50 Clubs in 50 Weeks Part 1: Find a community club in the Mackay region for you
The faces behind the clubs that make up the social fabric of Mackay. The people. The hobbies. The sports. Read their stories and find out about 20+ other Mackay club tales so far.
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The Daily Mercury has been profiling stalwarts behind Mackay’s clubs. Our aim is to take a look at 50 clubs in 50 weeks. Here you will find the first 25. Click on the link at the bottom as we compile the list of the next 25.
25. Shared obsession a gem in hunt for Mackay’s best stones
By Matthew Forrest
Being able to see the potential beauty in ordinary things is a requirement, not a skill, for Marilyn Maher and her group of friends.
Ms Maher and her husband Jim developed a keen eye for the bright lights and shine in different rocks while on their travels around Australia.
She said a trip in the Northern Territory in 2000 was one that opened her eyes to the hidden gems in the world.
“I used to do some travelling around and my husband and I were walking in hills in the Northern Territory, and we found these lovely rocks,” she said.
“That’s what got my husband and I interested in the club, and 17 years later I’m the treasurer and Jim is the president.”
Ms Maher’s obsession with picking items off the ground, as well as a love for nature, sparked an interest in the Mackay Gem and Craft Society, with her husband’s enjoyment not far behind.
“I was always picking things up off the ground and he got interested in it too after I did it, then we joined the club at the same time,” she said.
“We had a bit of interest in it all but we didn’t actually know what we could do with a stone before we joined.”
The Mackay Gem and Craft Society began in Sarina in 1969, but as the interest in the “social obsession” grew, the committee moved the club to Mackay.
Ms Maher said people travelled across the country to follow their passion for rocks.
“This hobby is pretty social, but it has taken us around Australia,” she said.
“We haven’t done much fossicking (searching) in New South Wales but we’ve gone to plenty of fairs there, and people from all across Australia travel around the place.
“It’s always interesting because the people you meet at the fairs have different types of rocks from different areas, the rocks usually are different shades of colours when they’re from somewhere else.
“People at the fairs share the best places to go looking, because everyone has a general knowledge from years of searching and then it carries from the word of mouth or online.”
24. Childhood passion takes flight as unique club spreads its wings
By Duncan Evans
David Helmrich knows a thing or two about aircraft.
He founded the Mackay and District Radio Aero Modellers club in the 1970s and has been flying model aeroplanes for nearly all of his life.
He fell in love with aeroplanes as a young boy.
“I’ve always been fascinated by aeroplanes ever since I was a kid,” he said.
“I was flying control liners when I was nine or 10 years old.”
“Just moved on from them until I was about 15 or 16 and you discovered cars and girls.
“It (the hobby) got put away then for a while and when I was about 23 I started back into radio control (flying).”
With MADRAM, the plane lovers build the aeroplanes themselves and gather together to fly them in the skies.
The planes are copies of the originals, brought down to scale.
Mr Helmrich used to build them at night after work, but now the hobby occupies him during the day.
“It’s something for your mind to be working on,” he said.
Mr Helmrich participated in competitions as a younger man, travelling across Queensland from Brisbane to Townsville to match his flying skills against other enthusiasts.
“Born and bred” in Mackay, he attended Mackay North Primary School and Milton Street High School.
In his working life, Mr Helmrich worked as a carpenter, truck driver and pilot, flying commercial operations.
He said most MADRAM members these days were not so interested in competitions.
“A lot of the members now don’t want to know about competitions,” he said.
“They just go out early in the morning and have a play around.”
Mr Helmrich said his fellow enthusiasts came from “all different walks of life,” meeting in Balnagowan on weekends for the open space.
“A lot of the members now, they’re a lot younger,” he said.
“They’ve come in from different jobs.
“The mining industry brought different people around.
“You get a flow of people, different people each year.”
Mr Helmrich said one thing they all had in common was a love for aeroplanes.
He lists two of his proudest achievements as a P47 Thunderbolt and a 1939 Comper Swift.
In his time, he has also seen some spectacular crashes.
“You see some pretty good prangs. It’s good to see but it’s sad because those aeroplanes cost a lot of money.”
One intriguing part of the hobby is ‘combat’ flying, where streamers are attached to cheaper aircraft.
The goal is to chase and cut another plane’s streamer.
“They’re just rubbish aeroplanes that you’ve put together and tie a streamer on and try and cut it off,” he explained.
“But most people aim for the plane and sometimes you’ll hit it.
“High attrition rate, very good for the spectators.
“They love it.”
Mr Helmrich says he has built up to 100 planes in his 50 years in the scene.
He has more than 20 in his shed at present.
It’s a passion he has passed on to his son.
“He can’t glue two pieces of wood together but he’s a very good flyer,” he said.
23. ‘No other sport like it’: The 800-strong club that almost never existed
By Matthew Forrest
More than half a century after buying a motorboat, Keith Pearce still spends his week tinkering with its engine and driving it on Mackay’s lakes and rivers with his grandchildren in tow.
Mr Pearce, who still takes the Ricochet out for a spin after 54 years of owning it, regularly gets up on skis behind the sturdy boat.
He said his active lifestyle was one that had carried through to the younger generations of his family.
“I’m mainly still active because my kids and grandkids keep me active and out on the water,” he said.
“I’ve got a great grandson as well, he’s not skiing yet but it’s a legacy so I’m sure he’ll end up on skis.
“I don’t know any other sport like water skiing where families from grandparents to grandkids can ski together and everyone’s involved.”
Mr Pearce is the Commodore of the Mackay Water Ski Club, and is the only active founding member from when the club was formed in 1976.
He said he did not learn to ski like most, with the 15 year old initially towed behind a truck.
“I learned how to ski with my brother, and our uncle taught us behind the back of a truck that was mounted around a circular lake,” he said.
“The steering was set so it wouldn’t move from its path, and it had a big boom bar to a wheel on the other bank.
“He’d strap five people in at a time and told us not to move if we fell because the bar would come right back to where we were.
“Workplace health and safety wouldn’t appreciate it now but he’d put the truck into gear and away he went.”
Sick of the cold winters in Ballarat, Mr Pearce packed up his family at 30 years old and relocated to Mackay, where he found work as a plumber and like-minded friends who liked to waterski on the Pioneer River.
But early struggles with the land use near Marian Weir meant the club almost never existed.
“I was there even before the club was founded, I was around from 1972 until we actually formed the club,” Mr Pearce said.
“But bikies would use the grounds to have a party, then they’d leave broken stubbies and mess around everywhere.
“The owner of the land wired the fence shut after someone broke into his house and stole a battery from his cane harvester.”
Left without a place to ski, the group of sporting friends were left in limbo for four years, until the owner agreed to lease the land on the Pioneer River for a 99-year, $1 a year lease.
Almost 50 years later the club has grown to about 800 members with 200 boats between them.
Mr Pearce said it was amazing to watch families take part in the sport together.
“It’s a family-orientated sport, we’ve had grandparents teach their three-year-old grandkids how to ski and they do it together,” he said.
“Families, just like mine, love to do it together and it’s amazing to be able to share it with so many people in the community.”
22. Former airman finds solace in modern urban warfare games
By Matthew Forrest
Deemed to be “wasting space” in the barracks, Renato Pascual’s medical discharge was a low point in his military career.
The former air force airman, who spent eight years training to defend his country, was told he was filling a bed that an able-bodied person could take.
Normally a happy and upbeat character, Mr Pascual said the injuries he sustained were not just physical.
“I’m basically injured from head to toe really, so I was unable to carry out my duties as an airman,” he said.
“It was mainly my lower back, but also some personal issues with my mental health.
“I don’t suffer from PTSD as much as some other people I know, it is definitely a lot more mild.”
Mr Pascual’s injuries were not as a result of any one incident, rather a build up across eight years of demanding training regimes, exhausting programs and physical torment.
As he endured gruelling physiotherapy in an attempt to rekindle a career in the military, Mr Pascual found a passion in laser skirmishes, and began hosting events for children’s birthday parties.
But Mr Pascual wanted to provide a release for other veterans who were left in a similar position to him.
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“From the experience I’ve had is the lack of things there are to do after they leave the military, whether is activities or participation or social interactions,” he said
“That’s what gets a lot of veterans who are suffering from PTSD, so I thought since I had started a small business with the laser skirmishes I may as well kick it up a notch.
“Half of the people who now get involved in the gel blasters are ex-servicemen and women, they just need to find that connection.
“Not all of them suffer from PTSD, but it does give them the space that brings them back to feel the adrenaline of spending time in the defence force and get involved in that communication-based activity because it’s a completely different lifestyle that people miss.
“I miss it, it’s a rush, that experience of being outside with your mates, immersing yourself in that role-playing game that helps you relive the days gone.”
The hobby of modern warfare has taken Queensland by storm, and Mr Pascual spends most of his week travelling between Mackay and Ingham to host battles in different terrains for hundreds of different people.
He said it compared to car enthusiasts, with some serious gel blaster athletes spending more than $3000 on a single weapon.
“You get some players who are really into the sport, and will spend anywhere between $2500 and $3000 pretty easily on a blaster,” he said.
“Then the servicing and maintenance on them as well adds up.
“It’s almost like a car hobby, people who love fixing up cars, it’s almost like that.”
21. From Marian’s Mr Fix-It to restoring cars of the modern day
By Matthew Forrest
Tinkering under the bonnets of various makes and models, a young Kevin Smith would fire an incessant run of questions at his dad Sidney Smith.
