Music makes old feel young

Image from http://www.spiritus.org.au/

MUSIC is just about everywhere nowadays – in homes, cars, workplaces, shops, hearts and souls.
A quick glance around the passengers on any bus shows earphones hooked to the digital recordings of their favourite artists.
Most of society seems fully wired up for sound, and some powerful forces are at work in cultural, commercial and technological senses.
But those forces pale beside the experience that music can be for the frail elderly. Anyone who has seen what music can mean to nursing home residents, for instance, can better understand its power by sharing their tears and smiles.

FEW would understand this phenomenon better than Kiwi expat Rosalie Tasker, who came to Queensland from Hawkes Bay in 1988, armed with formidable musical talent and a wish to work with the elderly here.
Rosalie was a diversional therapist and music specialist with Blue Care and the Churches of Christ, then joined the former St Luke’s Nursing Services as a carer.
Now working at Cleveland in Spiritus Care Services’ central referral agency, Rosalie looks back on a career of not only presenting group programs but taking music into lives in other ways.
She knows music can soothe pain better than any drug.
"At one time I cared for an elderly gentleman who was suffering from arthritis," she says. "He told me he used to sing in the town hall so while I helped him shower we would sing duets together.
"He used to say how much he looked forward to my visit. He said, ‘For this half hour I don’t feel any pain’."

ROSALIE sums up the value of music to the elderly: "It evokes memories that can be sad or happy and fills them with a sense of well-being and connection with those around them. It makes them come alive."
She has shared the joy of singing with stroke victims as they rediscover their voices.
Rosalie recently resumed her musical work at The Regis Retirement Village at Salsibury and is now developing a new program for the elderly and disabled to combine all her experience in music and diversional therapy.
She advertised in Bayside Bulletin Classifieds for instruments and immediately received offers of a trumpet and a flute. Her wish list includes castanets, tambourine, triangle, ukulele, Irish whistle, drums and musical bells but she says the program will use any instrument.

THANKS for joining me to meet the great people in the marvellous community of classified advertising. This story has appeared in The Redland Times, Cleveland, Redland Shire, Queensland, Australia.

More about those terrific terriers

Image: Just one of the many cute terrier pictures on show at Gumhaven Kennels -Tenterfield Terriers.

Maureen Schutt, inspired by the recent reference to her favourite dog breed, writes:

JUST wondered if you are aware of the history. Miniature Fox Terrier, Tenterfield - same dog, new name. I was there when the dog was renamed.
The canine association would let us register the dogs under the name mini fox terrier as they were not a miniaturisation of the Fox Terrier, but made up of other breeds as well.
In order to move forward with these little dogs we had to rename them. Several names were put forward and as Don Burke for some reason had started referring to them as a Tenterfield and so it was decided to go with that as people were getting familiar with that name and we felt calling them something else again would be too confusing basically.
So the Miniature Fox Terrier clubs changed their names to Tenterfield Terrier clubs. There is still an offshoot Mini Foxie Club in NSW of a few members that did not want to change the name, but as such their dogs cant be shown at Australian National Kennel Club shows, nor are their pups registered with the ANKC (Australian National Kennel Council ). The Tenterfield Terrier is the Official name.

MAUREEN also sent the following text "from the history page":

It is believed they used the smaller progeny of the Fox Terrier and outcrossed it to other breeds to bring the dog down in size.
There appears to have been many inputs of other breeds over the years, with probable inclusion of Chihuahua, Whippet, Manchester Black and Tan, Min Pin and Italian Greyhounds. The dog has commonly been referred to as the "Miniature Fox Terrier".
In the early 1990s a group of interested owners, who wanted to secure the future of this terrier, advertised for interested persons to attend their first meeting.
This meeting led to the formation of the Miniature Fox Terrier Club of SA. A similar club had been running in NSW for some time prior to this. A club was then formed in WA and the breed registry was established soon after, with the first entries being January 1991.
In 1992, it became quite apparent that if we were to eventually have this wonderful little dog recognised by the ANKC, the name of "Miniature Fox Terrier" was extremely inappropriate as the terrier was not a miniaturisation of the Fox Terrier.
We, as a club, could understand this valid point. The link to the Fox Terrier is long since removed.
After consultation with all club members, moves were then made through SA, WA and NSW to instigate a name change for the breed.
Numerous ideas were put forward which resulted in a ballot to all members of the SA, WA and NSW Clubs. After much publicity via the media, it was strongly voted (some 85% of returned votes) to embrace the name "Tenterfield Terrier".

Maureen Schutt is president of the Tenterfield Terrier Club of South Australia.
(TTCSA).

Classifieds give comfort after family dog dies

Image: Dog meets kitten. Courtesy of Tenterfield Terrier Club of South Australia Incorporated.

THANKS to all who have expressed condolences over the recent loss of a much-loved family member, our 10-year-old desexed Tenterfield bitch.
The most heart-warming element of the feedback on my obituary of Penny (Classie Corner, February 1) was that no one seemed to worry about me writing about a dead dog when people are dropping off like flies.
But that is simply the attraction of the ‘Mini Foxie’ and the cousin breed, Tenterfield terrier, which Penny represented.

MY research into the Tenterfield breed during this state of mourning has scratched up some interesting tidbits for all the ‘minifoxiephiles’:
Former TV producer and presenter Don Burke claims the credit for naming the breed, "Tenterfield terrier", in the 1990s.
The website, www.burkesbackyard.com.au, says: "The Tenterfield terrier was first known and bred around the Tenterfield area -- hence the name suggested by Don Burke. They were originally bred as farm dogs …"
This seems to be a bit of modern history but don’t let it turn you off a great little dog. Such a discovery during the wailing and gnashing of teeth in grief failed to dampen my enthusiasm for Mini Foxies.
I simply shut down the computer – as one would – and turned to the Classifieds Pets column for comfort.

