May2014_Mt Mee Ramblings

By Ian Wells

The season has finally broken with more than 250mm of rain here at Kalahari Downs – from a single rain event !  What an impossible climate seems to be evolving!  Falling at the end of March, this is the latest ‘spring break’ that anyone on the Mountain can remember.

 

And nature has properly confused itself.  As I write in early April, I have a peach tree bursting into flower and leaf, one mango tree in profuse flower and another fast asleep.  But yes, some of those spring sown pumpkins I complained of have at last germinated, and are indeed flowering. 

The talk of the Mountain lately has been of mobile phone coverage – or the lack of it.  The Public Hall Committee has raised this formally with Wyatt Roy, our member for Longman.  Our State member Andrew Powell and Cr Adrian Raedel have both promised their full support.  Wyatt has already raised the matter with the Department of Communications in Canberra and has undertaken to keep us posted on any developments.

Fortunately perhaps, our action coincides with a push by the Federal government to identify periurban ‘black spots’, and we certainly fit that category.  Mobile coverage from our home in western Mt Mee is almost non-existent, but if we stand on a particular spot and face in the right direction we can sometimes get through.  (If we sit – we don’t.)  Sometimes we communicate through the Toogoolawah cell, sometimes through Wild Horse Mountain and curiously, sometimes through cells further north on the Sunshine Coast. So we really are in ‘no man’s land’!  And broadband net access is only available to many of us by satellite – which is very slow and relatively expensive.

So we need some serious communications infrastructure – first and foremost for safety reasons in our inhospitable terrain.

By the time you read these words ANZAC Day will be behind us, as will the “Wishful Thinkers” folk concert in the Hall.  But the legendary “Symphony on the Mountain” will be rushing up on us.  Read of this concert elsewhere in this edition.  Suffice it to say here that the St Lucia Orchestra is presenting an interesting program of popular classics and pops and will feature two outstanding guest artists, in soprano Leslie Martin and trumpet player Ashley Moor.

With ANZAC Day in the offing I comment that we are extremely fortunate to again have Colonel John Mayer of the US Marines lined up as guest speaker.  He has an impressive CV of combat command experience and specialist expertise and has been in Austraila for a time on secondment to the ADF.  He is a clear thinker with a sense of history, and he is a brilliant speaker.

Sadly, this will be the last time that Neil Eiby OAM is our MC. Neil has relocated to Buderim (I won’t say retired) and has heavy commitments – amongst others as patron of the RAR Association.  The idea of a Mt Mee service was Neil’s, and it was he who suggested a modest memorial in the Dahmonga Look-Out Park.  He had Council donate the ‘Lone Pine’ tree and Cr Adrian the flagpole, and he has contributed time, ideas and energy to the little working group that made the memorial a reality.

We wish Neil and wife Pat all of the very best for the future.

Wednesday May 7th  will see The MountainTop Church, the Mt Mee Sports Association and the Mt Mee Anglican Ladies Guild combine forces to host a truly inclusive community Mothers Day celebration.  It begins with a mega “Mostly Music”, followed by a morning tea, a fashion parade featuring items from ”Just Add Bling” at Burpengary, and then the traditional Mothers Day luncheon.  All of this comes for just $20.00, and those planning to stay for lunch should book with Joyce (54982270) or Cynthia (5498 2139).  

The Mt Mee and District Historical Society is making some progress.  Notably, it has now achieved incorporation and is standing on its own feet.  While the matter of a site for a possible museum remains unresolved, the committee is working hard on mapping a historical trail.  This will include scattered sites such as relics of old sawmills and the banana settlement, and again, progress is hindered at present by the lack of mobile phone coverage.

And finally some news on the current Council wild dog control rounds.  There was a strong turn-out of landholders to the April round.  Results have not yet been collated by Council, but I can report that more than 20 baits were taken from just five properties at the end of Hausmann Road.  This confirms that the pest numbers have been rebuilding and it does make the chore worthwhile.