Sidney Smith, or Mr-Fix-It as he was unofficially known around Marian, was the go-to mechanic for cars and, from as young as he can remember, his son Mr Borg would be there developing a keen interest.
And that has stayed with Mr Smith, the Mackay Restoration Club president who to this day has “more than six, less than a dozen” vehicles he’s working on.
“I can remember noticing old cars when I was driving around (as a child) so there was always something there,” he said.
“And I helped – or annoyed or whatever you’d like to call it – my dad who used to be the go-to fellow for cars in general in Marian.
“I can remember being told, in no uncertain terms, to go away because I wanted to know much more and once I had a son of my own, I can appreciate that.
“That’s where I helped and I learned from there.”
A blend of necessity and interest, Mr Smith learned from his father early on what it took to restore a vehicle.
The Mackay Restoration Club has been involved in building, fixing and restoring cars for more than 40 years, and has a genuine love of the craft and a patience to invest hours of time into vintage pieces.
“My love for restoring old cars goes back to my father, because of a lack of finances he did all his own maintenance on all his motorised equipment,” he said.
“I worked on cane farms and have been a truck driver for the past 35 years, so all of that is mechanically related and that’s where it all started for me.
“When I joined in 1980, I loved old cars and I had just bought one.
“There’s also the social aspect of it, I’ve made friends that I probably wouldn’t have made if I didn’t belong to the club.”
The chance to show off each other’s cars on a Sunday drive and lunch stop is appealing to the members, but the club’s contribution to Mackay and the surrounding suburbs is far greater than that.
Mr Smith said any profits from the club would be donated to a Mackay-based charity.
“We donate to charity if we raise more money than it costs to keep the club open,” he said.
“Over the years there has been a variety of charities, we’ve done some cancer-related ones, some RACQ CQ Rescue, Mackay Animal Rescue Society for homeless dogs.
“If we feel we can help people with some money, we’ll pick one on the day that has a special connection to our members.
Mackay Restoration Club
Matthew Forrest
- The club meets most Sundays for a drive or a static show, with the number of involved members ranging from four to 24
- Members' cars range between 40 and 100 years old
- The club welcomes passionate car lovers who want help in restoring vintage vehicles
“A couple of years ago now, we had a member pass away to cancer so that year we donated to that particular cause.
“We try to make it a charity as local as possible.”
Each Sunday drive usually attracts between four and 24 members to get behind the wheel of their prized possessions and make a trip across the region.
“We usually go to a place with a picnic area, because we like to eat as much as we like to drive,” Mr Smith said.
“Those drives are pretty special, there are cars ranging from the 1920s to the 80s that join in, each car that people drive is considered to be their pride and joy.
“The car that was new once is old now, so when someone was 10 years old and liked a certain type of car, that’s the car they wanted as a kid and that’s stayed the same as an adult because it was significant in their life.”
20. ‘It’s a hobby of extreme enthusiasm’: The art of creating tiny trees that bonds a man to his granddaughters
By Janessa Ekert
A 1980s cult classic movie was the beginning of a passion hobby that allowed Michael Watt to combine art and science in creating beautiful bonsai.
The 54 year old’s love for designing these “little trees” has spanned three decades and shows no sign of slowing down as he meets and overcomes new challenges with each creation.
His interest was sparked when Mr Miyagi told Daniel-san to “think only tree” in The Karate Kid.
“From my … generation, you’d be wonderfully surprised how many people draw a reference to Karate Kid,” the Pioneer Bonsai Mackay head, known as Watty, said.
“That was influential to me because I grew up with Karate Kid like anybody of my era.”
Then, after his parents had moved house, his mother – who was also an avid gardener – gave him an old bonsai book, which piqued his interest further and it flourished from there.
“It’s a hobby but it is a hobby that can take over. It’s a hobby of extreme interest and enthusiasm,” the North Eton man said.
“Once you have one tree, that turns into two, which turns into four, which turns to eight. And at times in my life I’ve had more than 300 of them going at once.”
Watty, who has always had an interest in horticulture, has since whittled his collection down to fewer than 100 because “as you learn more and more and get interested in better and better trees, you realise that quantity is not the answer”.
Simplistically, bonsai are pot plants that have been dwarfed through pruning and trained into an artistic shape. But the reality is so much more.
And what makes a bonsai impressive, Watty said, was “its ability to look in scale like a tiny tree and its ability to convey age”.
“We’re not looking at a five-year-old pot plant, what we’re trying to convey is a 100-year-old tree,” he said.
“If you can do things to this pot plant that make it look like an older tree and that may be as simple as adjusting the trunk, it may be adjusting the branches, it may be adding deadwood to the tree – that is removing bark – it may be killing branches so that you have dead branches within the design of your live tree.”
Tricks to making a tree look aged included adding subtle movements into the trunk or branches using wire to shape the plant, he said.
The first tree Watty tried to turn into a bonsai was an Australian Native eucalyptus.
“I literally chose the hardest thing for a beginner to do, and of course I killed it,” he said.
“And I’ve killed many trees trying various procedures and things over the course of time.
“The trick of course is don’t kill the same tree the same way a second time, learn from that and move on and you begin to kill less and less trees as you get better and better with it.”
Watty said tree choice was the most common mistake beginner bonsai enthusiasts made.
“If you wanted to go and choose a tree that was relatively easy to look after … and very hard to kill, the easiest choice is something in the range of a ficus (fig tree),” he said.
“If you like something with flowers and colour … a bougainvillea.”
He has been involved in the bonsai scene in Mackay for about 12 years but a club has existed in some form for about 15 years.
Watty said it was initially known as Mackay Bonsai Society, but last year transitioned into Pioneer Mackay Bonsai.
“Pioneer is our valley and the Pioneer is our river, and we like to say that pioneer is our spirit towards bonsai as well,” he said.
“The interesting thing about bonsai is it’s one of the very few … hobbies that incorporates both a science and an art.
“I have some artistic abilities … it is helpful in the world of bonsai if you know a little bit about trees and you know a little bit about artistic design.”
There was a chasm between the western and eastern view towards bonsai, he said.
“Western society really looks to make instant bonsai,” Watty said.
“The eastern way of looking at a bonsai is actually put a tree in the ground, grow it for 50 years as a bonsai in the ground, then put it in a pot, after 10 years of being in a pot … now we can begin to call it a bonsai.
“I’m definitely a long game person, I’m not into instant bonsai.
“I can certainly do instant bonsai for people who bring a tree for the club, but if it’s my personal collection I will always have a long term plan for the tree.”
One of the things he loved the most was having “a little piece of nature”.
“The harmony with nature is what enthrals me and, if I can be corny about it, the overall Zen experience that working with a tree will give you,” he said.
There had been, he said, a shift on the bonsai scene towards Australian Native trees, which had previously been rejected for junipers and pine varieties.
“I pursue and design and foster a care for Australian native plants, into bonsai,” he said.
“Certainly based on the fact I move trees on and have done the 10 or 12 years doing bonsai in Mackay – I don’t have too many trees that I began with.
“I have seasonal favourites.
“The work on a bonsai be it pruning or wiring or shaping, these can happen at different times and on different trees.
“So of course typically the tree that you’re working on, you spend some intimate time with it and it becomes your favourite.”
But no tree made a more impressive bonsai than another, he said.
“Each and every tree is going to have its own little unique nuances that make it special.”
19. The adrenaline-fuelled club forging fast family ties
By Lillian Watkins
A nine-year-old girl’s plea to “go faster” inspired three generations of a Clermont family into the adrenaline-filled world of go-karting.
Grandfather Ned McFarlane easily recalls the day he took his eldest granddaughter Ruby Johnson to the go-karting track in Moranbah with her father and sister.
“She took one for a run and said, ‘I want to go faster’,” Mr McFarlane said.
And that was that – Mr McFarlane and his son hunted down a go-kart for young Ruby and soon followed in her small footsteps, buying go-karts for themselves.
Four years and another five go-carts later you can still catch the Mr McFarlane every month at the Mackay Kart Club in Palmyra- that is, if you’re fast enough.
Mr McFarlane said four out of five of his granddaughters were racers, with the baby of the family already begging him for a go-kart of her own.
“She’s only three but she says ‘Granddad, where’s my go-kart?”,’ he said with a laugh.
While the latest need for speed kicked off with Ruby, the 65 year old and his family has always loved going fast.
“I’ve raced motorbikes and cars, but I just get a real kick out of racing go-karts,” Mr McFarlane said.
Mr McFarlane said he used to compete in enduro motorbike races and at one point owned no less than four sprint cars.
His son and daughter-in-law were also keen speedsters, racing quad and motorbikes – an activity that would often worry him.
But, like Mr McFarlane and their daughters, they’ve taken up go-karting as well.
“This is a thousand times safer,” Mr McFarlane said.
“And hooley dooley, we have a ball.”
Mr McFarlane said a huge part of the fun was the community at the Mackay Kart Club.
“The Mackay Club is the best by far, they look after you,” he said.
“Any dramas you have and people will come over and help or lend you parts.”
Mackay Kart Club secretary Deon Attard agreed saying the club prided itself on being friendly and family orientated.
Mr Attard said the club caters to competitors from six years old, with many members still racing well into their 70s.
But Mr Attard said it had been a hard-to-access sport in Mackay for many years as the cost of getting into it was unaffordable for many families.