HERE, I found a Macleay Island family that shares our deep love of the tiny dogs whose ‘nervous’ shiver disguises a warrior’s heart.
Jenny and Chris Power and their daughters, Liarna and Tamara, moved to the island from Inverell about a month ago.
The couple operates building firm C and J Power Constructions. Breeding Tenterfields has been Jenny’s hobby for about four years since she brought her first T. terrier, Miffi.

JENNY will always remember the move, with three terriers: Miffi; a puppy that was the last of Miffi’s most recent litter; and the Powers’ desexed male Tenterfield, Boss.
"We could even stay at motels with the three of them on the back of the truck," Jenny said. "They didn’t bark, or cause one little bit of fuss.
"That is to me what is so good about the breed – they are just so loyal, you can just about take them with you anywhere."
Jenny advertised the puppy – and found it home – just as our Penny either went to the dog basket in the sky or stayed below to spook a rat or two.
Luckily, the rest of my family was crying too much to read the Classifieds that week. I will have to hide the paper in a few months because Jenny is looking for a good match for Miffi around the southern bay islands.

THANKS for joining me to meet the great people and other creatures in the marvellous community of classified advertising. This story has appeared in The Redland Times, Cleveland, Redland Shire, Queensland, Australia.

Farewell to 'Queen of the Classifieds'

EVEN the name of the species, Ratus ratus, is enough to make most humans shudder with revulsion.
A glimpse of one anywhere around a home will bring shrieks of disgust and terror.
Ratus ratus, the rodent that came to Australia with European settlement and has been credited with spreading the "black death" plague, is an ugly sight.
For the past 10 years, my family has had protection against rats through the services of a specialist rat remover.

PENNY, a Tenterfield terrier, came to us, thanks to the marvellous community of classified advertising.
Wife spotted ad and announced, "There’s a purebred Tenterfield in the Pets column for $25." Dad pretended not to hear but two little girls ensured he received the message.
Then he said the price must have been a ‘misprint’ dropping a zero or two. But soon the family walked to the front door on an acreage property.
A relative of the advertiser had bred Penny, then 18 months old, but an older Tenterfield had dominated over her and the owners decided it was best to find her a new home.
The low price tag was a statement of principle to say the dog was not simply a worthless giveaway, we were told, as Penny shook nervously in her basket.

SO the dog came home with us. When she was inside our house for the first time, she rolled on her back and weed. I felt like taking her back. It seemed we had taken over a lapdog with severe psychological problems.
But Penny did not have any more many accidents like that.
Within a few weeks she was running the house -- and neighbourhood when she could – showing an amazing physique with bulging muscles and sharp ears.
This type of dog often trembles but it is not a sign of weakness, that’s for sure.

WE had Penny for several years before I saw her pounce on a black snake on our block. She levitated off the ground with the snake in her jaws, shaking her head amazingly fast.
Then she dropped the snake’s lifeless body and, apparently dizzy from all the shaking, staggered around in circles.
At that point, I resolved to never judge a book by its cover. This was not the quivering jelly that had appeared to suffer from extremely bad nerves; it was a machine, sleek and efficient.
Some time later, we saw her chase a rat from the property and catch it within about 20m. The rat didn’t have a chance.

IN an amazing contrast, Penny welcomed a tiny kitten to the household with a play bow and they immediately became good pals, rolling and running around in mock battle. The dog would also protect our cockatiel against feline instincts by positioning herself between the cat and the bird, just in case …
We had lots of good times with Penny, who died this month. She was the best dog we could have had. For me, she will always be the Queen of the Classifieds.

THANKS for joining me to meet the great creatures in the marvellous community of classified advertising. This story has appeared in The Redland Times, Cleveland, Redland Shire, Queensland, Australia.

'French heart in art while Aussies simply wonder'

Image: The famous bronze sculpture, The Thinker, by Auguste Rodin. Courtesy wikipedia.

QUITE apart from kangaroos, meat pies and a certain brand of cars, the broad subject of Australian culture has been on the mind of at least one Victoria Point woman.
The focus for Anne-Laure Demene is our attitude to art.
Bubbling with French tradition a quarter of a century after migrating from New Caledonia, the sculptor known as "Laurie" reflects that most Aussies still seem to lack an understanding of the value of art to society.
"In Australia, people will see a work of art and ask, 'What do you use it for?'," Laurie laments."But art is really about the feeling it gives. You look at a painting or a sculpture and you must feel something - it may be peace or beauty.
"This is in the French culture, it's in every home and you can't leave any home without taking with you some of that feeling."

LAURIE has been among the quiet achievers on the Queensland art scene since she began sketching and painting in earnest while studying interior design and then found a calling from the third dimension.
Her mentors have included respected Queensland sculptors George Virine and Frank Lambert.
Working in clay in a traditional manner, Laurie specialises in portraits and figurative works, glazed and fired or cast in bronze and other mediums.
Many commissions and exhibitions are on Laurie's lengthy CV, which includes two public monuments - one at Logan and another, the King of the Islands portrait, for Wallis Islands, which are part of the French culture in the Pacific region.
Her recent portrait subjects have included Redlands mayor Don Seccombe and the former Logan mayor John Freeman.
Laurie also has completed a portrait of the most famous mountaineer, Sir Edmund Hillary, who died in January in New Zealand.
She is a member of the International Creative Community (ICC), which she describes as "an exchange of artists from allover the world".

"WE went to South Korea and next year will go to Canada," Laurie says. "I am teaching but at the same time believe it is important that I keep learning through workshops (local or overseas) and courses."
Laurie's work is exhibited at Contrasting Colours Gallery at Raby Bay and the Luba Gallery at Milton. Her current projects include a trophy commissed by an overseas client.

THANKS for joining me to meet the great people in the marvellous community of classified advertising. This story has appeared in The Redland Times, Cleveland, Redland Shire, Queensland, Australia.

