YEAR IN REVIEW: Looking back on the year of Coolum
A glimpse at some of the best moments and stories in 2019 from Coolum Weekly.
Sunshine Coast
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JANUARY
NOTHING says 'Straya' like a celebration with the community.
The ever-giving Coolum Lions Club hosted a day by the beach under the first rays of the scorching summer sun, to honour the history of the nation.
Organiser Bruce Parkes said the ever-evolving celebrations had plenty of new surprises this year.
The organiser said one of the highlights of the event was the North Shore Realty Coolum's Got Talent competition, which gave emerging artists a chance to take to the stage and impress the crowds, as well as compete for cash prizes.
The open mic competition was open to singers, musicians, poets and dancers.
FEBRUARY
It takes a village to raise a child, so they say, but when you're running a business at the same time it takes a close-knit community.
So, when Coolum naturopath Talita Sheedy mentioned the launch of her book, Baby It's Only Natural, her close friends jumped on board and they decided to make a day of it.
"I didn't really want a boring book launch," Ms Sheedy said.
"A lot of my friends have their own businesses in the baby industry, so we can showcase who we are and what we do in the community."
MARCH
Layla Prince may still be in school, but her sporting dreams are already coming true. The St Andrew's Anglican College Year 10 student received confirmation she had made the South Queensland 2019 Under-18 women's state basketball team which was to compete at the Australian junior national championships in Townsville in April.
This news checked off the first of the three big goals Layla had been striving for since she first set foot on a representative basketball court at the age of 11.
Layla's proud mum, Jehan, said her daughter had worked "so extremely hard" since she started playing representative basketball in primary school.
"Layla started playing basketball relatively late compared to the other girls but has always had a goal to play for the Opals," Jehan said.
APRIL
Expectant and new mothers in remote villages at home and overseas received a generous donation from people across our community.
Blogger, nutritionist and health and wellness advocate Sarah Hansen spent four weeks co-ordinating a donation collection for remote communities overseas.
Support came from the Coast community and businesses including Sparrows Day Care Centre, Dragonfly's Early Learning Centre and Coolum Women's Shed, who all donated books, clothes, toys and sanitary items and offered to pack the boxes.
MAY
A MISSION to search for the best surf swells in Bali turned into a life-saving organisation.
When Californian surfer Seamus Pettigrew took a trip to the popular holiday destination, his eyes were opened to the lack of swimming education in the local communities.
"I was going to the beach and enjoying for me what was my comfort space," he said.
"But for them, the water was a place of terror, fear and discomfort."
His love for the water led him on the adventure of a lifetime and he created Swimdo in 2015, an organisation that aims to protect and enrich the lives of children in Indonesia through aquatic education.
JUNE
DRAG queens Melony Brests and Sal Monella were the entertainment for a wild night out to raise funds for Wildlife Rescue Sunshine Coast.
The third annual fundraiser on June 23 at the Coolum Civic Centre was a hysterical night of drag queen bingo and lighthearted comedy where patrons laughed the night away.
Wildlife Rescue Sunshine Coast volunteers were being called to injured or dead kangaroos and wallabies daily, with rescuers saying they had more call-outs to distressed animals in three months than in the previous three years.
The funds raised on the night went into petrol and medical supplies that were used across all wildlife cases.
JULY
WHEN a coast woman saw her dog eating something in the sand dunes, she never expected it to be methamphetamine.
Tanya Roux took her dog Bear for a walk at Stumers Creek off-leash area at Coolum and after returning home the dog began vomiting and showing signs of paralysis.
He was rushed to Peregian Springs Vet Surgery and an overnight stay in the emergency unit returned a positive result for methamphetamine.
AUGUST
A new Twin Waters resident was on a quest to do good for the planet and humankind.
Nicole Delaney was inspired to help bring literacy to a remote location in Lupa Luma, Tanzania.
To do so, she and Mandy Maree raised funds through various raffles around the coast.
The funds were donated to a library in Tanzania.
SEPTEMBER
A love of fashion and passion for the environment inspired a teen entrepreneur to launch his own clothing brand.
Rylee Burgess created Coastal Underworld, a surf and skate wear brand where his two worlds were able to meld.
It's a project that the 16-year-old had been envisioning for three years and it was finally brought to life this year.
The brand donates $1 per item to a save the reef fund.
OCTOBER
Julian Hohnen, 7, his father and family friend found themselves in a shocking situation when their boat started taking on water off the Sunshine Coast in June.
Forced to tread cold water for six hours in darkness, Julian did a tremendous job at keeping the adults calm, saying, "It will be all right dad, we just have to swim over there".
And that's the attitude that earnt the young Sunshine Coast boy a Pride of Australia nomination.
NOVEMBER
A Coast fashion designer has taken the "toxicity" of the fast fashion industry into her own hands with a fully sustainable clothing label that "stands for more than selling clothes".
Maddi Butel started Maple Organic Wear two years ago after looking for a way to combine her interests.
"I wanted to create something that could combine my passion for the environment and fair trade as well as my creative side and that's why I started it," Ms Butel said.
"I love being creative and I love fashion, but I also have a big problem with the fast fashion industry."
DECEMBER
Coolum Surf Club is making sure beachgoers slip, slop, slap this summer after becoming the first surf club to implement a new innovative sunscreen station.
The bright yellow station, created by Sunscreen Stations Australia, aims to reduce skin cancer rates by providing public with easy and affordable access to sunscreen.
Sunscreen Station Australia founder Ed Joris said the alarming skin cancer rates in Coolum made it the perfect location for the first Queensland station.
Man yells ‘jihad’ while threatening to stab cops in servo standoff
A man who once stabbed a policeman in the neck sparked a frantic response on the Sunshine Coast after pushing over an old man and threatening to attack officers with a screwdriver.
PM stalling Bruce fixes with funding split mess – Dutton
Federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has accused Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of stalling upgrades to the Bruce Highway by hamstringing Queensland with the 50:50 funding split.