About four years ago the Mackay Club became independent, splitting from Go-Karting Australia.
Mr Attard said this allowed them to modify the requirements for go-karts, still keeping them safe for competitors but in range for most families.
He said the club has since grown from 20 competitors to 90, making it one of the biggest go-karting clubs outside of Brisbane.
The club puts on about ten competitions a year but members can come and use the track for practice when they like.
For anyone wanting to get involved, head to the Mackay Kart Club website.
18. ‘Take yourself out of your comfort zone’: The club that walks the talk
By Stephanie Allen
Six years ago, a heartfelt story about Bernard O’Reilly walking 38km through the Gold Coast Hinterland in 1937 to save two men from a plane crash, left Bruce Pownall inspired.
Determined to cover the same Stinson Walk at the O’Reilly Forest, Mr Pownall joined Mackay Bushwalkers Club to build up fitness.
Two Stinson Walks later, Mr Pownall has remained with the club and 12 months ago, took over as president.
“I enjoy getting off the beaten track and going places where most people don’t go and always wondering what I might find,” he said.
“It’s still good to go to out of the way places like Mount Dalrymple and Mount David, which are as close to the lost world as most of us will get.”
After retiring from running a cattle property, Carfax, at Dysart, Mr Pownall said the club not only kept all 80 members active but provided a tight-knit community for all.
“It’s about taking yourself out of your comfort zone,” he said.
“Once you stop being willing to put in the effort in life, life can get a bit mundane.
“There’s definitely people who join and take part in the walks for mental health reasons because they know the alternative to going for a walk on Sunday might be spending more time at home by themselves, so they choose to be out mixing with other people for the day.”
The walks are tailored to different fitness levels, and each scheduled walk is optional to members depending on their capabilities.
“Some are pretty easy, and anyone who walks in off the street can do them, but others require you to be very fit,” Mr Pownall said.
“(A good thing is) when you’re out on a walk, people automatically click into the mindset of ‘we’re all in this together’ and nothing comes down to the individual – it’s always about the group and looking out for each other.
“It’s great to see that automatically happen.
“You leave behind any of the selfish mindset that can creep into today’s society and you go back to old values.”
The scenic walks, which are held every Sunday all around the Mackay and Whitsunday region, are also open to those wishing to snap gorgeous photos. Visit mackay.bwq.org.au
The club will disband over Christmas and start up again in January, with walks tailored to suit warmer weather.
General meetings and new member inductions are held on the third Wednesday of every month.
Mackay Bushwalkers Club began in 1974.
17. The club driving Mackay’s passion for vintage vehicles
By Stephanie Allen
For 56 years, Mackay Vintage Motor Club has served as a time capsule for eras long past.
While the world rockets into the future with increasingly advanced technology, this club of 40 has continued to keep generations of classics alive.
But for secretary Ray White, just how long the classics will survive into the future remains to be seen.
“I’ve been involved with the club for 11 years,” Mr White said.
“I was talking to some people from the club … at the Greenmount Fair and it just went from there.
“I bought a car (a 1975 Triumph, the same model the English police force used) and joined the club. My first outing was the Sarina Show.
“After I sold the Triumph to another club member I bought a maroon 1971 Mercedes (nine years ago).”
The Mercedes was a unique buy, after sitting in storage, untouched, for 20 years.
“After the owner died, his wife put it into storage.
“He was an accountant and he was a bit embarrassed to have spent so much on a car so he only used to take it to golf and church.
“The registration was never cancelled and it was paid for 20 years.
“It’s in its original condition mostly … besides the radio … which intermittently would only get AM radio so I put in a more modern radio.”
Over the years, the Mackay Vintage Motor Club’s members have grown from eight to 40.
The members, who come from across the wider Mackay region including one person from Clermont, are passionate about their cars.
“One of our members, he isn’t interested in anything after World War II,” Mr White said.
“Another isn’t interested in anything after the 1930s.
“One member has 18-odd cars. They’re all Ford V8s and one T-Model, plus three trucks.”
Mr White had a diverse working life, ranging from cabinet making, cane cutting, and travelling the north of the region as a non-genuine harvester parts salesman.
Despite not having a lifelong passion for cars, he quickly became enamoured with classic vehicles.
“It’s the people (that made me join). It’s a social outing. Rather than staying at home all day … you can meet people from different backgrounds,” he said.
“I’ve met some people from all over the world, (like from) Hong Kong, Singapore, and England.”
After Mr White retired and joined the club, he also served as club vice president for a stint.
The vintage motor bug biting the second and third generation of car enthusiasts has helped the club’s member base grow over the years.
“When the members first joined, they used to take their kids and have outings … and now their kids have kids. It’s a generational thing,” Mr White said.
“But in 50 years, the whole picture has changed, not just with car clubs but with technology and lifestyle, and it’s hard to get the younger ones interested or actively involved.
“We would like to see the oldest of the cars kept alive and if they are sold, we would like to see them go to good homes where they’re looked after, (the buyer) respects their age and doesn’t flog them off for bits because they’re old.”
For the passionate car enthusiast, restoring and upkeeping these classics is becoming a “dying art”.
“Knowledge is not being passed on the way we would like,” he said.
However, there is still hope.
“There are some people who are still interested in what we do and where we go,” Mr White said.
“They can join. Any age can join. If they want to buy, they can buy one in good shape or one that’s done up. That’s a trend that’s happening too, because it costs so much (and can take years) to do an old car up, you can’t always do everything yourself.”
But it’s all worth it, says Mr White.
Mackay Vintage Motor Club is welcoming all new members of any age and experience, with or without classic cars, to join.
16. The blossoming club creating ’a revolution from the grassroots up’
By Heidi Petith
Spending his childhood days on the 1.6ha family hobby farm, Shine Mietzel grew a deep connection to mother Earth and her bounty.
“We had ducks, chooks and fruit trees, mainly exotic,” Mr Mietzel said.
He said this included varieties of mango, jaboticaba – a type of tree grape – and jackfruit among others.
Mr Mietzel said his dad invited him as a teenager to go along to a meeting of a rare fruit club, leading him to become Mackay’s only life member of the Rare Fruits Council of Australia.
You can now find jackfruit growing in the Mackay Community Gardens in between the Mackay Base Hospital and Streeter Ave.
Mr Mietzel said the gardens not only nurtured produce but friendships, community and decentralisation, himself getting involved more than 15 years ago.
“Our culture is part of the tropics which is basically a part of Asia and the Pacific Islands,” he said.
He said this meant fresh fruits and vegetables – albeit some of them alternative to what most people were used to seeing at the supermarket – could be grown all year round.
The qualified chef said he was passionate about sustainable agriculture, having worked at a certified organic farm at Cameron’s Pocket, northwest of Mackay, for the past 13 years.
“I went around the world cooking,” he said.
“I went to Europe for a couple of years, then to Cairns, Darwin and to Byron Bay.
“I also went to Ecuador for a year, that’s when I got involved in permaculture.
“(It) is about the art of design, taking all your elements and putting them together.
“It goes from organic farming and companion planting right up to strategies for alternative nations, how we design our cities, transport and alternative energies.”
Mr Mietzel, who held stalls at the annual Wintermoon and Mushroom Valley festivals, said he helped create the Permaculture Research Institute in The Channon, NSW which provided education and training around the world.
Those same permaculture principles were used in the Mackay garden.
“It’s a revolution from the grassroots up,” he said.
“No multinational is going to come and save us.
“We need to save ourselves, we need to come together and stand up.”
He said the council-sponsored gardens were unlike community gardens where everyone had their own plot.
“Most people have their backyards in Mackay anyway,” he said.
Instead, the gardens were a meeting place and somewhere to host demonstrations and learning activities.
And seemingly its benefits were being heard far and wide with community gardens now established at Slade Point, Sarina and in the Whitsundays.
“Eventually I suppose (the goal) is to have one in each suburb, your own community garden,” Mr Mietzel said.
“What we’re trying to push a lot more now is getting together, with building community, sharing, socialising and realising you’re not alone.”
Mr Mietzener, who is hoping to host more education sessions at the gardens, said the Mackay Community Garden was looking for new members.
“There is heaps of nursery work, maintenance, pruning, brush cutting, mowing,” he said.
“There’s also social networking … organising workshops, getting funding grants, even just making a cup of tea for other volunteers.”
And if art installations are more your thing, there is room for that too.
This Saturday MCG member and permaculture expert Luke Matthews, of Pandurunga Permaculture Farm, will host a free worm farming and compost workshop from 9am to 11am.
You can learn how to create a more natural and healthier place to live while reducing the amount of organic waste headed to landfill.
To reserve your spot, register your interest online via Mackay council’s website.
There is also a social gathering from 4pm on Wednesday, December 15. Take a plate of food and hang out with like-mined people.
15. Why Mackay players are in a frenzy over centuries-old game
By Heidi Petith
With tables of four lined up in rows, players clutch their cards ready to square off in a highly competitive game from centuries past.
Each player has a ranking earned through wit, skill, practice and dedication but all are there for the thrill of it.
They are the Mackay Contract Bridge Club members and their longest serving player is Barbara Tait.
“But I’m not the oldest,” Mrs Tait said.
“I think we started in about ‘78.”
Mrs Tait said Bridge was a level-up from her previous card game of choice, Solo Whist.
“This is very serious by comparison because you play for points and you start off as a Local Master and eventually you become a Grand Master if you collect enough points,” she said.