Little boy changes others' eating habits

Image: Organic vegetables at a farmers' market in Argentina. Courtesy wikipedia.

WHILE corporations budget millions of dollars on advertising to promote health and its soul sister, well-being, a young Victoria Point boy has spent not a cent to get people eating a healthy diet.
The saying that an ailment can actually help keep you healthy seems to ring true as the fitness culture grabs more time and space in our mass media.
But Nelson Bennett, 6, can claim the credit for changing dietary attitudes in his family and then inspiring a move to supply diet-conscious Redlanders with the right food.
"Nelson was quite sick and had a few health problems when he was younger so we looked at his diet," his mum, Nicole, says.
"I started by taking out the food with preservatives and additives and as I researched more I realised our bodies certainly do not need the chemicals and toxins that are sprayed on fruit and vegetables.
"Produce may be sprayed with numerous different chemicals and in some cases it may be sprayed daily for two weeks before it reaches the market."

NICOLE turned to certified organic produce for her family, which also includes husband Mark and their other two children, Tristan, now 11, and Latique, 2.
However, she was dissatisfied with the availability of such products in the district. About 18 months ago, Nicole started a business, Wholesome Organics, with the slogan, "Refrigerated delivery to your home or office - afforbable, healthy, chemical-free living".
Our regular readers have become familiar with the splash of colour Nicole's ad brings to our For Sale column, with pictures of fresh fruit standing out in the fine print of many listings.
Nicole says our Classifieds have been an important tool to supplement a "word of mouth" approach in steady growth of the business.
Wholesome Organics now supplies dozens of Redlanders with certified organic produce that it sources from the Rocklea markets and directly from organic growers, she says.

PART of the organic experience is to embrace the philosophy of the seasonal influences, taking advantage of nature rather than opting for techniques to grow produce outside its normal season or to increase its storage life, Nicole says.
"Everthing we sell has been immediately picked and is not, for instance, coming out of a cold store months after harvest," she says.
Wholesome Organics' modest accommodation is a trailer that features eye-catching artwork incorporating a shining sun.
The proprietor believes selling organic produce must have a bright future and her aims include development of an educational emphasis including a website.Nelson and his siblings, meanwhile, are doing their bit, presenting as healthy ambassadors for the organic cause.

THANKS for joining me to meet the great people in the marvellous community of classified advertising. This story has appeared in The Redland Times, Cleveland, Redland Shire, Queensland, Australia.

Olympian helps hockey expand to Redlands

It seems like millennia since I posted on this site but the time span has just been that loved and hated "silly season". Throw in a tooth extraction, the death of a family pet, a New Year’s Eve gig playing some jazz classics at Aunty Alice’s Café and Restaurant on Russell Island in southern Moreton Bay and a few more distractions and I must admit I have been neglectful of the marvellous community of classified advertising. So here’s another catch-up of published columns. The image (courtesy http://www.hockey.org.au/) is hockey great Angie Lambert, who features in this story, which appeared in The Redland Times, Cleveland, Redland Shire, Queensland, Australia.

SPORT history will record Tuesday, December 18,2007, as a great day for the Redlands, celebrating its affiliation with the hockey community of the state, nation and world.
A core of eight dedicated people formed Redlands Hockey Association this year, aiming to start junior competitions next season.
Victoria Point Sharks Sporting Club is the venue for Tuesday's 7pm meeting, which will move to affiliate with the State body, Hockey Queensland.
The attendance of about 150 juniors at "Hook into Hockey" introductory sessions in the Redlands between July and September has shown the strong interest in the sport, says association secretary Alison Brennan.
Alison says Hockey Queensland's former game development officer, Bernadette Pangrazio, started the Redlands hockey push, which has benefited from the involvement of Australian hockey ambassador, Angie Lambert.

ANGIE plays with the state side, the Scorchers, while also representing the nation with the Hockeyroos.
Although she does not live in the Redlands, Angie has been keenly interested in fostering the sport here, Alison says.
Angie's sporting credits include an Olympic gold medal in Sydney in 2000, when at 19 years old with her maiden name, Skirving, she was the youngest member of the Australian team and the second youngest hockey player in history to win Olympic gold.
She has been an Australian squad member since 1999.
The new association has another link with the elite levels through its chairperson Melanie Woosnam, a former Hockeyroo.

MELANIE is due to return from a marathon in Hawaii on Monday in time for the big meeting, Alison says.
"We are confident of getting competition up and running in March even though we don't officially have home grounds yet," Alison says.
"We are negotiating with the council and we are hoping Ormiston State School will allow us to use their fields so we can push ahead with the association."
Alison, a former New South Wales state and country junior player, says the pace of hockey attracts energetic youngsters.
"It's a fast and exciting sport that both boys and girls can play - and I think that makes it special," she says.

About 'that' time of the year

Here’s another column that appeared in The Redland Times in December. Louise Denisenko’s Running Errands also featured in an earlier post.

THE heat turns up in more ways than one as we head to the perfect Aussie Christmas, sizzling in the summer sun and half enjoying the sense of anticipation or panic that some call "excitement".
Whatever the condition may be, it infects even this writer, a ‘scrooge’ from way back, with the suffering exacerbated by his name’s appearance on the Christmas Day newsroom rosters year after year and decade after decade.
Thank heavens my shift work is in the past but in the publishing fields we always know Santa is coming because his helpers splash holly around our columns with a colourful warning, "Christmas deadlines".
Now, that’s really cheerful, isn’t it? Decoration with a punch.
Which leads me to the subject of time management, very important for the festive season.
Redlands time-management guru Louise Denisenko says the golden rule for the Christmas is: Get Organised Early (GOE).

