Category: Village news

Telstra Paluma Mobile Tower Launch Celebration

     Paluma Mobile Tower – Launch Celebration

Telstra (Regional Australia, North Qld) and the Paluma & District Community Association (PDCA) invites all Paluma residents to attend a Morning Tea to celebrate the launch of the new Paluma Mobile Telephone Tower.

When: Saturday 1st December 2018, 10.30 AM

Where: Rainforest Inn, Paluma

Morning Tea will be provided courtesy of Telstra.

The PDCA encourages the attendance of Paluma residents, so please pass the word about this upcoming event!

Paluma Garden Competition – The Results Are In !!

Paluma Garden Competition 2018

On a sunny Friday 19th October, the judging of the 2018 Bunnings Paluma Garden Competition took place. Lynn Hyland accompanied the judges around the acreage blocks, whilst Jamie Oliver  escorted the judges around the village gardens. Natalie Pace and her mother Denise, both past judges for the Townsville Garden Competition were our 2018 judges. Natalie held an Open Garden in September at her Rollingstone property and attracted 350 visitors. There really are many keen gardeners in Townsville. She is encouraging us to consider having an Open Garden event in Paluma next year.  Well Paluma gardeners what do you think about this?

The Garden Competition winners were announced at our PDCA Social on Saturday 3rd November. They are:-

1. Best Business Garden Winner is Gumburu

    

2. Best Acreage Garden  Winner is Don Battersby

     

3. Best Residential Village Garden Winner is Nick and Glenda Van Rynswoud. The Alison Evans Memorial Trophy was also awarded to Nick and Glenda Van Rynswoud.

    

    

4. Highly Commended Residential Village Garden Winner is Peter and Dorothy Klump

    

5. An Individual Plant, Garden Bed, Herb Garden or Vegetable Patch, Outdoor Space, etc Winner is Michele Bird

Paluma is blessed with a cooler climate than the coast and hence we are able to successfully grow many plants that aren’t seen in Townsville gardens. During the judging, some of the plants that were in full bloom were the spirea, hippeastrums, New Guinea impatiens, daylilies and orchids to name just a few. Do check out ‘What’s Flowering In Paluma’ on the website to keep abreast of the latest showpieces in Paluma gardens.

Article by Lynn Hyland with Photos by Michele Bird & Colwyn Campbell

Remembrance Day at Paluma

Remembrance Day at Paluma

On Sunday 11 November at 11 am a small group of Paluma residents and visitors congregated at the Community Hall to acknowledge Armistice Day and the 100 year anniversary of the end of World War 1.

The commemoration included an audio rendition of The Last Post and a minute of silence, followed by a short anecdote from Les Hyland.

Many thanks to Len Cook for raising the flag on the day and to Lynda Radbone for her technical assistance. Len also provided the morning tea!

 

 

 

Vale David Georgee

VALE DAVID GEORGEE

It is with sadness that we report the death of David Georgee, who passed away on 8th November 2018.

David’s connection with Paluma spanned more than seven decades. He described some of his fond memories of our little village in the clouds in his book, ‘Townsville As It Was’. As a young boy, he used to come to Paluma with his family for holidays, staying at the Main Roads Tents. These were tents surrounded by stone walls, left over after the Main Roads Commission had completed construction of the Range Road. The tents were then used for holiday accommodation. The rock walls were later used to become the Mist Haven holiday units.

In later years David purchased the property at 16 Smith Crescent. In his book he describes how the waterfall in Benham’s Creek opposite their house, was used as the shower for the children. The girls’ showers were at 4 pm while the boys’ turn was 5 pm. Because the water was warmer earlier in the afternoon, the girls could enjoy their shower.

David’s talent as a piano player had him perform at many weddings, dances and social functions, including our own Paluma Music Festivals. Don Battersby remembers David providing the musical entertainment at one of his birthday parties a few years ago; probably the last time David performed in Paluma.

Our sincere condolences go to David’s family on his passing.