It is in essence similar to karate where rank is accorded to expertise.
The Mackay chapter boasts six Grand Masters among its 80-odd membership base.
“You can play seven days a week, day or night,” Mrs Tait said, adding she attended twice a week.
The game harks back to the 17th century when it was allegedly popular with the English nobility.
It would not arrive on Australian shores for at least three hundred years.
In 1900, Melbourne newspaper Leader wrote bridge was a “newfangled card game” and a “formidable rival” to whist.
“It has also the dubious advantage of scoring three of four times as many (as) whist, which commends it to such as love, excitement and the spice of gambling,” the article stated on February 3.
By the mid 1930s, half a million people across NSW and Victoria were attending a bridge tournament in Sydney.
Charters Towers-based paper The Northern Miner attributed the rapture to Australian soldiers learning the game during the South African War in the late 20th century.
“To play bridge has become a necessary social accomplishment, an essential part of ‘finishing’ in polite education,” the article stated on January 17, 1934.
“Kings and queens exult over little slams in their palaces and the grocer’s wife in the parlour behind the shop argues on covering an honour with an honour.”
Britain’s King Edward VII was an enthusiastic royal bridge-player, with Lawrence of Arabia actor Omar Sharif also a fan.
Sharif was formerly one of the world’s best players.
By 1949, the bridge frenzy was well alight in Mackay with the inception of the Mackay Bridge Club.
Foundation member Marj Haughton wrote in 1988 how Mackay’s first duplicate game was played to raise money for either the Ambulance or the Red Cross.
Current member Gwenneth Liddell said gamers were played in members’ homes until a great fundraising effort in the 70s to build a new homebase along Shakespeare St where they remained today.
And it was home life that inspired Mrs Tait’s passion for card games.
“I used to play Snap and Grab and Go Fish,” she said with a laugh.
“A lot of households did (cards) every night.”
And while bridge provided four hours of entertainment each day for Mackay members, it was also serious competition for those yearning to revel in the glory.
“The big one is the Gold Coast in January, February, which is the largest bridge game, or contract bridge game, in the Southern Hemisphere, “Mrs Tait said.
“They get 3000 people.
“It goes for a week and people from around the world come and play.
“And wherever you go overseas there’s places to play.”
Perhaps one of the reasons the game has so many fans is the competence you must acquire just to earn the right to a seat at the table.
The Mackay Bridge Club hosts 10 weeks of tutorials at the beginning of each year for those wanting to discover the sport played by tens of millions across the globe.
For Mrs Tait, it was the friendships that made the sport her hobby of choice.
“It keeps your mind active and the memory, and as I say (it is) the enjoyment with our friends more than anything,” she said.
14. The sport with fun-filled action, sandy toes and salty hair
By Heidi Petith
Not a weekend goes by that members of the John family do not have sand in their toes and salt in their hair.
Naturally, Laani and Ryan would be water babies growing up with a pool but after watching other children paddling on boards down the beach, they wanted in.
Dad Neil said he took them to the Sarina Surf Lifesaving Club’s come and try day and now they were in their ninth year of being members.
“It’s a really family-oriented club, it really is a sport the whole family can do,” Mr John said.
Neil works as a paramedic during the week and on the weekends throughout August to May, he voluntarily patrols Sarina Beach as does Laani, Ryan and mum Kylie, who is also the club administrator.
“We set up the flags, we check out the safest area for swimming and we actually do a stinger drag to make sure there’s no stingers, so that’s box jellies and irikandji,” Mr John said.
He said while Sarina Beach did not get strong, powerful rips that were classic in southeast Queensland, there were plenty of opportunities to apply first aid from broken arms in a game of footy to jellyfish stings to waves dumping swimmers onto the sand.
“We’ve got the point there on Sarina Beach which has lots of rocks so sometimes they fall on the rocks and cut themselves,” he said.
“And with the big tides and the big waves with cyclones, we sometimes have to advise people to not get into the water.
“It is quite dangerous.
“All the creeks start pumping logs and stuff out and they end up in the surf and the break and, during Cyclone Debbie, there would have been about a 25m long gum tree just sitting on the beach.”
Mr John said rising through the ranks of surf lifesaving was an excellent opportunity for members to learn valuable lifelong skills.
“We’ve got a whole bunch of different devices there, we’ve got first aid kits and oxygen and defibrillators down to rescue boards and inflatable rescue boats,” he said.
”They’re pretty good fun.
“And we do a lot of training as well, even when we’re on patrol, we talk about rescue scenarios and working on the communication on the radio and stuff like that.”
He said while his family’s four-hour patrols were voluntary, it never felt like a chore and it felt good to give back to the community.
“We’ve had a fairly steady increase in numbers in the past couple of years and it’s mainly through our come and try days,” Mr John said.
“The main thing that we do with lifesaving is we want to make it as an accessible sport as possible.
“We expect (kids) are going to come to the beach with a reasonable level of being able to swim.”
Mr John said the sport also melded lifelong friendships through events such as regional championships, state titles, carnivals, carols, coconut festivals, fun runs and more.
“Some of our kids do really well, they’ve actually gotten gold medals,” Mr John said.
“Nate Brady last year, in his first ever state titles, won gold in the beach flags.”
Mr John, who recently stepped down to the vice-president position, was also helping to put the Sarina club on the map taking out both Australian Surf Lifesaver and North Barrier Branch Lifesaver of the Year for 2020 as well as Queensland Surf Lifesaver of the Year for 2021.
He encouraged anyone wanting to give the sport a whirl to go along to a come and try day or turn up on the beach and chat to a patrol member.
“Who doesn’t want to spend time in the ocean?” he said.
“If you live in Australia you’re surrounded by the sea.”
13. The sport mum, dad and all the kids can play
An invite as a teenager to play a casual game of touch has transpired into a family love affair with Australia’s fastest growing community sport.
Andergrove mum Sheril Buchanan — who has played touch football for Queensland and for the Philippines — began at age 17.
“I liked that it was a team sport, I liked the friendships. What I loved most is that, when I was younger, I saw mothers playing for Australia in the open women’s side,” Mrs Buchanan said.
“And I thought, ‘Wow, they’re still playing with a family and I always just thought what a great sport you can bring your family up through no matter what age you are’.
Mrs Buchanan said the growing screen time for women’s sport was tremendous for this generation including their daughter Takiah-Lani, 18, who herself was now playing representative-level touch.
“We didn’t have the pathways when we were younger and now the pathways for these young girls to come through in all the football sports, whether it’s touch football, league, AFL, rugby, it’s fantastic,” she said.
“They have the skill set, they can be seen and we can play, and I just think (promotion) is wonderful … we can play at the higher level and I think people get surprised by that.”
There are six members in the Buchanan family: Sheril, husband Reuben, the eldest child Takiah-Lani and three boys: Zeph, 13, Ryder, 11, and Cruz, 7.
Together, they play for 12 teams across Mackay Touch Football Association with Sheril and Reuben recently playing in a mixed-gender team that ended up trumping the all-male competition.
“I started playing (in Mackay) when my son (Cruz) was three weeks old,” Mrs Buchanan said.
It is an incredible feat but not unusual among the sporting prowess of this family with Takiah-Lani competing in wakeboarding competitions at the tender age of three.
It was Mackay’s wakeboard park that together with the mining industry lured the family north from the Sunshine Coast with dad Reuben formerly number five in the world for the sport.
But now wakeboarding was reserved for Sunday recreation with touch football the sport of choice.
“We find here in touch it’s great because the community’s small and you can learn off everyone,” Mrs Buchanan said.
“Once the children step up into rep levels, they’re going onto different coaches and they’re mixing with a lot of the same people.
“While there might be a rivalry on the actual field, when you step off that field, you know everybody.”
And touch gave plenty of opportunities for mingling with other families up and down the coast with the Buchanans travelling to Townsville, Rockhampton, the Sunshine Coast, Gold Coast and more for their children’s rep-level games.
The Mackay Touch Association, which began about 40 years ago, has about 1000 members and is growing.
“You can have from Grade 1 (primary) all the way through to under 18s in the juniors and they then step up into the senior level where we have open men, open women and we have mixed teams as well,” Mrs Buchanan said.
She said touch was a great foundational sport for developing ball skills and spatial awareness, with many players passing over to other codes such as Benji Marshall and “the poster girl for Australian 7s at the Olympics”, Charlotte Caslick.
And if a quick game was more your style, Mrs Buchanan said North Queensland Touch Association development officer Katie Geiger was promoting a new fast four concept where sides of four players played for five-minute halves.
But whether you play full games or the quick version, Mr Buchanan said all skill levels were welcome and even those who could not catch a football were more than welcome to come along and get a start.
He said the amount of training you signed up for depended on your choice of commitment and your aspirations to move into elite levels.
“It’s such a social sport,” he said.
12. How an unwanted Christmas present became a buzzing passion
By Heidi Petith
What started as an unwanted Christmas present has transpired into thousands of buzzing children under her wing.
Marian mum Wendy Eiteneuer said she had been listening with her husband to an ABC interview of Cedar Anderson who co-invented the Flow Hive allowing honey to be extracted from a comb with a turn of a knob.
“I started to do a bit of reading online and stuff like that and I actually thought, wow (beekeeping) is a lot more complicated than they made it sound so I think it’s maybe not a good idea,” Mrs Eiteneuer said.
“But my husband didn’t do that, he just decided we were going to keep bees so he gave me a beehive for Christmas.