LOUISE has been on the ‘GOE case’ for years. She has made a profession of watching clock and calendar. She carries the title of "personal concierge" with her Victoria Point-based business, Running Errands.
My apologies for not passing on her profound advice sooner. Louise had the first laugh in her September newsletter, announcing "Ho ho ho – none of us really want to know this but Christmas is just around the corner!" and offering help with office parties and shopping lists.
Louise, who signs off her correspondence with "Time to run", says the sub-title on rule No. 1 is: Avoid a last-minute rush.
No one likes to show a face matching Santa’s suit, so Louise’s other festive season suggestions can save embarrassment.
Her No.2 golden rule is: Always make a gift list for family, friends and corporateclients so you don’t forget anyone.
And No.3: Buy a couple of extra presents so they are under the tree at those special moments when friends drop in with an unexpected gift for you.

BUSINESSES need to think about Christmas even earlier than families, says Louise, who has found that most party venues are pre booked by early or mid year.
However, in the true spirit of goodwill, she says no late starters on Christmas business should give up hope.
"It may not be too late," she consoles. "We are able to do all the leg work for you."
The service extends to "some great gift ideas that will save you time and stress".
"Any gifts you require can be brought direct to your home or business and can be beautifully wrapped.
"Personalised beer or wine with your company logo or personal photo is also a nice gift."

THANKS for joining me in the marvellous community of classified advertising.

Garage sale season hits high note

Whether greed or hunger is the motivation, garage sales are the focus for hundreds of thousands or maybe even a seven-digit total of Aussies each weekend. As the Classie Corner clean-up continues, the image is an old ColTone guitar that the writer bought for $20 at a garage sale. Today’s post appeared last month in The Redland Times, Cleveland, Redland Shire, Queensland, Australia.

THE spring racing season fades into the pages of history as another big cup goes up for grabs.
In this marvellous race, stayers and sprinters alike compete for the title of Redlands garage sale capital.
Our columns get busier than the betting ring at Flemington as householders get efficient in the race to the finish on Christmas Day.
We are heading into the straight with only four editions of the Times before Christmas -- a hectic but fascinating time for garage sale addicts as bargains galore go on offer to raise cash for the festive season.

THE last time the Classie Corner Garage Sale Cup was awarded, Victoria Point, had a quarter of all advertised sales in the four weeks before Christmas to claim the title from a field of 11 Redland suburbs.
With 32 sales that festive season, Victoria Point was 13 ‘lengths’ ahead of runner-up Cleveland (19 sales). Alexandra Hills (17) was third.
In a trial for the 2007 month-long frenzy, last week’s Times featured 50 garage sales. And that statistic alone tells of the Redlands’dramatic growth.
The total of advertised sales in the entire four-week period of 2005 was 140, so the 2007 contest will be interesting.
Last week, Alex Hills and Birkdale tied on eight sales. Capalaba and Wellington Point were equal on seven. Cleveland had five, Thornlands four and Redland Bay and Victoria Point each had three.

CHRISTMAS preparations are getting a boost this year from a Times Free Classified Clearance for November, with free ads for single items under $150.
The clearance gave me the opportunity to hear the lovely musical Irish accent of a longtime Redland Bay resident, Irene, who advertised a four-burner barbecue with gas bottles for $150.
Irene is looking past Christmas to a new-year move to Redland Heights to be closer to her favourite swimming enclosure.
Irene migrated to the Redlands about 20 years ago after she visited family members about a decade earlier.
"It was such a beautiful area," she says. "I was taken in by all the fruit and vegetables and the farms. I came from Belfast and it was amazing to see all the fruit being grown."
Many of the fields now grow houses but Irene says she still enjoys the natural beauty during walks with her retriever, Milly.

THANKS for joining me to meet the people in the marvellous community of classified advertising.

Skills mix in recipe for business success

Image of Minjerribah Holiday Camp from http://www.stradbroke.com/. You’ll get lots of references to the camp on a Google search.

TAKE the discipline of university degrees in marine science and computing technology, mix them with the culinary skills of a chef, add a generous dash of entrepreneurial nous and you have the recipe for an impressive business enterprise.
But still a lot more ingredients are going into the achievements of Redlands couple Laetitia and Stephen St Baker, who head a team of about 70 working in their businesses, Minjerribah Holiday Camp and Catering With Flair.
The success story spreads over beautiful Moreton Bay, from the holiday camp they established in former miner’s quarters on North Stradbroke 16 years ago, to the mainland ‘high society’ at premier social occasions that they cater for.

NEXT week will be particularly busy for Laetitia, catering for two of the highlights of the Christmas social calendar at Redlands Cultural Centre.
She says mayor Don Seccombe will host about 200 members of the business community on Wednesday and about 300 guests the next day at a party for the shire’s volunteers.
The St Bakers must look forward to a Christmas break themselves after a big year in which Catering With Flair featured at major functions including the shire’s chamber of commerce, retail, tourism and fashion awards.
The caterers themselves have had lots of award success, including in 2007 the firm’s second Australian Bridal Industry Award for best independent caterer and Laetitia’s award for meat and poultry in the Olivado Australian Chef Quest.

WHILE the catering business has impressed the Redlands movers and shakers, Minjerribah has continued its service to school communities from afar.
Laetitia says the camp, benefiting from the wide environmental diversity of North Stradbroke, hosts between 300 and 350 camps a year for primary school groups.
"The island has it all – surf and calm water, freshwater lakes, bush and heath, whale watching, kayaking and lots of activities," she says.
"It is so close to so many diverse habitats."
Marine science camps were a ‘must’. Laetitia qualified as a marine biologist before she became a chef. Stephen was a computer programmer before he became an entrepreneur.
Laetitia says geography camps have been a big success, partly because of the rehabilitation after sand mining.

THE couple has some exact criteria for operating one of the State’s most popular camps.
"The main things in a good school camp are: Plenty of good fresh food; everything most be clean and tidy; plenty of hot water; and exciting fun activities," she says.
Sharing just one aspect of the youngsters’ joy in discovery gives her probably the biggest kick.
The faces of the country kids who have never seen the ocean make all the work worthwhile, she says.
THANKS for joining me to meet the people in the marvellous community of classified advertising.

