AUG2013_Mt Mee Ramblings
By Ian Wells
We always begin the column with a penetrating analysis of the season. It is a simple one as I write this:- “It’s still bloody raining!”
Not only is the wet taking its toll of our patience and making it very hard to get around the farm, it is playing the devil with our rural roads!
Our very own particular ‘motorway’ had a rare crop of potholes – some wok sized and some bigger, which Council eventually addressed with cold patches. In most cases these patches lasted less than two weeks and the holes reappeared bigger and brighter than ever! Some residents are complaining that driving to negotiate these – and the ever – present carpet of cow – pats, is so testing that collision with some of the semi-permanent population of ‘street kid’ cattle seems inevitable. And keeping a vehicle looking presentable and corrosion free – let alone in some state of wheel alignment, is more than difficult.
The Mt Mee Hall Sunday Concert season continues on Sunday September 8th when the Savoyard Singers present their 2013 Mt Mee concert “Singers and Songs” Always a laid back and entirely pleasurable occasion both for performers and the audience, this Savoyard Singers concert promises to explore some wonderful old showstoppers. “Highly recommended!” Read more elsewhere in this edition.
In July the Mt Mee Hall hosted its biggest funeral for many years to celebrate the life of Marjorie Pedwell, with more than 250 locals and visitors paying their respects at a very impressive service.
‘Marj’, born in 1925, was one of our strong links with first settlement. Her cedar-getter grandfather, Richard Thomas, was one of the very first arrivals in the early1880s and he had a profound influence on the development of the young community. Amongst other things he started and ran the first school, the first services of Christian worship and the first postal services.
Marj, with husband Len, headed a family of six daughters and a son, but she found time too for community affairs. She was popular and widely respected.
Sadly, her health began to fail in 2009 and she spent her last years in care.
The Hall itself will celebrate its 80th birthday in September. Funded by public subscription and built in 1933 by Charles McGahey at the height of the Great Depression, that timing reflected in the economy with which he used scantlings. It replaced the much smaller corrugated iron structure originally built in 1914. While it has been enlarged with various additions over the years, has had the dance worn floor renewed and has basked in modern innovations such as mains electricity and a good kitchen, it essentially remains as it was built.
Committee is planning to run an 80th Birthday commemorative luncheon for everyone with any past or present link to the Hall, on Sunday 22nd September. This disproves the urban myth that there is “no such thing as a free lunch” and is bound to trigger waves of almost uncontrollable nostalgia – especially amongst those elderly pillars of society who attended the dances as eager young swains.
But numbers are needed for catering purposes, so please RSVP to Joyce on 5498 2270 or Kay W. on 5498 2104.
The “Back to Mt Mee” day in the Hall from 9.30 am on 31st August will be a useful pipe opener for the luncheon. Organised this year by Kay Hennessey and Anne Pedwell, this annual event aims to get past and present Mountain residents and friends together to meet, greet and socialise. Everyone is welcome!
Remember that tea and coffee will be available but you should bring your own snacks and lunch.
Call Kay H, 5498 2267 or Anne, 5498 2154, for more information.
The Mountain saw yet another helicopter mediated medical evacuation last month, when a well known long – term weekender resident lost control of his ride-on mower at the top of a slippery wet 5 metre embankment. In the best motorcycle racing tradition he leaped from the machine as it came unstuck and both crashed down the bank and into the roadside ditch on Mt Mee Road. Fortunately, a passer-by soon saw the inverted mower and the recumbent driver and called help.
As I write the driver is resting comfortably in the ‘Royal Brisbane’, but he has a badly broken leg which will keep him out of mischief for some time.
And finally, yet another whinge! Yes, it has happened here too! Since the turnoff of the analogue television signal, the local digital ABC TV signal has seemingly deteriorated. It is now either intermittent or absent on a number of digital sets which had been working perfectly up until that time.
What on earth is going on, Aunty?
