Marian’s Melba House volunteer Vern Lindbergs talks community
Marian’s Melba House custodian Vern Lindbergs has lived a life of service, and continues to enjoy every minute of it in his beloved Pioneer Valley.
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Vern Lindbergs joined the military with long hair, a moustache and bushy beard many years ago.
He obligingly cut and shaved, leaving only his moustache as he worked on ground communications and radars as an electronics technician in Townsville.
Now, he sports a ponytail that drops below his shoulder.
But Mr Lindbergs insists it’s not a nod to any hippy tendency, rather a continued commitment to community.
“I was surfing the internet one day and I came across a page where they were asking for hair to donate to make wigs for people with cancer,” Mr Lindbergs said.
So he decided to grow it, but by the time it had reached the mandatory 30cm length requirement for donations, a few greys were lurking among the strands.
“I was about to cut it and checked to see how it needed to be packed,” Mr Lindbergs said.
“And they said they wouldn’t accept anything with more than 5 per cent grey.
“So I thought well blow that, if they don’t want it I’m going to keep it.”
Now Mr Lindbergs sports his ponytail every day of the week at Marian’s Melba house where he is the volunteer supervisor.
He is also the Pioneer Valley Tourism and Development treasurer – and has been for the past 20 years, except one year when he was “talked into” being president.
“That was the first and only year I did that,” Mr Lindbergs laughed.
He and his wife Jan moved into the Pioneer Valley in 1996 after they retired from the air force.
They first visited the area after a colleague suggested they include Eungella as part of a tour of Queensland’s small towns.
Both fell in love with the valley and bought a block of land in Mirani’s township.
“We paid $33,000 for an acre and a quarter, you won’t get that anymore,” he said.
Both Mr and Mrs Lindbergs began volunteering in the area, something they were both passionate about since working in the air force.
“I joined the air force because I wanted to do something for the country, and the defence force gave us training and skills,” Mr Lindbergs said.
“We wanted to use those skills to then give back to the country for giving us this opportunity.”
Mr Lindbergs said volunteering gave him not only a sense of self-accomplishment but also granted him another outlet for his love of community.
“I love that I get to meet so many people,” he said.
“Particularly when we were having international tourists it was just fantastic.
“They would relate their stories, and then we could relate the stories of the valley and Melba House.”
When asked what he loved about his life in the valley, Mr Lindbergs admitted there was just a magic to living there.
“How could you not love a place where everyday you get to wake up and see just green and blues,” he said.
“Moving into the valley, it was just like going back to our childhood.”
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Originally published as Marian’s Melba House volunteer Vern Lindbergs talks community
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