How a kid grew up to drive his old schoolbus

This column has appeared in The Redland Times, Cleveland, Redland Shire, Queensland, Australia.
MOST kids can only dream about climbing behind the wheel and taking control of the marvellously dependable vehicle that ensures they have the chance of a good education.
But Jason Healey has a place in bayside history as the Redlands schoolkid who grew up to drive the same Redlands Transport schoolbus that took him to school each morning and brought him home in the afternoon.
It was a memorable day when the former Mt Cotton State Primary School pupil realised just about every little boy’s dream.
There he was at last – not only in the driver’s seat but also with reporters taking notes and television cameras "rolling".

JASON says he was 19 years old in 1991 when he was declared as Queensland’s youngest bus driver and worked on the same school service he had used as a child. In 1999, he drove the same bus on another route.
Now aged 36, Jason is still one of the "babies" in the army that operates the main Redlands service under the Veolia banner as part of the State Government’s TransLink system.
"Only two drivers are younger than me and they are both in their thirties – the majority of drivers are in their fifties," Jason says.
Jason doesn’t cop much cheek from his seniors, however, because he is now the operations supervisor at the company’s Capalaba depot, presiding over a fleet of 130 buses, each clocking an average 2500-3000 kilometres a week.
The logistics of putting at least 120 buses a day on their routes – including new services to the shire’s boom southern areas including Victoria Point, Redland Bay and Point Talburpin – are behind Veolia’s current recruitment campaign in our classifieds.

NOW with about 150 drivers, the depot needs at least 20 more, Jason says. The need is so great he will even promise successful applicants the chance to pilot the depot’s 10 new $450,000 Mercedes buses, delivered in October.
That’s a far cry from the old 1979 Bedford Jason that took Jason to school.
We hear a lot about the ‘ageing’ of society but bus driving must be at the forefront and at this stage Jason certainly has no challengers for his special place in history.
He says anyone, regardless of age, may apply if they can get a minimum MR-class licence and Queensland Transport driver’s authority and to meet Veolia’s high standards may apply.
By the way, Jason grew up at Sheldon and now lives at Redland Bay.

THANKS for joining me to meet the people in the marvellous community of classified advertising.

How Willys jeep carried George through WW2

This column has appeared in The Redland Times, Cleveland, Redland Shire, Queensland Australia. Image of 1943 Willys jeep from wikipedia. This jeep carries US emblem. George Rush transported Australian army officers in Willys jeeps in Borneo and New Guinea during World War Two.


A LONG journey through life reflects in George Rush’s voice as he talks about the cycads his daughter, Jennifer Campbell, has advertised for sale in our classifieds.
"I like cycads but these are not mine," George says.
"My daughter is busy so we are taking messages. I think she wants to renovate. She lives at Capalaba."
George is 90 years old. Taking messages is far removed from the labours of his past.

BORN in Kilcoy in 1917, George says he grew up in the country, milking cows. He left school at 14 to cut railway sleepers out of ironbark, tallowood and grey gums from the north coast forests.
"In those days, at 14 you were a man nearly, not like the kids of today," he says.
"When I was 17 or 18 and could drive, I had fruit runs in Caloundra and I went into the food game.
"My parents lived at Mooloolah and I spent a lot of time around Glenview and Landsborough. Caloundra was my main town.
"I worked in Roma Street, Rocklea, for 31 years. In the markets, you work in all the different jobs in all the sections.
"It’s born into you. Wherever you pulled up (in a truck), you’d have to carry the stuff – the bags of pumpkins and spuds were about 140 or 150 pounds (63 or 68kg). By gee, they were heavy.
"I’d carry two cases of apples on my shoulder."

GEORGE had World War Two service as an army driver attached to the 7th Division in Borneo and New Guinea.
His main duty was to transport officers in a Willys jeep, often to the front line to "see how the boys were going".
"It’s not a real funny place to be – shells whistling around and going off everywhere," he says. "We had to stop and dive into a hole to get away from them."
When landing off a barge in Borneo, his jeep, "hooked up to a two-pound gun" sank in the truck tracks but the motor, fully submerged in the ocean but waterproofed, kept going and pulled through the slush.
George still keeps busy around the Cleveland home where he and his wife of 66 years, Audrey, have lived for the past 20 years.

THE couple lived at Coorparoo while he worked at the markets but later moved to Cleveland, then to Stone’s Corner and Camp Hill before returning to Cleveland.
"There’s a lot of work to do around the house," he says. "I have a bit of corn coming up and just had some nice beans. I have been an old bushman most of my life."
George says doctors credit his good health in his senior years to his lifetime of hard work.

THANKS for joining me to meet the great people in the marvellous community of classified advertising. More stories on classiecorner.blogspot.com.

'Gentle missile' goes missing

This column has appeared in The Redland Times, Cleveland, Redland Shire, Queensland, Australia. Image of scrub python courtesy Stewed Thoughts.

A BACKGROUND in aviation shows when Capalaba bus driver Mario Mayerhofer describes his pet snake, Buff, as a "gentle missile".
"He’s very sleek and about 17 to 18 kilograms and he’s all muscle," Mario says, of the 5.5m scrub python.
The missile is missing.
Buff and Kah, his mate of the same species, slid away in the dark of night after a branch dropped on to their cage during a Sunday storm last month.
Four days later, a nearby resident hosing her hedge came face to face with Kah, who matches Buff’s length but at 28kg outweighs him by about 10kg.
The encounter qualified the woman for a $500 reward, which Mario offered on leaflets and posters.

