Category: Village news

Rooster Ramblings….

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).

Ramp Reno’s Completed

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

Ramp Reno’s at the Community Hall

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.

Text & Photos by Michele Bird

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 !

A Wet Working Bee

Come rain, hail or shine, nothing stops a working bee at Paluma.

A very successful working bee was held last Saturday (4 March) to carry out some much needed maintenance and clean up work round the village. The planned track repair works along the Rainforest Walking Track was postponed for the time being due to the wet weather, but there were plenty of other jobs to complete. The targeted works included installation of new signage at Whalley Crescent and the H-Track, pruning of vegetation along the road verge at the western end of the village and removal of wattle clippings near the tennis courts.

The seven very keen volunteers were: – Wilfred, Ian, Julie, Rob, Annesheke, John and Michele. The crew worked through the persistent and sometimes heavy showers of rain and nothing could dampen the enthusiasm for the jobs at hand. Well done to all those who came along to lend a hand.

The (damp) volunteers at Saturday’s working bee.
Putting your back into the working bee.
New signage at the western end of the H-Track.
New signage at Whalley Crescent.
Pruning of vegetation from the road verge at the western end of the village.

On a walk around the village you might also have noticed some new signage at the western end of Lennox Crescent to alert visitors to the H-Track and Len Cook Ceramics.

New signage at Lennox Crescent.

A recent clean-up of vegetation encroaching over the signage at the entrance to the village has also been undertaken, this volunteer work by Jamie. Some new signage to welcome visitors to Paluma is planned for this area in the future. Stay tuned…

Tidy up around the signage at the village entrance (volunteer work by Jamie).

Text & Photos by Michele Bird & Roy

The Rooster’s Still on the Run….

The canny Rooster is still on the run on the Paluma Range Road. My latest siting was last evening (Sunday 5 March) at culvert 147 just above The Saddle. There he was perched high atop a boulder overlooking the road. He did look a bit worse for wear and somewhat bedraggled after the heavy rain during the afternoon.

Many have tried and failed to trap, net or snare this elusive fellow without success. Some have gotten close, but the feisty fowl has so far eluded capture. The intent is to try and capture him and relocate him to a better life – on a farm or in a nice hen house where he can live out his best life. It must be lonely for a solitary renegade rooster on the Range Road.

Text & Photos by Michele Bird.