Sunshine Valley Gazette

Vicki Arthur: “People loved vintage then and they love it now.” by Tani du Toit The way Vicki Arthur made her idea of owning a vintage shop a reality, is the stuff dreams are made of. Looking back almost 15 years, she could never have guessed she would own one of the Sunshine Coast’s most iconic vintage shops located at Nambour. “Back then, I thought it would be fun to own some kind of shop, but I had no idea it would be anything like this,” she said. “I was a single mother to my two children and I would put $20 aside every week towards buying a vintage item,” she remembered. “Then, something would break, or the car would need fixing, and the savings would have to go towards that. “I still didn’t give up; I just kept thinking about my idea, and the solutions would just appear. Whenever I needed support, something would happen for me to be able to do what I needed to do.” Vicki said in-between raising children and working, she continued to put her focus and spare money towards vintage clothes and accessories. Before she knew it, she had a rack on display at […]

From left, Canefarmer-turned pineapple farmer Gordon Oakes, Mill fitter and turner Greg Rigbye, TramCo chair Greg Rogerson, Don Fewquandi, and Peter Jones from Nambour Crushers. by Janine Hill THE phone rang. Someone rattled the front door. It was 3am on 1 September, 1981. Moreton Mill chief engineer Graham Williams had been asleep at home when workers scrambled to alert him to a calamity. “They said there was a problem with the boiler. Could I come in?” Graham lived with his wife, Helen, and children in a mill house a minute-and-half from work and was there as soon as he could put his overalls on. “I went and had a look. We didn’t know what had caused it.” The boiler had blown up and they had to wait for it to cool down to diagnose the problem. “A tube had let go. The system couldn’t keep the water up to it.” Without a boiler, the mill could not crush and a solution needed to be found. Graham said another mill was under construction elsewhere and the tubes on the way to that site were diverted to Nambour for an emergency rebuild of the boiler.  By 22 September, the mill was up

Jon Coghill and Dan Munday Film fans flooded Nambour Majestic Cinemas on November 3 to see 8 short films that had the whole Majestic Cinema theatre entertained.   The Sunnycoast Showdown is the brain-child of creatives and former Nambourians Jon Coghill and Dan Munday.  The experienced celebrities are not only assisting/mentoring in the creation of these award winning short films, but also talent scouting for future short films and documentaries. “They are looking for everything from actors to set designers to producers and everything in between,” said organiser Rhonda Billet.  “There has never been a better time to join the Sunnycoast Showdown family.  “It was so good having Jon and Dan back home in Nambour with locals that know them from their Nambour High School days.” “The guys have had such successful careers and to be able to come back home, and share that success is really special. “We have been blown away by locals and their extremely positive feedback regarding this event and similar film events that have been on recently in Nambour – the Gateway to the Sunshine Coast Hinterland Region – and we truly look forward to hosting more into 2024 and beyond.”

The Nambour music store has been taken over by Steve Gray who decided a rebranding was in order to accompany its new era. by Janine Hill Shake It Up Music has had a shake up and come out the other side with a new name: Infinite Music. The Nambour music store has been taken over by Steve Gray who decided a rebranding was in order to accompany its new era. Steve has a background of more than 20 years in the music industry and musical instrument sales and wholesaling. A professional musician who once had a recording contract with Warner Brothers, he also worked in one of Canberra’s biggest music stores for 26 years. “I did everything from guitar repairs to PA installation. In the end, I was doing all the imports for that business and then we started out on our own a couple of years ago in a trio,” he said. Steve had moved to the Sunshine Coast for family reasons and was travelling relentlessly for work when he heard Shake It Up Music was for sale. “I rang a friend and said, “You know what? It’s a good shop and the staff are really good’. I said,

Nambour’s Christmas guru and owner of the Nambour Heights Gift and Christmas Shop Ang Dunne tells Santa about the upcoming Contest. Prizes are up for grabs this holiday season with the Nambour Chamber of Commerce, Nambour Tram and Nambour Retailers Group all joining forces under their I Am Nambour brand with working partner Sunshine Coast Council to bring the streets of the CBD alive with lights, decorations and sparkle.   All business are encouraged to get involved in the Nambour Christmas Decoration Competition and join in the fun. With a variety of categories and prizes on offer, there’s opportunity for all businesses to get involved. Members of the public can also participate in the competition by voting for their favourite decorated business and go in the draw to win a share in the prize pool valued at over $1000.  Ang Dunne, Nambours Christmas guru in the hinterland region, who owns Nambour Heights Gift and Christmas Shop has been asked to get involved as one of the special judges.  Ange will be looking for winners of various categories, who will be announced at the Nambour Tram Fest event on December 9th.  “We are excited about putting a little extra sparkle into