ANOTHER $500 is waiting for anyone who helps Mario find Buff.
Notices in our Classifieds have failed to turn up any leads.
Mario and Kah, who may be carrying Buff’s babies, are both pretty glum right now.
The last time Buff and Kah had babies, 18 big bundles of joy, each 82cm long, emerged from the eggs, Mario says.
Mario’s interest in snakes dates from his childhood in the Bavarian city of Passau, where he later worked as an aircraft engineer and pilot in general aviation, while breeding boa constrictors.
His migration to Queensland in 1992, following his mum and her husband, Nandor and Alfie Farnady, meant a break with boas.
Mario says the three now focus on breeding native Australian snakes, including not just the scrub pythons but other species including tigers, redbelly blacks and king browns – all strictly in accordance with the rules, standards and licensing requirements.

A 5.5-METRE-LONG python of a species that hails from Cape York Peninsula cannot hide forever in an urban environment. Mario simply hopes Buff is staying out of trouble.
"I am worried that he may kill a dog," Mario says. "He will retreat from a human threat but he could give a nasty bite if anyone tried to handle him
"There is the chance he has been hit by a car or someone has done him in, which would be a tragedy."
Mario says he has received a lot of help from bayside snake catcher Geoff Jacobs in breeding snakes.
"Geoff says no dog or other animal around here would touch Buff," Mario says.
The worry about Buff has been hanging over Mario’s head as he has started a new career as a bus driver.
He has worked in Australian aviation at Archerfield, Queensland, and Benalla, Victoria, but says he finally has opted for the security of regular, fulltime work.
But still he thinks of missiles, particularly the one that’s missing.

THANKS for joining me to meet the people and other great creatures in the marvellous community of classified advertising.


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Classy classie writer makes mark

THE Australian Newspaper History Group has reported: "The Bendigo Advertiser's ‘Strictly Classified’ column won an award for its marketing initiative in a field attracting entries from prestigious metropolitan titles, including the Age and South China Morning Post, to smaller regional dailies and free weekly papers across the entire Pacific region.
"Even before recognition of the column by the Pacific Area Newspaper Publishers' Association, the novel column concept had been picked up by others papers in the Rural Press network.
"Judges described the column by Sarah Harris as ‘effective and interesting’ because it delved into the personal and emotional motives behind advertisements appearing in the newspaper's classified section."
More on the Advertiser’s site, which ran the interesting picture, showing the paper has not only great writing but also impressive photographic talent.
Congratulations, Sarah, but please put your columns online to share them with the world.

Londoner prickles knees on Aussie weeds

This column has appeared in The Redland Times, Cleveland, Redland Shire, Queensland, Australia. Image of Mill Field, part of the 849ha of "green spaces" in the London Borough of Barnet, from www.barnet.gov.uk.

THE prickly problem of the weed, bindii, has been so bad this spring that just about everyone and anyone has been yelling, "Ouch".
Even Redland Council, in its weekly column, has had a whinge about the bindii plague it said was gripping south-east Queensland lawns.
Although the council advised householders to seek counsel on suitable elimination, a Gardening Australia Online Forum appears to give "knife and bucket’ the vote as the best organic way to tackle bindii.
One forum blogger has recommended an early morning attack while the dew-drenched weeds stretch in the rising sun.

CAPALABA’s Dave Franklin certainly exercised his north London vocal cords on the dreaded bindii the other day.
"They prickled me knees, didn’t they," he said, with the thick brogue of the Borough of Barnet, after a gardening job at Ormiston.
With a business called Redrose Garden Services brandishing that frightfully British flower as its logo in our Gardening Services column, Dave is accustomed to a prickle or two after 20 years of gardening in two countries.
But the bindii is well worth complaining about. A Londoner apparently would not miss this plague for the world.
In fact, Dave could have been waiting for this moment after migrating about seven years ago as the husband of the former Vanessa Chalk, who grew up amid the then undoubtedly bindii-infested lawns of Capalaba but lived prickle free with her family in Barnet for some years.

THE couple already had a toddler when they moved to the Redlands and eldest son, Thomas, is now nine years old, with two brothers -- Alex, 4, and Nicholas, 3.
Dave not only is a career gardener offering a full range of services from "soft landscaping" to, you guessed it, "weed control" but also carries on a proud family tradition.
He says his dad, Tony, was a gardener for about 45 years, mainly in the "posh areas like Kensington and Chelsea", before an early retirement about six years ago.
The son admits his Redland client list lacks at least some of the status of dad’s customers, who included the Duke of Bedford, actor Ralph Fiennes, singer Leo Sayer and the odd business tycoon or two.
Dave says his parents travel to many countries, including Canada and the United States, where their two daughters now live. They get to Capalaba every 18 months to two years.

LET’s hope Tony is on the way. Dave says the boys have been complaining about the bindiis in the Franklins’ own lawn.
But Dave is resolute: "I’m not going to come home to work on my own place after taking care of everybody else’s weeds every damned day, am I?"
Maybe it’s because he’s a Londoner. When Tony’s here, they can sing that famous chorus in stereo with the lawn as their stage.

THANKS for joining me to meet the people in the marvellous community of classified advertising.

Talk replaces tackles in RL double header

This column has appeared in The Redland Times, Cleveland, Redland Shire, Queensland, Australia. Image of Titans logo from wikipedia.

THE 2007 rugby league season is well and truly over but at least two more bursts of energy will come next month at Pinklands Sports Ground.
Redlands league fans will have two great events back to back on the evening of Wednesday, November 7, but with lots of talk replacing the tackles and tries.
The annual general meeting of the Redlands Junior Rugby League Club at 6pm will be a curtain raiser to the Redlands Leagues Club’s AGM at 7.15.
Both meetings are set to draw big crowds, with the sports arm in particular experiencing a huge increase in numbers.

JUNIORS registrar and secretary Sue Smith says the club, now the third largest junior league club in south-east Queensland, fielded 29 teams last season.
"We have had an influx of about 200 players in the past three years, making probably about 10 more teams," Sue says.
The club, now with about 580 players, failed this year to win a premiership for the first season in some years but Sue says achievements included grand final berths for three division-three sides – the under 13s, 15s and 18s -- and a runner-up trophy for the masters.
Sue says the State selection of under-14 lock forward Chris Gronvould for the second year in a row has also been a season highlight and the club’s players have benefited from special training sessions, as part of their club’s relationship with NRL newcomers, the Gold Coast Titans.
"We have a lot of talent and are really looking forward to Chris and the others moving up an age division with us next season," Sue says.

