Dec2010 MT MEE NEWS

Our curious season continues with great grass, contented cows – and plenty of thistles, but no more torrential downpours.  We have just identified African Lovegrass in our locality – this is another unwelcome migrant.

It is described as very aggressive – especially on red or sandy soils, producing a huge seedbank and with viable seed dropping from the gut of livestock for up to ten days after being eaten. While it is palatable and nutritious when young, stock won’t touch the tussocky mature plants unless really desperate.  So it has the potential to form a monoculture pasture about one and a half metres high, which looks wonderful but nothing will eat it!
The ‘upside’ though is that it gives the ‘firies’ good practice.
By the time you read this, the concert of the Sunshine Coast Symphony Orchestra will have joined the Rock and Roll Night as past events at the Mt Mee Hall.  I can say that the Rock and Roll Night was really enjoyed by a happy crowd. The ‘Lights on the Hill’ put on a great program of vintage Rock and Roll music and guest star Graham Curtis was highly entertaining.  Special thanks go to Tanya White who organised a really delectable hot supper and to the Hewitt brothers and Brett Beutel who ran the bar – which saw good business.  The Sunshine Coast Symphony Orchestra concert is still a few days away as I write, but all the signs are good.
This is the time to remind readers that the January dance will be held on New Years night  (with music by the irrepressible Mike Woollett), and that there are no January Markets.  And while the dances will continue in 2011 to essentially be New Vogue, convener Ron Tumbridge will put on at least one ‘freestyle’ bracket each night – aimed especially at those whose ‘grasp of the intricacies of New Vogue may be imperfect’ – (for which you can read ‘are as clueless as your writer’).
The first Sunday afternoon concert for 2011 will be by the St Lucia Orchestra, on 29th May. (You can book now with Kay on 5498 2104)
The joint Strategic Plan for wild dog control, led by Moreton Bay Regional Council and supported by the State Government’s National Parks administration and by the newly privatised Forestry, is shaking down well.  There have been two rounds of baiting within the Mt Mee forest and on grazing properties on its perimeter since our last edition.  The first was very successful judging by the high bait uptake.  The second is still in progress as I write, but will likely be successful too, because the dogs have enjoyed a great breeding season and their numbers still abound.
Rod and Lenny, our very dedicated hunters, are now coordinating their work with the Plan.  They have accounted for 99 wild dogs on Mt Mee this year and will hit their century within the next day or two for certain!  Our Dog Fund can’t keep pace with the effort these two are putting in and the organisers would greatly appreciate more donations – phone Treasurer Kay on 5498 2104.  We need to keep encouraging these volunteers by helping to meet their costs, and we may have to limit their activities to the properties of current donors to the fund if our resources become too slender.
Work on the Sports Association tennis court continues.  The new slab has been laid, material has arrived for the new netting fencing and the ‘Pres’ is working up a plan for handwashing equipment at the toilet block – (You beauty !).
As I write, work on the new bridge on the “Pocket” road is reaching fever pitch.  Adrian Raedel states that you need sunglasses on site for the brightness of the lights flashing from all of those machines.  Bitumen has been ordered, and, weather permitting, the road should have been reopened before you read this.
Council has granted permission for the addition of the Mt Mee Roll Of Honour to the ANZAC Memorial at the Dahmongah Look-Out.  This will be mounted on a locally harvested Ironbark log prepared by James Hewitt, – continuing the theme of locally procured natural materials and highlighting the timbergetting heritage of the Mountain.  All going well it will be ready for ANZAC Day!
Finally, it just remains, on behalf of our lively Mt Mee community, to thank most sincerely all of those who have contributed to the many wonderful community projects and events that we have enjoyed through 2010.  We really do have a great place to live, and that is because of the great people who live here!
Have a Merry Christmas
and a very happy New Year. 

Postscript.
Since the column was written it has been found that Mt Mee’s  Alleppo Pine is dying.  Our specimen is the centrepiece of the ANZAC Memorial at the Dahmongah Look-Out, which was built by local volunteers and is used for our annual community Dawn Service.
This tree is descended from the original ‘Lone Pine’ that remained at the site of the terrible Gallipoli battle to which it gave its name.  The ‘Lone Pine’, which was destroyed by gunfire during the battle, had remained after all of its companions on the wooded ridge had been felled by the Turks to cover their trenches in readiness for the battle.
After the battle was over, seeds were recovered from the smashed ‘Lone Pine’ tree and brought home by a surviving ‘digger’.  They were later given to the Australian War Memorial Museum in Canberra, and remarkably, some of them germinated.
Tony Lyall, the Tree officer of the Moreton Bay Regional Council, has examined our tree and has confirmed that it was deliberately poisoned.  Two nearby Buckinghamia trees also appear to be affected.
The reasons for this appalling action are difficult to understand.  One can only think that the person(s) responsible is unhinged and in need of psychiatric care. 
The matter is under police investigation and laboratory analyses are in hand to determine the herbicide used – and plans are under way to clear the way for replanting.
Meanwhile Council is working to locate a replacement tree, and we hope to have it in place and growing healthily in time for the 2011 Dawn Service.