A reminder to Paluma residents that the monthly Village Working Bee will take place this coming Saturday 6th May. The weather is beautiful so it’s a great time to get out in the fresh air to help with all those maintenance jobs around our village.
Please meet at the Community Hall at 2 pm and from there tasks will be assigned to team members. Refreshments will be provided after the work is done. If you have some garden tools (shovel, wheelbarrow, pruners, secateurs, etc) bring them along with you.
If you have any questions, Wilfred is the man to see.
Serving the Community for 40 years – Happy Birthday Paluma RFB!
Last Saturday the fire gods were shining down on the Paluma Community Centre and our beloved fire truck ‘Paluma 51’ was adorned with yellow and red balloons to give thanks to past members of the Paluma Rural Fire Brigade.
A modest but jubilant crowd of 30 people gathered to raise their glasses and help celebrate the 40th Anniversary, including a couple of visiting families. Paluma 51 as always was popular with the children. Don kindly manned the BBQ to cook an array of BBQ meats to perfection which was accompanied by gourmet salads of the exceptional Paluma standard.
Following lunch, 1st Officer Ross Hyne thanked those who had made the Brigade what it is today, still here after 40 years and to others for helping celebrate this auspicious occasion. Lynn Hyland provided some early historical narrative on the very beginnings of the Brigade which humbly started in April 1983 with a small loan from the Paluma Progress Association to purchase a trailer for housing firefighting equipment.
Following the speeches, the cutting of the cake was undertaken by some of the longest serving members of the Brigade, founding member and former 1st Officer Len Cook and Lynn and Les Hyland who have been active members for 36 years.
May the Brigade be here for another 40 years!
Interested in joining the Brigade or wondering how you can get involved? New members are always welcome. For more information, please contact Sonya on (0474) 324 153.
Text by Sonya Bryce, Secretary/Treasurer, Paluma Rural Fire Brigade.Photos by Sonya Bryce and Michele Bird.
Whenever you see Sam and Aline from Outer Limits Adventure around the village of Paluma, the chances are that their canine companion Harley is not too far away. Harley loves nothing better than to accompany his humans on a walk, run or cycle. In fact, most times Harley is leading the way with a big grin on his freckly face. Harley has been pretty busy just lately with lots happening at the Outer Limits Centre with training programs, renovations to install an ablutions block and the preparation work is in full swing for the upcoming Paluma Push in July.
Sam says that one of Harley’s favourite activities is to join him in the all-terrain vehicle for track surveillance and maintenance works. Sam just has to think about taking out the all-terrain vehicle and Harley is by his side, ready to roll on paw patrol. Strapped in securely in his canine harness, Harley looks extremely pleased with himself. Sam and Harley stopped briefly for a chat and photograph last weekend, but Harley was keen to keep moving. Harley is clearly living the (canine) dream and every day is an adventure for a busy Outer Limits action dog.
The monthly Working Bee at Paluma was held on Easter Saturday (8 April). A small group of volunteers turned up to undertake some much-needed tasks around the village. Colin and Richard carried out work along the Rainforest Walking Track in installing a new bench seat. Charlie, Anneshka, Wilfred and Michele took on the unenviable task of continuing the clean-up along the road verge at the Loop Road.
The clean-up involved trimming back the overgrown vegetation on the road side and in the table drain including dead wood, overhanging low branches, encroaching sword grass and a variety of introduced weeds including dense patches of Singapore daisy. We also tackled the last of the lantana along the (raised wall) road verge at the top of Loop Road. It was hard but satisfying work in tidying up this area, removing some noxious invasive weeds and (hopefully) improving the stormwater flow to the culvert at the bottom of Loop Road. We were rewarded with a cool drink at the end of the session…..and some of us took home some leeches and ticks for our efforts.
The next Working Bee will be held on Saturday 6th May so save the date and take up the challenge!
Text by Michele Bird. Photos by Charlie and Michele.
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!
There is no doubt that the Rooster on the Range Road has been the talk of the town over the past few months since he first appeared along the roadway at culvert 147 or thereabouts. I can’t recall the number of times I’ve been asked or have heard people remarking, ‘have you seen the rooster lately’?
Well, now some of Paluma’s local artists and craftspeople have taken inspiration from the wee Rooster. Jennie recently painted a portrait of the feisty fowl in all his splendour. She took inspiration from a photo taken by the Cooke’s in early January soon after the Rooster took up residence on the Range.
Ros and Jennie are now planning to transfer the image of the Rooster to coffee cups/mugs for sale at the upcoming Easter Market. Other images of birds native to Paluma are also being transferred to mugs from photos taken by local residents. The Riflebird will be featured as one of Paluma’s iconic native birds. Make sure you check out the Paluma-inspired crafts at this Sunday’s market stalls.
The ‘Portrait of a Rooster’ has already been sold and now hangs on the kitchen wall in a local Paluma residence.
Text & Photo by Michele Bird (no relation to the Rooster).
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.