RUGBY league is a consuming interest at the Smith family’s Thornlands home.
Sue’s husband, Peter, plays wing with the masters and last season coached the under-12As, including son Justin in the forwards.
Justin’s brother, Daniel, was under-10s five-eighth.
Sue says she enjoys her work with the club, after three years as registrar, and has accepted nomination for her second term as secretary.
"Many of the people who have joined the club over the past few years have commented how friendly it is," she says.
"The grounds are spectacular."
Redlands Juniors have had their base at Pinklands since 1971.

THANKS for joining me to meet the people of the marvellous community of classified advertising.

Nissan Bluebird awaits truth after smash

This column has appeared in The Redland Times, Cleveland, Redland Shire, Queensland, Australia. Image of 1986 Nissan Bluebird from wikipedia.

A TEENAGER’s first car always has a special place right near the heart.
Apprentice butcher Jason Gardiner was only 18 when he bought a 1985 Nissan Bluebird for $2000.
"We got it cheap from one of my aunty’s workmates," Jason says. "It’s old but it means a lot to me. It’s my means of entertainment, I guess."
The car now sits in the yard of Jason’s Nelson Street, Ormiston, home. He cannot drive it because a damaged guard on the rear passenger side rubs on the tyre.
Jason nursed the Bluebird home slowly, with his friends’ parents acting as escorts and providing flashing emergency lights, after an accident on Finucane Road, Alexandra Hills.
He says he had a green arrow to make a righthand turn to drop off the friend when a car coming in the opposite direction came through a red light and hit the Bluebird.

JASON says he was confused after the accident -- "I didn’t really know what happened."
But he says the other driver, a young man of ethnic appearance, said he was sorry, before police arrived and took notes.
Jason believes the other driver, who was "pretty shaken up too", showed some sort of international licence to the police.
"A woman who was following him stopped and told me she would be a witness for me," Jason says.
It seemed straightforward for Jason to claim his repairs against the other driver’s car insurance.
"His insurance company has told me he told them that I was in the wrong," Jason says.
"I thought I’d be able to get the witness’s name from the police but they told me at Cleveland station they don’t have any written report of police being there on the night."

THAT is why a notice has appeared in our classifieds, "Witness sought," appealing for "the lady that witnessed the accident" near the Alexandra Hills Hotel about 10pm on September 9.
Jason says his grandmother, Patrica Gardiner, also of Ormiston, placed the ad for him and also has loaned him her Mitsubishi sedan, which was getting him to his job at Victoria Point.
He says the emergency vehicle is a better car than his old Nissan but he would rather drive the Bluebird, which a panel-beater friend may repair, cheaply but still with some costs.
"I was in the right so I don’t think I should have to pay anything," Jason says.

THANKS for joining me to meet the people in the marvellous community of classified advertising.

Rugby back runs with pizza

This story has appeared in The Redland Times, Cleveland, Redland Shire, Queensland, Australia. Image from www.dominos.com.au. More on Redlands rugby on www.redlands.rugbynet.com.au.

OPPONENTS of the accomplished rugby club, the Redland Muddies, may spend the off-season worrying about what is in store next autumn when the 2008 season starts.
Some bright talent has been graduating from the under-19 colts grade to join the club’s senior ranks.
Amid the throng of the graduates, one bunch of players knows each other probably better than some know their own family.
They should be a coach’s dream come true, after they have played together for most of the past decade,
and they are itching to get together again to help the Muddies toward the 2008 senior premiership, after a late try by Ashgrove meant a grand final loss this season.

THE half-dozen or so rugby mates – former Ormiston College students -- know what it is like to perform in a climate of intense community interest and feel the big-game pressure.
Just imagine the electric atmosphere at Ormiston College in 2004, when its senior side won the TAS championship, and in 2005 when it was runner-up.
George Allison, of Cleveland, was a flanker in 04 and a winger in 05. He took a season off rugby in 2006 because of ankle tendon injuries but returned to the field this year with the Muddies colts, mainly as a winger but for the last two games in the halfback’s jersey.
George, now 19, brought his great love of rugby to the bayside in 1998 when his family – dad George, mum Estelle and their other son, Kenneth, now 17 -- migrated from South Africa.
After starting rugby training in their old home town, Port Shepstone, near Durban, George started at Ormiston College in Year 5 and went straight into its rugby program.

THAT is basically the group that has stuck together. Some, a little older, are already playing senior rugby, waiting for their mates to catch up.
George is modest about his rugby skills.
"I used to be quick – I was at my peak in grades 8, 9 and 10," he says. "The Muddies have some good players I’ll have to work my way up."
Nevertheless, customers of the Cleveland pizza shop Domino’s may have noticed some fancy footwork from George since he joined the group in January.
He does five shifts a week as he works toward a career in graphic design, after first studying construction management.
Domino’s is recruiting drivers. It says it pays above award wages, additional delivery fees and offers flexible hours to suit students, parents and people with diverse lifestyles.

THANKS for joining me to meet the great people in the marvellous community of classified advertising.

Distinguished speechwriter offers service

This column has appeared in The Redland Times, Cleveland, Redland Shire, Queensland, Australia. Image of the Alice St facade of Queensland Parliament House courtesy of wikipedia. Robert Hogan: hogrj@bigpond.com

A SECURITY alarm went off during a recent scan of the Classifieds. An apparent trespasser lurked behind a notice in Positions Wanted.

The ad offered a service to "put words in your mouth".

Media savvy readers immediately will realise this was a red alert. Another journo was on my patch.