 By Wilfred Karnoll

 

 

Famous Paluma structure goes up in flames!

Even the editors at Paluma.org can’t resist the odd attention grabbing headline (or click bait as it is now called) …….

Len Cook watches the smoke and flames emerging from the Anagama kiln

Last week saw the famous Anagama wood-fired kiln blaze into life at the Paluma Pottery on Lennox Crescent.  Len Cook, our local award-winning Pottter, spent the last several months making hundreds of pots of various sizes and shapes, in preparation for  the annual wood firing.

Len Cook at around 3am on the 4th day- still going strong

The process started last Monday evening (October 29) at 8pm and finished exactly 100 hours later at midnight on Friday. Prior to the start of the firing the lower part of the shelter that houses the kiln was chocked full of firewood, mostly pine and black wattle from the blocks at Hussey Road. By Friday most of the wood had been fed into the kiln, producing temperatures in excess of 2,000 degrees in the front part of the kiln. Continuous stoking of the fire was needed to maintain the temperatures that allow the wood ash that constantly flows over the pots to melt and form a wonderfully variable glaze on the pots.  Len, together with Kelly Davis and Jamie Oliver worked shifts feeding the kiln, monitoring temperatures and making the odd adjustment to airflow vents and shutters.

The pots started to glow after the first day and by the end of the firing the entire inside was glowing red.

Each time new wood was added (about every 15 min, 24 hours a day) the chimney would produce billows of smoke and fire, which was particularly impressive at night.

The kiln is currently in cool-down mode and Len will not know what the results of this year’s efforts have been until later this week. But given the wonderful results from previous firings, there should be some spectacular pieces.

More pictures:

 

 

 

 

Paluma Featured in RACQ Road Ahead Magazine

Paluma has an entry in the latest issue of the RACQ Road Ahead magazine in the “My Town” section.

The article was written by Michael Drew and features information on  what to do, where to eat and our main attractions. Thanks to Michael Drew for composing this article, which is intended to correct the impression in a previous RACQ article that there is little to do in Paluma.  A quick browse of our website should also dispel that notion!

Relics of a Bygone Era

On Friday 12th October, two new arrivals appeared on the lawns adjoining Lennox Crescent and Mount Spec Road.  They emerged from a dense cloud mist which enveloped Paluma that day, like visitors from the mists of time.  The ambience seemed fitting, as these new arrivals are relics of a bygone era; a timber hauler, which was used to haul timber on Mt Spec and a bitumen mixer used in surfacing the Range Road during the 1950’s.  The large, solid steel machines are well preserved and represent the epitome of engineering design and workmanship of their day.

The machines were for many years kept on a property on Spiegelhauer Road until Wilfred Karnoll acquired them and brought them up the Range on a tilt-tray to their new home on Mount Spec Road.  Appropriately, they are sited on the lawns of the former Cavilcade Guest House, which was built in the late 1930’s by Bert and Grace Cavill. The house is a historic landmark building in Paluma, and in its heyday in the 1930’s, accommodated tourists who travelled up the newly constructed road.

The former owner of these machines is Mrs Helen Davies whose late husband operated the timber hauler for dragging logs from the forests in the Paluma area.  The timber hauler is a Campbell bob-tail, No 122, manufactured by A.B. Campbell Engineering in Gloucester, NSW.   It was towed behind a small bulldozer.  A steel rope from the winch on the dozer ran over the pulley on the bob-tail.  By retracting the winch rope the heavy end of the log would be lifted off the ground and dragged out of the scrub to the loading ramps.  The logs would then be loaded onto trucks towing timber jinkers for transport to saw mills or the rail siding at Moongobulla.

The bitumen mixer was originally owned by the Main Roads Commission; its serial number is MRC 2776. There is no marking to indicate its age or the foundry in which it was built.  The machine was used in the surfacing of the Range road in the 1950’s.  Until then the road was unsealed.  The bitumen mixer carried a drum that had two sets of paddles running through it which mixed the liquid hot tar with sand and gravel to produce bitumen for sealing the road.  Unfortunately the engine driving the mixer via two leather belts, is missing.  Possibly it was a Southern Cross engine, one of which may eventually be obtained and set in place.

