Business helps shire earn new city status

Image from www.franklyn.net.au

THE growing prominence of Capalaba in the Redland economy reflects strongly in every edition of the Classifieds.

A scan of the Positions Vacant columns always shows Capalaba is indeed a hub of opportunity. The shire population can be grateful to the commercial sector for creating such a vibrant business community with excellent transport options.

Capalaba is moving with the times - and the area continues to underscore the shire's transition over decades from a rural economy to an urban, service-oriented base that truly deserves Redland's new city status.

The best part is that a lot of the business names that laid the foundation for the evolution continue to feature and look like staying for quite a while.

Such names include blinds, awnings and security products manufacturer Franklyn, now in its 21st year of operation.

FRANKLYN which Frank and Lynne Galea established in 1987, stood out in a recent edition with three advertisements as part of a recruiting drive.

The firm needs a junior factory hand, awning and security screen assemblers and a fabric cutter.

Production manager Michael Ford said about 30 people applied in just a few days. He said the recruitment was part of a reorganisation of Franklyn, which is preparing to expand to a new site in New Cleveland Road, Capalaba West.

The new plant, due to open before mid year, would accommodate the awning and timber venetian divisions. The company's well-known Moreton Bay Road premises would still operate and its Hook St property, now with roles including venetian production, would provide warehousing.

Michael, with a background in manufacturing and three years with Franklyn, said the firm's steady growth through increasing sales created the need for the new site.

"We simply ran out of space and now we are shuffling the departments a bit before the new factory is ready - that will be about three months from now," he said.

FRANKLYN'S custom-made blinds, awnings and security products feature in both the domestic and commercial markets.It manufactures its range "using only the highest quality components, supplying you with the very best products at competitive prices and earning the reputation for providing exceptional service, from the initial consultation to the final installation".

Michael said the structure as a genuine Galea family business had also played a major role in the Franklyn success story.

Thanks for joining me in the marvellous community of clasified advertising. This column has appeared in The Redland Times, Cleveland, Redland City, Queensland, Australia.

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.