Not only that. This intruder had the cheek to put up "in lights" something we talk about in hushed tones over the murmur of a critical public that unfortunately expects sycophantic recording on one hand and tough independence on the other.

After a lifetime spent trying to get people to trust me not to put words in their mouth, I wasn't happy about a wordsmith promoting an image of a journalist doing just that.

But when I finally worked up the courage to dial the number and "have a go" at this brazen wordsmith, who dared to offer a speechwriting service, I heard the name, Robert Hogan, and I remembered how some people need to have words put in their mouths.

ROBERT Hogan, now semi-retired at Victoria Point, was one of the key spin doctors for three Premiers and eight cabinet ministers.

If anyone can put words in people's mouths, it's Robert. Sorry, I ever thought there was an issue in there somewhere. I now realise I certainly "don't need to worry about that".

We can only imagine the tough task that Robert faced when he joined the ranks of government media officers, speechwriters and ministerial advisers after a distinguished career in news reporting and production, including eight years with ABC Queensland radio and television.

He was right behind the grins and snarls on the face of government for a long time and he is unapologetic about putting words in political mouths.

NOW his skills are available to anyone who faces a worrying speech, media release or help with promotional material or annual reports.

But where I sit, I'm checking the for-sale ads for something to write about, trying to find a story lead from the public notices and scanning the job ads.

Actually, that's where this column started.

You may think it's a long way from the important daily news grind where history's made. But it's not that far.

After all, I met Robert Hogan in this marvellous community of classified advertising, didn't I?

Volunteer contributes to museum vision

This column has appeared in The Redland Times, Cleveland, Redland Shire, Queensland, Australia. Image courtesy http://www.redlandmuseum.org.au/.

SENIORS have an image of grappling with technology – as in Telstra’s recent launch this week of its ‘grey’ education campaign – but Cleveland’s Norm Dean, 75, is in it up to his eyeballs, converting videos from the Redland Museum’s archives to DVDs.
Norm’s passion for the present meets respect for the past as he performs each conversion on his computer to make the historic vision more accessible for public enjoyment.
The former Revesby, Sydney, refrigeration expert who moved with wife Barbara in 1982 to Alexandra Hills estimates he is about halfway through the voluntary project, which includes sound and vision editing, addition of titles and disk labelling.
He has already created at least half a dozen DVDs. Some are from old film that was copied to video and includes footage of the 1974-94 Strawberry Festivals.

NORM enjoyed working on Hometown Efforts, which details Redlands’ defence activities during World War Two and presentations about steam power and a Redland trip to the Ipswich rail museum.
One of his pleasures in joining the museum team has been meeting his namesake, another Norm Dean, who was museum co-founder – "Norm was declared a national treasure and I had long wanted to meet him."
The technical Norm’s use of video and computer management of vision and sound dates from the early 1980s, after he left his refrigeration trade for a job near home, looking after Vienna Woods State Primary School grounds.
"About six months after the school opened they bought a video camera and I recorded all the school’s special occasions like graduations and sports days for 13 years I worked there," he says.
"I and put it all in the library."
Norm had a longstanding interest in still photography and had recorded Windsor speedway events for two years.

HIS first computer was a Commodore in the 1980s and he has upgraded about five times, most recently about 18 months ago when he commissioned an Alexandra Hills computer firm to put a box together.
"I wouldn’t have a clue about Excel or anything like that," he says. "I’m comfortable with sound and video."
Norm and Barbara recently featured in a Classified ad that their daughter, Sue Stewart, placed for their 50th wedding anniversary.
The couple started a trend back in the 1980s. Sue, her elder sister Jennifer and their brother, Peter, followed their parents to the bayside. Sydney neighbours moved here too.
Norm says Jennifer now lives at Wynnum and Peter, who worked with Redland Shire Council on Macleay Island, recently joined Maryborough City Council.
Norm’s eight grandchildren and four great-grandchildren undoubtedly have star roles in a lot of his own DVD collection.

THANKS for joining me to meet the great people in the marvellous community of classified advertising. More stories on classiecorner.blogspot.com.

The Wasp Man haunts artist

Before the next post returns to the primary focus on the great people in the marvellous community of classified advertising, this image may interest art lovers.

A MAN sacrifices his identity for the sake of one of the most feared and despised insects – the wasp. How’s that for the plot of a horror thriller?
The surreal image of The Wasp Man sprang from collaboration between human and nature as sculptor Jenny Rumney modelled a clay character study for possible casting in bronze.
While the clay was drying in Jenny’s studio before the next production stage, wasps took a liking to the surface and quickly smothered the face with mud nests.
"The wasps started work when the clay dried and it must have been a day’s work for them -- one day I looked at the sculpture and saw the results of their industry," Jenny says.
Jenny first considered the insects had damaged her work but then recognised their contribution to her creative process.

SHE fired and glazed the clay, wasp nests and all, to create her latest work, The Wasp Man, bearing a slight resemblance to the Invisible Man, an Egyptian mummy or the star of a classic horror movie but destined to be a signature piece for the artist from Russell Island in southern Moreton Bay, Queensland, Australia.
Jenny has made a mould of The Wasp Man to allow its affordable reproduction in the material of choice, whether metal, resin or other appropriate medium.
She can supply a wax of the sculpture to allow cheap and easy transport of the design to the buyer’s choice of foundry, anywhere in the world.

JENNY is also happy to manage the production process and ship the final casting (in whatever medium) if that is preferred. POA. Inquiries to

fourjays@bigpond.com. More about Jenny’s sculptures on www.geocities.com/jennyrumney/.

FOOTNOTE: Thinking about the ‘write-off ‘ in the introduction to this article, I realised that Jenny, married to me, has her place in the marvellous community just as the many connections you’ll see in any story I have found in the Classies over decades. Browse through more than 100 posts to date -- I hope you enjoy the read as much as I have enjoyed the discovery and writing. More interesting stories are waiting to be told!