On the left side of the Range road, (going down) near The Saddle, are two steel tanks which were used to liquefy the tar.  These may be hard to locate, obscured as they are by long grass.

It is satisfying to have in the village these two solid reminders of Paluma’s past.  They complement the photographic history on display in the Community Hall of the industries, the people and the development of this area.

Text and photos by Colwyn Campbell

Blankets of Love Retreat at Paluma

Last Friday to Sunday (5-7 October) the annual three-day ‘Blankets of Love’ retreat was held at the Paluma Community Hall. Blankets of Love is a quilting group based in Townsville and the main prerequisite for membership is an absolute passion for making quilts. Last weekend’s retreat is the ninth year the event has been held at Paluma. There were 18 participants at this years event, travelling from Townsville, Bowen, Collinsville, Tully and Ravenswood.

For three days, the ladies stitched and sewed, piecing together some beautiful quilts for charity. This years theme was ‘children’s toys’ with each member of the group contributing a block or section of the various quilts. These ‘community quilts’ are then passed on to various charities and organisations such as the Royal Flying Doctor Service, Palliative Care, the Children’s Paediatric Emergency Unit and various nursing homes. The group recently donated 29 of their quilts to the Glendale Nursing Home in Townsville.

The Townsville Blankets of Love group formed in 2000 after a founding member suffered the devastating loss of a grandchild. Out of this hardship, was formed a truly dedicated and remarkable group of women. Their most important role is to make and provide small quilts which are passed on to social workers at hospitals. The quilts are given to parents suffering the loss of a baby and the hope is that the quilts will assist in the process of saying goodbye to the loved one.

The Townsville Blankets of Love group intends to return to Paluma next year (2019) to celebrate the 10th anniversary of their annual retreat. They are a truly remarkable group of women – every stitch a measure of their charity, kindness, compassion and love for others.

Blankets of Love is a charity and welcomes donations of fabric to produce their beautiful quilts. Anyone with fabric or materials to donate can contact Merle Prince on 0438 164 770.

 

Text & photos by Michele Bird

 

 

 

Vale John Plant

John Plant , the son of Flight Sergeant Bruce plant, died on 14 September 2018 .

John’s father was Paluma’s 1930s son who lies in a war cemetery in Germany, having been killed in 1943  piloting a Lancaster bomber as part of the legendary 460 SQN RAAF. The site of the incident has been generously marked by a local german group who seek out and memorialize such crash sites.

Bruce is remembered on our War Memorial following a recent ceremony conducted by members of the Garbutt RAAF ,where Bruce started his Wartime career as a Mess steward , but quickly rose through the ranks to become a Fighter Pilot at Amberley before training on Lancasters in Canada .Bruce was an outstanding Australian!

John and Bruce never met. A planned meeting on the Ipswich railway station was foiled by the fact that the train carrying Bruce did not stop leaving John’s mother bereft on the platform holding an infant John.

John suffered a tremendous detriment with the death of his father due to the extremely cruel actions of his step father until John broke free at age 13.

John secured a trade in a railway rolling stock construction company at Ipswich and his  great  intelligence , skills and wonderful personality stood him in good stead with that company all of his working life.

John’s wife Eunice was his great love and mainstay as he coped with the loss of his father in his younger years. Eunice is grief stricken at her loss of John.

John was most appreciative of the RAAF ceremony hosted by PDCA and his son Barry has again asked that the family’s thanks be passed on to Palumarites!

John’s story is typical of the repercussions of War where often the next generation of the person Killed in Action have a great burden to bear which is often unrecognised by more fortunate members of subsequent generations .

Lest We Forget ….the tribulations of the families of our War dead.

Michael Drew