Above from left: Greg Rogerson,  Darren Shepherd and Peter Clark installed the lighting which will illuminate night time functions at the terminus in Mill Street – Ten four metre high stainless steel poles crowned with LED floodlights now shine down on backyard of the terminus. by Janine Hill A Sunshine Coast Council grant has shone a light, or rather, quite a few, on the Nambour tram headquarters. A $15,000 council grant has been matched dollar for dollar by TramCo to fund external lighting and power at the tram terminus in Mill Street. Ten four metre high stainless steel poles crowned with LED floodlights now shine down on backyard of the terminus. A double 15 amp powerpoint has been fitted to each of the poles, which have been powdercoated black to match the terminus fencing. Tramco chairman Greg Rogerson said the new lights meant no more time-consuming dragging out of cords and powerboards. “We used to put fairy lights around but it would take us hours and hours to put them up and bring them in,” he said. “The main thing was to make it an area that’s a safe place and where people feel relaxed. It’s well lit and versatile.”

Tony Bryant receives his NHWO 2023 award from Acting Commissioner of Police Tracy Linford and Acting Executive Director of Cultural Change and Engagement Simon Kelly by Janine Hill Behind every community group is a core team who can be relied upon to keep things running in the face of adversity. Tony Bryant is part of the core team of the Burnside Neighbourhood Watch Group.  Since 2009, with the exception of about a year, Tony has written and compiled the group’s quarterly newsletter, which is delivered to hundreds of letterboxes. His contribution to the group was recognised on Saturday, 28 October, when he was awarded the Neighbourhood Watch Community Member of the Year Award for the Sunshine Coast region. Tony, an electronics whiz who also holds a diploma in journalism, got involved with Neighbourhood Watch when he was asked to help with the group’s newsletter. Thanks to the efforts of Tony and his fellow committee members, Burnside Neighbourhood Watch Group is still going strong when two nearby groups recently folded. “I think we’ve rescued the group three times so far,” Tony said.  “COVID-19 was really bad for groups like us.  “We couldn’t hold meetings or get our newsletter printed or delivered

The Shack’s Dale, Imogene and Donna Dowler, backed by supporters, launch the Trees of Hope Appeal. Just call in to participating stores, grab a hamper bag and fill it according to the list provided. by Janine Hill The Shack’s annual Trees of Hope Christmas hamper appeal was officially launched on November 2 but, behind the scenes, the team had already been hard at work for weeks. Like the elves in Santa’s workshop, the tireless organisers were busy assembling bags and crates at TOH headquarters. Imogene Dowler, the face of Trees of Hope, said the plan was to build on the approximately 400 Christmas hampers last year. “It’s amazing how many donations we got last year but we want to do even more this year,” she said.  “We know there’s a lot of people in need, especially in the difficult climate at the moment, and we want to be able to do more if we can.” The Trees of Hope appeal is launched by The Shack community centre at Nambour on 2 November every year and runs until 15 December to make up hampers for people who are homeless or marginalised. Imogene said this year’s appeal involved every Mitre 10 store

Len Holden with his ’42 Ford hotrod. He says the Friday meetups are better than watching Better Homes & Gardens. by Janine Hill A DEARTH of entertainment on Friday night TV has sparked a weekly event bringing cars and community together in Nambour. Hot rodder Len Holden put out the call in September for owners of pre-1975 cars to get together in the Bury Street carpark one Friday night and the gathering has gained momentum every week. Len was simply sick of trying to find something to watch on TV at the end of the working week when he decided to organise the get-together. “There’s Better Homes and Gardens but I don’t really like most of the crew on there at the moment,” Len said.  “The bloke with the dog was alright but the fella they’ve got on there now, he just wants to spend $2000 on plants every week. Fast Ed, he’s alright.” Despite his surname, which he inherited from his father, who happened to be a believer – “I had to wait for my Dad to die before I bought a Ford”- Len has a ’42 Ford pick-up which he rebuilt from the ground up as hot rod.