“I think he gave me his Christmas present, that’s kind of how it felt at the time,” she said with a laugh.
“And then (he gave me) the bees a month later for my birthday.”
Mrs Eiteneuer said she was a “bit resistant” at first and would let her husband take the beekeeping reins, happy to just wander over for a “little bit of a look”.
That was until she noticed fewer bees buzzing about.
When her husband opened the hive, she knew something was askew and her mum instincts kicked into gear.
“All of them had their heads buried down into empty cells and I realised that they were starving,” she said.
“I started researching how to feed bees and I realised how much there was to learn.”
A “can of worms” was opened into an “endlessly fascinating” world and the bees were from thereon in under her care.
Mrs Eiteneuer said she discovered her bees had been swarming, a term used to describe when half of a hive prepares to buzz off and create a new brood elsewhere after rearing a new queen fit for the throne.
And it was the female worker bees who decided when the time was right to find a less crowded home.
“The (reigning) queen doesn’t necessarily have to agree,” Mrs Eiteneuer said.
“(Worker bees) can actually create dozens of (new queens).
“If they’re a really strong hive and they have heaps and heaps of resources and they have that genetic swarming tendency, they can create dozens of queen cells inside the hive.
“And in that situation, you will actually get multiple swarms more or less around the same time.”
And in a similar fashion to people, she said each of her 13 hives had their own temperaments.
The meaner-spirited bees — more likely to sting-to-their-own-death and “ask questions later” — were stationed to the far right.
Mrs Eiteneuer said trying to breed more friendly bees and discourage the feisty ones from swarming to new patches was just part of being a responsible beekeeper.
She is now helping others learn about the intricacies as president of the Central Queensland Beekeepers Association.
The club’s members — who stretch from Proserpine in the north to St Lawrence in the south and the inland towns in between — share knowledge as well as buy, swap and sell resources, and organise workshops and get-togethers.
The club recently hosted a native beekeeping session with presenter Dr Tim Heard, a well-known entomologist who has 35 years of experience and authored The Australian Native Bee Book.
While Mrs Eiteneuer has traditionally focused on rearing European honeybees — and with great success too, harvesting about 2kg of sweet deliciousness per comb tray — she said she was starting to get into natives.
This included helping them prosper outside of her Marian acreage.
She helps out the National Sentinel Hive Program that aims for the early detection of honeybee parasites and exotic bees brought in to Australia via sea ports.
Mrs Eiteneuer said she inspected and sampled in a radius around Mackay’s ports with the program also setting up swarm traps and sweeping for bees around different florals.
She said the Beekeepers Association was welcome to new members at any stage of their beekeeping journey.
11. How a lonely divorcee created 6000 new friendships
By Heidi Petith
Going through a divorce has inspired a Mackay woman to discover a life full of adventure with no turning back.
Katelyn Edmonds said when the separation cost her friendships, she asked herself, how could she meet new people?
“So I generated Mackay Random Adventures,” Ms Edmonds said.
“A few people felt they were in the same boat.
“As children, you used to be able to just go to the park and say, ‘Do you want to be my friend?’
“You do that now, people think you’re a little bit weird.
“(MRA) became a platform for Mackay and surrounding district people to come together, share stories and share adventures.”
And those adventures have grown in scale since the club’s inception in 2019 with the pinnacle event being the Amazing Race.
Ms Edmonds said this year’s event drew 140 cars and 800 participants who traversed the Mackay region’s countryside with riddles and clues to help them on their way.
“We always add some stuff about the history of Mackay (into the game),” she said.
“My family came from Mackay, I physically was born in Emerald, but my family were all from one of the first pioneers.”
She said her mum Barbara Edmonds, the club’s other co-founder, added her own local touch to the race with a “massive lay of the land” and geography of Mackay including secret creeks and watering holes.
“A lot of people have lived here all their life and don’t know a lot about the history,” Ms Edmonds said.
“We try and keep (participants) off the highway.
“The first year we did it, people loved it and it’s just gotten bigger than Ben-Hur.”
In two years, the club’s Facebook membership base has surged to 6000 with the platform open to anyone wishing to find adventure buddies.
Ms Edmonds said members post about wanting company for Escape Rooms, the movies, four-wheel-driving, ten pin bowling, scavenger hunts and much more.
“And we’re starting to do really family friendly events that are for kids as well,” she said.
“We’re having a teddy bear picnic/park crawls.
“You know the old sort of pub crawl, so we’re doing the PG version.
“There’s a lot of mums and dads out there and it’s hard to make friends.”
Ms Edmonds, herself a stepmum, has also created an event just for mums with an annual camp-out at Captain’s Crossing.
“Our motto is ‘no children, no men, no dying’.
“We have an absolute blast, it’s so lovely to be able to cook your dinner and be able to eat it without it going cold.”
Ms Edmonds said it was also a chance to prove four-wheel-driving was not just for the men, with the campers first meeting at a dinner to get to know each other.
“You’re heading off to the wilderness with a bunch of women you’ve never met before,” she said.
“One of the ladies, she brought Anthony, a blow up doll, and he was tied to the roof racks,” she said with a laugh.
Ms Edmonds said MRA’s success was “really quite humbling” and something she was proud of.
“I know a lot of people now and it is a bit of a funny scenario.
“Walking down the street I can’t go anywhere without someone stopping me to say hello.
“(MAR)’s just turned huge and there’s a lot of people from all different walks of life.
“When I was down on my luck and loneliness and friends, it really did pick me up.
“I found some family of choice, as I call them.”
10. Battle-worn soldiers welcome first responders with open arms
By Heidi Petith
Bored as a plumbing apprentice, Robert Virgin said “bugger it” and signed up for an adventure of a lifetime.
The 17 year old grew up quickly while aiming the machine guns on the M113 armoured personnel carriers towards the enemy.
“It was a bit too wet for tanks (in Vietnam), tanks were getting bogged all the time,” Mr Virgin said.
“ (M113’s) weren’t as heavy and they weren’t as thirsty either.
“We bought them over in Detroit, we got them from the Yanks back when the Vietnam War was starting.”
Mr Virgin said the amphibious M113s could carry 15 infantrymen through all terrains and inside there was enough space for two hammocks.
He served two six-year terms with the Australian Defence Force and on leaving, even considered joining the Special Air Service Regiment.
But he said his phobia of deep water bluntly ended that aspiration.
Back in civilian life he enrolled in a chef’s course and was part of the crew that built the shopping centre in Mount Pleasant.
“I sort of fell in love with a lady (in Mackay) and decided to stay for a while and basically got a job at the Whitsunday (Hotel),” Mr Virgin said, reminiscing over the days at the Hibiscus Restaurant.
He also worked at Langford’s Hotel and at the restaurant at Kinchant Dam which is where he met fellow Vietnam veteran Ken Higgins and became involved with the Mackay RSL Sub-branch.
Mr Virgin said while his membership had been “on and off” over the decades, his RSL comrades had been a “lifeline” in recent weeks.
The health of the once “fitness fanatic” and keen cyclist has in the space of two to three years deteriorated to the point the veteran collapsed in the centre of town unable to breathe.
A doctor’s diagnosis confirmed Mr Virgin had a condition that meant he could now only walk mere metres before he ran out of breath.
Mr Higgins, the president of the Mackay RSL sub-branch, said club members in response held an emergency meeting and unanimously decided to buy him a $5600 mobility scooter.
“It gives (Bob) the independence he deserves,” Mr Higgins said, as Mr Virgin demonstrated his mastery of the machine.
The scooter lets Mr Virgin jet about the city including to his volunteer role at the library and the informal catch-ups over a tipple with other veterans and first responders.
“We get there and tell lies to each other about how brave we were,” Mr Virgin said with a cheeky grin.
Mr Virgin is now backing the Daily Mercury’s Hub for our Heroes campaign to get the Mackay RSL sub-branch a new clubhouse down by the river to hark back to the days where “barriers are broken” over a pool table.
“That was excellent,” he said, remembering the Sydney St club which shut in 2006.
Mr Higgins, who is spearheading the club’s revival, said the RSL had pivoted to embrace a wider sphere outside of veterans including every person who had served on the front line and their families.
He said this “opened the doors” to police officers, paramedics, firefighters and many other occupations.
“It’s a big family,” Mr Higgins said.
“We want to welcome them with open arms and we want them to have their section in this building.
“These people do so much work in the community and a lot of these first responders experience trauma similar to war zones.”
For Mr Virgin, the traumatic reality of the frontline at home was all too real having lost his wife and two kids in a car crash.
“It ripped his guts out and still does,” Mr Higgins said.
“You can never forget, that’s what PTSD does to you.”
Mr Higgins said belonging to an RSL club gave veterans and first responders social interactions to not get over but in a sense smooth the pain of living.
And he shared ambitions for the new clubhouse to go beyond healing to also become a home all families and generations could enjoy, somewhere history and the future intertwined.
To learn more about the Hub for our Heroes campaign, catch up below:
9. WANTED: Socialite retirees looking for fun in Mackay
By Heidi Petith
If getting together with other retirees once a month for a social dinner and drinks with a guest speaker sounds like your type of fun, there is a club waiting for you.
Blacks Beach retiree Anthony Wiltshire joined the Mackay Probus chapter five years ago when he uprooted his life in London to set down roots in the tropics after years of holidaying down under.
