Looking back on the year that was in Nambour
During 2019 the Nambour Weekly has shared a variety of stories with readers. This week, in our year in review series, Laura Pettigrew takes a look at the first half of 2019.
Sunshine Coast
Don't miss out on the headlines from Sunshine Coast. Followed categories will be added to My News.
JANUARY
KNOWING he wanted to be a chef, Matthew Smyth wowed diners all over the world.
The Nambour RSL head chef had been to countries including China (Beijing), Switzerland and Vanuatu creating dishes for all culinary tastes.
But the 48-year-old blended a new creation in an attempt to take out Chef of the Year for Clubs Queensland for the second consecutive year.
Matthew who finished second in 2017 and won the award last year said he felt humbled to receive the recognition as a finalist.
FEBRUARY
ONE of the Coast’s major attractions celebrated a milestone birthday this year.
But in the 40 days leading up to its 40th birthday celebrations, The Original Eumundi Markets offered celebrations for all the visitors.
Ceramic artist Christa Barton and her friend Gail Perry-Somers came up with the idea of holding a European style artisans and farmers market in the hinterland town, with the markets originally opening in 1979.
Four decades on, the market has grown to be internationally renowned, a tourist destination and boasts some 1.2 million visitors annually.
MARCH
AFTER 10 years of cooking together the women at the Nambour Multicultural Cooking Group felt their friendship only grew stronger as time continued.
Founder Sesmanie Urbancik moved to the Sunshine Coast a decade ago after living in Canberra for 30 years.
Finding it difficult to be so far away from everyone she knew Ms Urbancik had the idea to start a multicultural cooking club.
The 10th birthday celebrations for the Nambour Multicultural Cooking Group were held at the Nambour Community Centre.
APRIL
A HIDDEN gem filled with comfy lounges and fascinating decor opened its doors to Nambour’s coffee-holics.
The Bison Bar decided to take the coffee train by the horns and offered an espresso bar option during the day.
MAY
EIGHTY-EIGHT car loads and 50,000 bottles and cans later, she did it.
Her dream wedding was finally paid off.
Leonie Starr attracted a lot of media attention when she came up with the outrageous idea to recycle 810,000 cans and bottles, under the Container for Change scheme, to pay for her wedding.
Every afternoon for five months when the clock ticked 5pm, Ms Starr marched out of work to scour beaches and parks for rubbish that would eventually pay for her wedding.
JUNE
BOTH bellies and shelves were full at Nambour’s The Shack Community Centre, after food donations from schools, the local community and even show leftovers had them bursting at the seams.
Pastor Dale Dowler and his wife Donna were overwhelmed by the recent generosity with new shelves installed to keep everything organised.
The Shack Community Centre was opened in 2002 with the purpose to cater for the needs and concerns of those in the local community.
JULY
This year, the Verity family have achieved what so many young Australians strive for: they bought and renovated their very own family home.
Not just any home, but a tiny, movable house.
The former Kiamba family packed up their belongings to prepare to live their life aboard a bus.
It was a dream to do more of the things they love and spend more time nurturing their growing family that gave Anneli and Michael Verity the push they needed to sell up and buy a house on wheels.
AUGUST
IT’S being billed as the Battle of the Kings, but local Harley queen Monique Dupen crashed the chrome-filled party.
The 30-year-old Sunshine Coast Harley-Davidson employee has turned a 2019 Street Bob into a 1970s-inspired chopper, complete with rabbit ear handlebars, upswept fishtail pipes, king and queen seats with a sissy bar and more.
The custom build was entered in the annual Harley-Davidson competition, which runs globally.
Over 200 dealers from more than 30 countries took part in the competition, which transformed standard-model Harleys into something unique.
SEPTEMBER
SUNSHINE Coast teen Sage Gingell wants to end the world’s plastic problem as part of the Generation Innovation challenge.
The highly intelligent Nambour State High student developed an almost unheard of way to deal with global plastic waste.
Sage wanted to start a company that turns plastic into sustainable energy.
“I am wanting to do this for the benefit of the Sunshine Coast,” he said.
“We have all this plastic, not being recycled and with no way for us to break it down.”
He said his project went further than recycling, instead breaking down the plastic using a special laser to convert it into energy.
“The laser has only recently been commercialised,” Sage said.
“In India, they burn plastics, to use as fuel.
“But using this laser, people won’t have to breath in the toxic fumes.”
OCTOBER
THE Coast’s newest paranormal investigators took to the streets to expose the region’s spookiest areas for their new YouTube series.
Pete Cazzolato and Daniel Rickard from Kick Back Ricazz took a spooky turn with their online presence in May when they started their new video series Night Watchers.
Best mates of 20 years, they have always had an interest in the paranormal and exploring the idea that there is something after death.
NOVEMBER
BUYING bikinis is perhaps every woman’s worst nightmare, but a Sunshine Coast mum was determined to turn the ugly trend of changeroom self-loathing into self-love.
Ninderry mum, Monika King, spent more than a year listening to women ridicule their bikini-bodies in her job at a local retail store and knew something needed to change.
“I literally cannot recall a single woman ever saying ‘I love my body’ or just simply being comfortable enough in her own skin to see past their so-called flaws,” she said.
“The closest it got to a compliment was ‘oh good, this high-waisted bottom covers the excess belly skin’.”
DECEMBER
ANIMALS of all shapes and sizes, from guinea pigs to dogs, are now in safe hands with an animal physiotherapy clinic making a home in Nambour.
Located in a house along Nambour Mapleton Rd, Holistic Animals’ Physiotherapy provides complete rehabilitation options for pets of all shapes and sizes.
Holistic animals’ physiotherapy owner and physiotherapist Brooke Williams said previously working in veterinary specialist centres across the Sunshine Coast and Brisbane birthed her dream to provide a stress-free clinic “from entry to exit”.
“It’s sort of been my dream to have a space that is set up purposely for rehab for animals and that’s trying to make it as stress free as possible for everyone involved,” Mrs Williams said.
Motorcyclist suffers severe ‘skull’ injury in Burpengary East crash
A man is in hospital with serious head and chest injuries following a motorcycle crash in Burpengary East, with police launching an investigation into the cause.
Two suffer ‘significant injuries’ in high-impact crash
A man and a woman were hospitalised Sunday morning with serious injuries after a high-impact two-vehicle crash on Louis Bazzo Drive and Cootharaba Downs Road, Cootharaba.