely for security purposes.
3. Events Calendar: This is regularly updated on the website. Please keep a lookout for any changes and community notices. A new occasional social event will begin soon. It is an end of week “Friday Chill” gathering where the bar at the hall will be open from 5 – 7pm to kick back, catch up and generally chill out with your mountain mates. Do keep an eye on community posts on the website for the inaugural evening. We have to note here our social event organisers are simply excellent at generating community spirit and we thank them for their extra time and effort for our benefit.
4. A Community Meeting is being organised with Margie Ryder with an August date to be confirmed: Issues to be raised and discussed include: signage; animal control and hygiene; community security; vegetation control and road maintenance. All will be welcome to attend.
5. The Hall Bar management has officially been handed over to the capable Lynda Radbone from our iconic Irishman, Les Hyland. Les’s many years of reliable service and cheerful management of the Hall bar was noted and we appreciate his generosity of spirit and time in ensuring the takings were profitable. Thank you Les and we look forward to seeing you enjoying your 92nd birthday celebrations coming up SOON!!!
6. The Paluma History Display – Lyn and Les Hyland are stepping away from involvement in the History display. Lyn’s contributions and efforts to ensure an effective, interesting and valuable documentation of Paluma’s heritage is very much appreciated. Her input and efforts will be very much missed. Anneshka Brown will be calling for volunteers to help support our history display which will be changing from a Tuesday to a Wednesday.
If any of the above raises questions or you would like to know more information, please don’t hesitate to contact any of your PDCA committee members.
Did you know, five years ago on June 23rd, Paluma’s water treatment plant was opened by Margie Ryder and the community was invited to tour the facility?
It was your PDCA which played a key role in getting the Townsville City Council to install the facility. This became a necessity after a series of momentary shutdowns, monthly testing for giardia and finally many months of water not being fit for drinking.
During many of our community events such as community social evenings working bees and meetings. Members of the PDCA often take pictures during these events including individual participants. These pictures are then used to enhance a post on Paluma.org or other publications that report on this event.
While the editors of Paluma.org, and other PDCA executive members generally receive positive feedback regarding the use of pictures of participants in various events, we have been made aware that some individuals would prefer not to have their photographs published.
This matter was discussed at our last Annual General Meeting (AGM) and it was decided that while the practice of taking pictures by authorised people and subsequent posting on Paluma.org should continue, there should be a clear and simple procedure for those who are not comfortable having their picture published to opt-out.
The PDCA AGM agreed that we should never take or publish pictures of people who have indicated that they do not want this to occur. We (the organizers of events) will endeavour to remind people at each event that we are taking pictures for publication but we ask those who do not want this, to ensure that the photographer or one of the event organizers knows that you feel this way as soon as possible. If an event photographer starts taking your picture or has just taken your picture before you have had a chance to express your wishes, please politely let them know and they will ensure that no images of you are published.
I hope that the procedures above will provide appropriate assurances to those who do not wish to have their picture taken, while still allowing others to enjoy reviewing the description and images of recent events that they had fun at, or wished they hadn’t missed!
If you have any concerns regarding this issue please don’t hesitate to contact me or any other member of the PDCA by email or in person.
It was a big Easter at Paluma with lots of visitors to the village, both day visitors and campers who stayed on for a few days. The local accommodation was fully booked and reports are that the camp ground at the Paluma Dam was at capacity. There were certainly a lot of people out and about enjoying the beautiful Autumn weather and all that Paluma has to offer.
The Sunday Easter Market was a roaring success. There were queues several times throughout the morning at the Sausage Sizzle and all stall holders reported excellent trade. The fundraising efforts for the PDCA on the day were outstanding.
The Sausage Sizzle alone raised over $630.00 and thanks go to Don, Leslie, Anneshka and Jill for keeping everyone fed. Lynda made the delicious coleslaw for the BBQ. Jill was a roving volunteer who popped up everywhere and between herself and Colin the coffee/tea stall raised $80.00. Stella’s contribution of freshly baked scones with jam and cream were a delicious addition to the coffee/tea stall, giving people the opportunity to enjoy a Paluma-style version of ‘Devonshire tea’.
The Paluma Bakers Stall made a record profit of some $454.00. Once again the Kitchen Goddesses of the village excelled themselves with their efforts. Eleven ladies baked to their hearts content to produce a huge variety of cakes, slices, biscuits and other sweet treats. Anneshka and Bronwyn deserve special mention as they both went above and beyond. Anneshka donated a huge variety of goods including freshly baked hot-cross buns. Bronwyn’s gluten free options and very glamorous baked treats sold like’ hot-cakes’ and were all snapped up early in the day. Thanks to the following ladies for their outstanding and very generous contributions for the cake stall – Stella, Ros, Bronwyn, Jill, Anneshka, Julia, Jan, Lynn, Michele, Bobbie and Jennie. Charlie ran the cake stall, assisted by Michele.
Other funds were raised on the day from an Easter raffle run by Wilfred. The raffle raised over $140.00 and the Easter egg and chocolate-filled food hamper was won by ‘Jessie’, a visitor to the village staying at one of the cottages on Mt Spec Road. Con the Fruiterer (aka Wilfred) raised $165.00 from the sale of produce (pineapples and bananas, etc). Les and Lynn report that the Paluma History (books and card sales) raised $240.00. Peter and Jan ran the book stall for fund-raising for the Paluma Rural Fire Brigade.
The overall success of the Paluma Easter Market and the impressive fundraising for the community is possible due to the generous contribution of time from the many volunteers in planning, setting up and cleaning up on the day. Lynn worked tirelessly and was still at the Community Hall at 3 pm on Sunday. To all of the volunteers from the community, well done and a big thank you!
And a similar big thank you to all those residents and their visiting friends and families who stopped in at the market to buy a sausage sizzle, some baked goods for morning/afternoon tea and to shop at the numerous stalls. Your support is greatly appreciated. Well done Paluma!
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.