“My daughter lives (in Mackay) and I wanted to meet as many people as I could and get engaged in what’s going on so I joined Probus,” the father-of-two said.
Mr Wiltshire said the club’s camaraderie and atmosphere had the ability to connect retirees across the island-like Mackay region.
“(Probus) is simply there to enjoy the company of others during retirement,” he said.
“It’s very much a social club, it’s based on fun, fellowship and friendship.”
The self-described “10-pound-Pom” is no stranger to expanding his horizons and making new friends, having briefly lived in Australia after a little window shopping inspiration.
“They used to have in the UK in the 1950s and ‘60s, immigration offices, and in the window would be pictures of a dessert, and people jumping about on the beach and all these kinds of things, everything that was Australian,” he said.
“And where I worked in Bristol in England I used to go past this place everyday and it got me in the end.
“I went in and got the application forms, filled them in and ultimately set off for Australia.
“I had no job to go to.”
Mr Wiltshire arrived in Sydney where he and his wife had their first daughter before returning to England where he worked as a chartered engineer and then a management consultant for businesses including the Bank of Ireland.
Now in retired life, he is a member of many clubs and the president of Mackay Combined Probus Club, albeit for a short time.
“Like all clubs, you always need new blood,” Mr Wiltshire said.
“Once you run it for a while, you tend to do it your way which is not necessarily the best way.
“We work on the principle where the president is president for a year and then there is a vice president who takes over.”
Mr Wiltshire said members wined and dined once a month with a new and interesting guest speaker to spark conversation.
This was in addition to fortnightly outings with a recent destination including the Yesterdays Memories museum at Mandarana near The Leap.
Mr Wiltshire said the next outing was a guided tour of the Botanical Gardens complete with a game of bocce and a meal at the cafe, followed by a trip to a Paget brewery.
“We’re going to be given a guided tour of Goanna Brewing and hopefully a selection of things to tipple,” he said with a laugh.
8. Rebels for a greater cause: The 100yo sisterhood championing women
By Heidi Petith
A Mackay club is following in the rebellious footsteps of its founder with members wearing pyjamas to the cinemas to empower other women.
Mum Kirsty Mawer said the Big Girls Pyjama Party was a night out raising funds with a fun twist embodying the Soroptimist International Mackay chapter’s character.
“Some of the women even went to dinner beforehand in their pyjamas and they were just having a ball,” Mrs Mawer said with a laugh.
As the president of the Mackay chapter for the past three years, Mrs Mawer said her itch to give back to the community drew her towards the service club.
She said Soroptimist International was founded in the United States 100 years ago as a way for women to have a club of their own in the time Rotary clubs were strictly for men.
“Soro is the Latin word for sister and optimist meaning the best, so it’s about women bringing the best for women and girls,” Mrs Mayer said.
The founding president Violet Richardson was an activist who twice quit her university job to protest wage inequality, the Greater North Kitsap chapter in Washington has stated.
“It was Richardson who was sending her female students out on the field to play basketball and other ‘male sports’ wearing the typical bloomers of the day,” it added.
A century on, the Mackay chapter still focused on empowering women and girls albeit with a 21st century twist with men often chipping in to support their initiatives.
This included projects such as giving bras to women in Papua New Guinea and collecting spare cash at sausage sizzles to fund microloans in their “Small Change for Big Change” project.
“In one (microloan) instance, we had a lady, I think it was over in the Philippines, and she wanted to build a toilet for her family,” Mrs Mawer said.
She said it was part of Soroptimist International’s drive to meet the United Nation’s 17 Sustainable Goals, with the club occupying a seat at the global organisation.
But the Mackay chapter was also making a difference closer to home, including with the wardrobe at the Mackay Base Hospital’s mental health unit.
Members washed, dried and sorted second-hand clothing as well as bought new clothing to be made available to hospital patients.
“Some of the clients that go through (the unit), they might actually just rock up, they might have had a mental health episode and they have nothing,” Mrs Mawer said.
“They might not even have footwear.
“This is where we’re doing our part to basically allow them to have their dignity back.”
Mrs Mawer said the club also made reusable grocery bags for families and individuals accessing the St Vincent de Paul Society’s food service via “Bags for Change”.
“We sourced second-hand fabric from the community and we had a couple of what we call cut-a-thons and sew-a-thons,” she said.
And the club recently launched pledge cards for women to take to their doctors if they are experiencing symptoms of ovarian cancer to try and reverse the disease being detected in its advanced stages.
Mrs Mawer said the cards would be distributed at various doctors and chemists over Mackay in the coming weeks.
“Our motto is to educate, enable and empower women and girls, so not assuming but giving them definitely the confidence to take a little bit more control and seek assistance (from their doctor),” she said.
This Saturday, the 45-year-old Mackay chapter is hosting a high tea at Ocean International to celebrate a century of action with purpose.
Tickets cost $25 for the 1.30-3.30pm event and can be purchased via trybooking.com/BTLOP.
7. Just one regret: ‘I wish we’d gotten them into it younger’
By Heidi Petith
A family that has fallen head over wheels for BMX racing says their only regret is that they had not joined the sport earlier.
Meet the Bonehills, a former dancing family recruited to the Mackay and District BMX Club earlier this year when young Nate, 11, asked if he could watch a mate race the tracks.
Nate said once he had a go at the come and try day, he was hooked, and now loves “going fast” and “having fun competitions”.
“It just makes me happy,” he said.
And after having to watch her brother have all the fun, Ella, 9, asked to join the crew, adding the girls taking part in the sport “very muchly” inspired her and racing made her feel powerful.
Now the Slade Point family are at the BMX track on the corner of Norris Rd and Beaconsfield Rd in Beaconsfield multiple times a week.
This includes Mondays, or gate days, where transponders are used to give real time feedback to riders trying to beat their personal bests; Tuesdays and Wednesdays — training days — where experienced riders guide novice and developing riders to improve their game; and Thursdays on race nights.
Nate proudly announced how in a few short months, he had trimmed his personal best down from 52 seconds to 45, a feat he partly attributed to his new BMX bike.
Mum Nicole, self-described as the packhorse of the crew, said the sport had allowed Nate’s confidence to soar, with dad, Terry, or chief of maintenance, adding it had brought their son “out of his shell”.
“He had a watch (of the racing) and he decided for himself that’s what he wanted to do,” Mr Bonehill said.
“It’s basically his first sport and he loves it, absolutely loves it.”
Mr Bonehill said the sport provided a welcoming, social atmosphere on and off the tracks with the kids enjoying kicking around a football in their downtime.
“It’s a good buzz, like everyone is basically on a high and it’s all for the kids,” he said.
“Everyone’s cheering and yeh, it’s good.
“Everyone gets on, talks, no matter where they come from.”
BMX is often touted as one of the fastest growing sports in Australia, with BMX Australia stating the Olympic sport created “one big family where great friendships can be made”.
That rings true for the Bonehills and other MaD BMX Club families who travel to Emerald, the Central Highlands, the Burdekin, Atherton Tablelands and beyond to attend carnivals.
Mackay’s own three tracks at Sarina, Walkerston and Beaconsfield also host carnivals with the most recent being the Sugar City Classic, attracting almost 300 riders from two years old and up.
“You can travel nearly every weekend to a carnival if you really wanted to,” Mrs Bonehill said.
But even from home, Nate and Ella make sure they do not miss out on the action elsewhere, tuning into a livestream of the Auscycling Queensland State Championships on YouTube.
“It’s like we were screaming at the TV on footy night,” Ella said.
Mr Bonehill said how much you wanted to invest in BMX was entirely up to each family, adding there were second-hand bikes available for those just starting out.
And while the kids said they could not imagine doing any other sport now, Mr Bonehill said if he had his time again, he would do one thing differently.
“My only regret about it all is I wish I had gotten them into it younger,” he said.
6. Why Mackay Choral Society is up-ending choir tradition for a ‘dopamine rush’
By Heidi Petith
The self-confessed “naughty” leader of a loud, proud and talented bunch of choristers has unashamedly admitted “(she’s) not actually a very good singer”.
Jeanette Oberg said it was the “beauty of a choir” that through hard work could transform uncomfortable and ordinary singers into a harmonious ensemble come concert time.
“The audience generally goes wild, they clap and cheer, and we have standing ovations and it’s such a buzz,” the Mackay Choral Society president said.
“So you not only have the joy of singing but you also have the joy of performing.
“Most of us, we can’t wipe the grin off our faces, we’re walking off stage grinning and high-fiving each other.”
Having led the society’s 80-odd members for the past five years, Mrs Oberg said she could not imagine living somewhere without a choir.
She grew up in New Zealand signing in the shower and around the home before moving to England during which time she met her Australian husband on a TopDeck bus tour of Russia and Scandinavia.
“It was really intimidating because we hadn’t known each other very long when we got married so we’d sort of only been together four months,” Mrs Oberg said.
“His parents, I think they thought I was pregnant,” she said with a laugh.
“I remember when we flew into Mackay, I did not want to get off the plane.
“It was such a culture shock to come from London to Mackay in 1988.
“Mackay was a very different city to what it is today, it was just so small and very regional.”
But as Mackay grew more cosmopolitan, so too did its music, with the 76-year-old choir acquiring more than 20,000 songs into its collections ranging from Messiah’s Hallelujah to Star Wars.
Mrs Oberg said it was a rewarding experience to prepare for each concert while playfully affirming it was indeed the altos who faced the more difficult task.
“When you're in a choir, you've got a conflict in sounds around you,” the new grandmother said, adding while sopranos and tenors made beautiful melodies, it was bases and altos who gave music its depth.
“I sing alto so the sopranos are always too loud, ask any alto,” she said with a laugh.
“I’m very naughty, I’m always giving the sopranos a hard time.”
That included her role in banding together with the altos to rock up to a concert wearing outfits emblazoned with “Altos Rule”, the merriment echoed in the mum of two’s professional life as an accountant.
“We decided that one day that we were just going to sing so whenever someone rang us, we actually sang our responses to them,” Mrs Oberg said.
“We were trying to boost morale and lift their spirits, so people then started ringing us just to make us sing.
“I think we did it for about a week but it was a lot of fun.”
And it was fun that had forged the choir’s strong history and inspired performances such as a flash mob at Caneland Central as well as carols at Mount Pleasant Centre, Mackay Airport and at the hospital.
Mrs Oberg said members were currently preparing for their annual end-of-year Christmas year concert with Gabriel Fauré’s requiem comprising the first half and carols the second.
But they were doing away with traditional commitment.
“When I joined the choir it was basically rehearsals from the start of January, around Australia Day and then through to the second week of December … which doesn’t really suit the modern lifestyle,” Mrs Oberg said.
“So what we’ve done now is we have three projects a year and you commit to doing a project,” adding each required 12 weeks’ rehearsal.
The mum of two said if you could gather the courage to walk through the club’s door for the first time, you were in for an indescribable “dopamine rush”.
“When we do a concert, and this is going to sound wrong, but the priority is for us to have fun because we’re the ones that have worked really hard.
“Like if someone uses their hard-earned cash and buys a ticket — (it’s) great, we appreciate it — but it may be their cup of tea or it may not.
“Sometimes you come to a concert and think it’s going to be awesome and it’s not something you enjoy and other times, you get dragged along by somebody and you really enjoy it.
“But we want to enjoy it, and in the Mackay Choral Society, you can see that.”
5. Soccer mad dad giving up presidency after 17 years
By Heidi Petith
Scott Mealy still chuckles about the “hometown advantage” junior Mackay soccer players have when an aeroplane passes over the field.
Having spent half of his life coaching littlies, the father of five said the jets drew visiting players’ eyes towards the skies, offering the Mackay kids a brief relief from the defence.
Mr Mealy said the effect was amplified at their old Barber Park fields near the Mackay Airport, almost another generation ago now.
“(Port Authority) indicated they wanted us to move,” the outgoing Mackay Regional Football Zone president said.
“It was a breach of guidelines for the flight path, restrictions had changed and the number of people there at any one time was a problem.”
Mr Mealy said it was a colossal effort getting their new Glenella grounds, a success thanks to lots of fundraising, Mackay Regional Council offering a parcel of former cane fields and families pitching in.
This included the Egans who “went above and beyond” contributing about $200,000 of services.
Now there are about 1800 Mackay kids who use the 23 fields each week.
“I’d love to see more, we’ve got the land for it,” Mr Mealy said.
“We’ve got the potential to grow to host another 1000 kids here and still be able to cater at this venue.”
Marking the fields is an impressive entrance, a project that was “bigger than Ben Hur” to bring to fruition.
“I love it, I’m proud of it,” the boilermaker said.
“I wanted to make a statement piece gate.
“The company I worked for gave me a heap of pipe … it took about eight weeks from start to finish working after hours and weekends.
“All those zigzags of pipes, they’re a full length of pipe bent, I think there were 14 bends in each one.”
Mr Healy said his sons, Brodie and Connaire, also chipped in to the project, his children each building lifelong skills from hours on the pitch.
It was actually Brodie’s enrolment into junior soccer at six years that propelled Mr Mealy headfirst into the world of soccer 25 years ago.
“It snowballed from there,” Mr Mealy said with a laugh, adding he started helping the coach and before long was the president of City Brothers Football Club.
“From there I went on to the Mackay Junior Soccer Association board and in 2005 I became president of that,” he said.
The Mudgee-born dad and former Mackay North State High School student could finally delve into the sport after growing up with a younger brother more into rugby league, cricket and basketball.
Mr Mealy said friendships he had formed on and off the fields, including with other codes, had been invaluable to his life, only stepping down from his presidency role of 17 years out of necessity.
“It was a very hard decision, it wasn’t very easy to make,” he said.
“I had what they call a heart block, it’s not a heart attack.
“It’s an electrical problem and the remedy for that is a pacemaker, it’s the only option,” he said, reflecting he had ignored the signs thinking diabetes had caused his blacking out.
Mr Mealy will now continue on as a coach with the Wanderer’s Pixies — a girls only team for ages five to seven — but would cut down from his former 30 hours-plus per week devotion to the sport.
“Your kids miss out because you’re not at home,” he said.
“Hopefully I can rectify that with (Niamh).”
Niahm, 7, was inducted into soccer at a very early age.
“She was born on a Wednesday and was at her first game on the Friday night.”
4. Jawsome sport makes waves for dad with salt water in his veins
By Heidi Petith
A delicious fish catches your eye.
You decide to shoot it but you only have mere seconds to stop it moving before a pack of sharks are at your flippers trying to steal your lunch.
That “hectic” image is the reality Shaun Tencate faces while spending hours underwater on a “peaceful” hobby he adores.
“The blood isn’t the problem with the sharks, it’s the vibration of the fish,” the Mackay spearfisher said.
“If you shoot a fish and it’s fighting and vibrating, that’s when the sharks get turned on and go bonkers … the moment that fish dies, the sharks calm right down.”
And despite tiger sharks being blamed for a spate of attacks in the Whitsundays including on Justine Barwick three years ago on Friday, Mr Tencate said it was the “little keg” grey reef whalers you should keep one eye open for.
“Tiger sharks are usually pretty mellow,” the father of two said.
“They’re a very cautious shark, they come in and present themselves, generally.
“Every now and again there’s one that’s different to the rest but normally they come in and use their size to try and intimidate you and they get closer and closer and closer but you’ve got enough time to call a boat over and get out of the water.
“The grey reef whalers, they’re the one’s that’ll usually bite you … they’re very agitated and they swim in packs and they’re the ones where you shoot the fish and three or four of those appear.
“They’re only about six feet long.”
The Mackay Downunder Skin Diving Club event co-ordinator laughed when he recalled the moment blood was pouring from his hand.
“I reached into a cave to try and get a crayfish and a wobbegong (shark) latched onto me and I thought, ‘Ooh this will be interesting’.”
There were also other dangers to the sport, he said, including shallow water blackout which killed Olympian snowboarder Alex ‘Chumpy’ Pullin last year.
“It’s the scariest thing in our sport,” Mr Tencate said, adding the MDSDC was partnering with an Airlie Beach trainer to raise awareness among its members.
Despite the risks, the ocean runs in the 43 year old’s veins, having accompanied his mum on scuba diving trips around the world as a child.
“When my brother was born, he’s five years younger than me, he could swim underwater before he could walk so we were brought up on the water,” he said.
The apprentice underground electrician said Mackay’s waters were blessed with an abundance of fish including fingermark, mackerel, barramundi, trout and 7kg tusk fish off the Mackay Harbour rock wall.
But for MDSDC members, it was less about quantity and more about the quality with the penultimate event to show off your hunting prowess — the Andrew Clough Challenge — luring about 60 divers each year.
“He was a club champion who passed away, he was pretty young, he fell off some waterfalls at Cairns,” Mr Tencate said.
To win boasting rights at the namesake competition, a spearfisher must kill the most meritorious fish, “something that is really rare for our area or big for its (species)”.
Mr Tencate said the unique event earned the 65-year-old club third place in a global sustainability award with divers like himself moving towards a more conservative take model.
And in addition to monthly club dives, members tripped to Kurrimine Beach, Bowen and Airlie Beach with plans under way for an adventure to Lizard Island.
“You see so much amazing stuff (spearfishing),” Mr Tencate said.
“My wife’s into it now, my 15-year old boy dives with us.
“Everyone starts off with the trepidation of the sharks obviously and we see our fair share.
“They are part of the parcel but you learn to respect them and you learn to pick your areas where they’re going to be thick and where they’re not and you make the call.”
3. Twist on tradition for busy people itching to give back
A financial guru by day and now a Rotarian for one morning a month, a young Mackay professional is leading the charge to revive a dying tradition.
Brendan Hughes is the chair of Rotary Mackay Corporate, a new twist on tradition for “busy people” who feel the itch to give back to their community but cannot commit to weekly meetings.
Mr Hughes said he was drawn to making deeper connections with others but he was also “selfishly” motivated toward self-growth.
“It enables me to give back to the community but also help others to give back as well,” the Enlightened Financial Solutions adviser said.
Mr Hughes — who is also a Young Professionals and Mayor’s Charity Ball committee member — said he had wanted to volunteer for a long time but was swept up in building his career.
“In years gone by, I really wanted to do something with Volunteer Marine Rescue Mackay, but I see it as something that’s a little bit difficult to do with my line of work,” he said.
“If I get called to go to an emergency, it’s hard to get up in front of a client, walk out the door and say, ‘I gotta go’.
“So it was suggested that Rotary was a good thing to be involved in.”
“I soon realised that community work and volunteering would be an important part of growing my carer.”
Rotary Club of Mackay member Michael Buckeridge approached Mr Hughes — with three co-workers as fellow Rotarians — to spearhead the contemporary new chapter.
Inaugural members include Mackay MP Julieanne Gilbert, Mackay councillors Pauline Townsend and Belinda Hassan as well as Resource Industry Network general manager Dean Kirkwood to name a few.
Members meet on the last Friday of every month.
“With people saying they’re busier than they’ve ever been before, catching up once a month is a much easier expectation for people to live with,” Mr Hughes said.
“My personal view is that we’ve lost some sense of community and I think that it’s something that’s been enabled through social media.”
Mr Hughes said like with sport, Rotaries tethered members to their region, fostered new friendships and created opportunities otherwise not exposed to.
He said Rotary ran the Helping Hands Mental Health Walk as well as helped out with the G & S Food and Wine Day and the Mayor’s Charity Golf Day that raised $50,000 towards Ronald McDonald House Charities’ new Family Room at Mackay Base Hospital.
“It’s usually just time, time is our most valuable resource,” Mr Hughes said.
“Time and knowledge I suppose.”
But with time comes reward, as stalwart Rotarian Mr Buckeridge can attest.
“Would you believe, I’ve been to the Solomon Islands twice on Rotary projects?” he said.
“I’ve been to Vanuatu nine times, I’ve been to Cambodia once to fit hands to landmine victims, I’ve been to nine international conventions all around the world.
“In a past life, I was a district governor so I was able to support another 49 Rotary clubs during the year so it’s given me a lot of things,” he said with a laugh.
Mr Buckeridge said the new corporate extension was necessary to save the Mackay chapter’s 95-year legacy, adding it was far from reality Rotary had become “male, pale and stale”.
This story is part of the Daily Mercury’s 50 Clubs in 50 Weeks special edition series. If you would like to nominate a Mackay region club you think deserves the spotlight, email heidi.petith@news.com.au
2. Meet the bikers getting a buzz, tears out of good deeds
By Heidi Petith
With thick grey whiskers, club patches emblazoned on his black leather vest and copious tattoos, this Pops has a tough exterior.
But do not be fooled.
His heart is warm and fuzzy and he isn’t afraid to shed a tear.
Ken “Smiley” Hyde, or Poppa Ken to his grandchildren, is a “businessman during the day and biker during the night and weekends”.
“When I was a lot younger, I used to wear a shirt and tie to work and the guys I used to hang around with used to say, ‘I’m the only person they know who had to dress down to go out’,” the father of three said.
The Sons of the Southern Cross motorcycle club president’s uniform now is a black top and chunky silver rings, one he shares with his “brothers” at nine chapters across Australia including one in Mackay.
“The motto for our club is black and grey all the way,” he said.
“We don’t portray to be tough guys or anything like that, it’s just who we are.”
And though he now sports short hair and rides a Harley Davidson Fatboy, in the mid-90s it was all about the “really long” ponytail, “lots of earrings” and the “flash red ute” — back in the days when he owned the Bucasia Mobil service station.
He moved from Adelaide to Mackay in 1995 after going halves with his father-in-law to buy the business best known for its driveway service.
“It was something that I grew up with,” Mr Hyde said.
“It was something unique that other service stations had stopped doing so I focused back onto old school,” Mr Hyde said.
“Service was always a big part of what I was about.
“We had a really good workshop as well.”
A love for vehicles and especially motorbikes was ignited in the biker’s childhood.
“My first bike was a little mini bike, it was a PeeWee 50,” Mr Hyde said.
“I got it on Christmas Day after my 5th birthday and I’ve been riding motorbikes since.
“It was the best Christmas I’d ever had in my whole life, I still remember it to this day.
“Once the motorcycle bug bites, I don’t think it ever leaves you.”
Not even a serious crash that fractured his leg and killed a fellow brother could keep Mr Hyde away.
“It’s the love of sitting on a motorbike and riding on the highway and the wind in your face and the joy that you get from it, and the lifestyle it provides for us,” the now commercial fuel salesman said.
Outside of work, Mr Hyde spends most of his spare time with his motorcycle family after coming across to the club as a former member of the Darwin and Mackay Harley Owners’ Groups.
To become a member, you first have to get to know the “brothers from another mother” and if you fit the “dynamic”, apprentice as a prospect for 12 months.
Mr Hyde assured being a prospect was nothing like what the smash hit Sons of Anarchy portrayed.
“People do watch TV shows and have a vision of what they think it’s all about,” he said.
“It’s nothing like that, that is completely fiction.
“We’re basically a social club of blokes who rides motorbikes.
“We’re an incorporated not-for-profit club … having the incorporation allows us to get on with doing charity work and that’s what we’re all about.”
The SOTSC holds meat raffles, poker and toy runs, and every weekend go on fun rides to either raise money for a grassroots cause or bolster a small business via a full house of hungry, thirsty bikers.
And like the seven dwarfs, each has an aptly suited nickname earned while getting to know the family.
“We’ve got Ted whose nickname is Bubbles because he put one of his bikes underwater and it was blowing bubbles,” Mr Hyde said.
“It’s interesting some of the names we’ve got.
“We’ve got a guy called Grub and he rides a Dirty Girl, (the name) he calls his bike.
“It’s amazing how the name sticks, how it becomes the person you are.
“Sometimes when people ask what their real names are, you have to think a bit,” he said with a grin.
With their names proudly stitched onto their vests, Mr Hyde — who also chairs United Social Clubs Queensland — said collectively they made quite the spectacle on their charity rides.
“The kids love us,” he said adding people brought down picnic chairs to watch the parade.
“It’s a great feeling we have that positive impact.
“We also get a buzz out of it as well.
“There’s times when we have given money to some of the charities that some of the blokes have shed a tear.
“When you see the reaction of the people that we hand the money over to, the gratefulness that they show, having the ability to do that is second-to-nothing.”
1. 8 weeks to live: How a band of ladies ‘saved me’
By Heidi Petith
Given just eight weeks to live, Mary Novikov thought she would be dead by Christmas as doctors delivered their fatal prognosis.
The Mackay grandmother said at age 85 she moved into a nursing home for the first time after refusing treatment for aggressive secondary brain cancer.
“(Treatment) would cost a fortune, it would be very uncomfortable, it wouldn’t save me, why would you do it?” Mrs Novikov said.
But for reasons that remain a mystery, the diagnosis was wrong and Mrs Novikov went on to make a full recovery to move back in with her husband despite the few “calcified rocks in (her) head”.
She credits a band of ladies for providing a buffer through the whirlwind; women that found each other thanks to a fortuitous letter drop 25 years ago.
Mrs Novikov, along with Ursula Waters, were the founding members of the Mackay Older Women’s Network, a group that began out of a donga at the former Mackay Mater Hospital in 1996.
At the time, Mrs Novikov was a voluntary committee member on the Mackay Women’s Health and Information Centre, then on Evans St.
“The Older Women’s Network, they got some funding and they employed a woman called Gloria Marsh and she came up the coast and talked to all the women’s centres,” she said.
Mrs Novikov said the centre received a letter and upon embracing the idea, as the person with the most grey hairs at the table, she was chosen to start the Mackay group.
She spent a week training at a convent in Brisbane and “never looked back”.
“Why did we take it on? We had various programs at the Mackay Women’s Health and Information Service … we didn’t have anything catering to older women particularly,” Mrs Novikov said.
“I think it was seen as probably a move against social isolation, against the loneliness that affects older people, and I think it was going to be a worthwhile program to get involved with.”
Mrs Novikov said except for the CWA — “chicks with attitude” — there was a void of social opportunities for older women in Mackay.
“(Older Women’s Network) filled a niche, it met a need, otherwise it wouldn’t have succeeded would it?”
Twelve ladies attended the very first meeting and 25 years later, there are 80-odd members who still meet each week for friendship, support, education and most importantly, joy.
“That was necessary,” Mrs Novikov said.
“It had to be fun.
“Somebody once said that if you’re amused while you’re learning, you’ll learn twice as much.”
Mrs Novikov’s penchant for fun perhaps stems back to her English childhood when she was a self-proclaimed rebel and “problematic teenager” challenging her mother to skip church.
At age 18, she boarded a ship for a five-week journey from North Wales to Melbourne under the Assisted Migration Scheme to boost Australia’s population.
“It was such an adventure,” she said.
“And it cost me £5, would you believe that? That’s $10. “
In Melbourne, Mary met her husband Yuri Novikov and they had two children, Michael and Susan.
In 1973, the young family moved to Queensland for Yuri’s work as an engineer on the Hay Point coal load out project for BMA Saraji Mine.
“It was an incredible experience, we lived in a donga out (at Dysart) and really, really enjoyed it,” Mrs Novikov said.
They then shifted to Mackay where Mrs Novikov found her love for working with the community, first as a teacher aide at North Mackay State School and later at Fitzgerald State School.
She also volunteered in adult education and reading to children, before studying at university and falling in with the Mackay Women’s Centre.
Mrs Novikov said it was a transformative experience as women became pivotal to her mental wellbeing.
“As a child and as a young girl, I always thought boys were more fun than girls,” Mrs Novikov said.
“I didn’t really get on with girls.
“I suppose learning that women can be wonderful friends was quite a thrill because I don’t think I ever really trusted them.
“The sooner you can learn that, the better I think.
“My husband’s wonderful but I think my girlfriends, my (Older Women’s Network) have been very helpful, very therapeutic.
“They’re what’s saved me in the last couple of years.”
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