Larissa is a lady who had serious health problems. 

Her doctor has brought her back to be as healthy as possible. 

She wanted to show her appreciation for his efforts & asked if we could make a box to house the torch she had bought.

As he is a keen surfer, she wanted an inscribed surfboard plaque made & mounted to the top of the box.

Master box maker Graham (that's what he will tell you), took it on & with the help of Tom Green to tweak it they did a great job. 

We even managed to line it with blue felt. 

Nice work Guys

We were asked if we would participate in the Multicultural Expo at Mingara Club on the 5th November.
We agreed & were supplied with a table in a very central position in the function room. 
Some of our items were displayed to show the public what the sheds are all about.
Five of our members were in attendance to answer the many questions.
 Although this was not a venue suited to us we had limited success with the enquires and the morning was worthwhile. 

BBMS Members

Tim - Fred - John - Clive - Ray

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Results of 2015 Bateau Bay Men's Shed Inc AGM 

29 September 2015

37 of 89 financial members in attendance 

 PRESIDENT’S REPORT

 

 May I welcome all members to the 6th Annual General Meeting of the Bateau Bay Men’s Shed.

As in previous years the executive & committee has strived to improve the facilities & environment for all our members. It is most pleasing to see that you understand the Shed is yours & you are thinking & making decisions for the good of all when asked to do so. The executive need & appreciate all members input.  

If we look back to October last year it becomes clear just how busy we have been. 

 Some of the activities we have been involved in include.

Hearing Australia again conducted basic hearing tests in the shed.

Many of our members attended the Community sponsored Mental Health First Aid that was split into two separate sessions; the last being in December, as well as the Help a Mate workshop forum aimed mainly at the Men’s Shed movement held in June.

We participated in Wyong Councils Health Expo held at Mingara last year.

At AMSA’s request members held a BBQ for the Great Outback BBQ to aid drought & flood stricken farmers at which $250 was raised & passed on.

We also supported the Prostate Foundation Big BBQ fund raiser this month by holding a BBQ for 3 consecutive days. Through the members generosity we raised $712 & as promised the shed also donated an equivalent amount making a total of $1424.

 Once again we supported the Samaritan’s Christmas box for 3^rd world country children.

400 blackboards & chalk as well as 100 French Knitting Reels with wool & instructions were supplied in bulk. 60 small toy cars were also made & donated. All these will be packed & shipped to New Guinea, Vietnam, Fiji, Thailand, & a few other countries close to home. 

 We hosted Whoosh before and after School Care children during school holidays on two occasions and have developed strong relationship with this group. Both groups enjoyed making their own jigsaw puzzle using the scroll saws under supervision & assembly of small pre-cut trays.

Down Syndrome Queensland ordered &received 30 slope reading boards from us.

 Graham Craike & his disciples made stacks of possum boxes & they remain a good source of income for us. 

We now have ties to the Surf Life Saving Movement through our association with Toowoon Bay SLSC & our sponsoring of an award at their 60^th Anniversary carnival.

Once again we sponsored an award for excellence to an outstanding student at Tumbi High School, with a donation of $100.

The NSW Minister for Dept of Fair Trading attended the Shed on 17^th Feb together with staff, & informed members of their roll in government & details of scams past & present.

And then there were all those small projects that are too many to mention for people who simply call in seeking assistance for some repairs, advice, or to have something made.

 Our financial membership now totals 90 & growing with an average daily attendance of 26. This shows the importance this Shed has for many men in our community.  

We all need to acknowledge the aid we receive from ADSSI Home Living Australia. Their ongoing support & donations from the day we were offered the use of this building up to the present time has been nothing but outstanding.    

Thanks to ADSSI this Shed is a ‘palace’ compared to many, with equipment and facilities second to none; but this will not continue if we don’t look ahead and plan for the future. As we move into our 7th full year we cannot be complacent & leave the management of the Shed to those who have done it before.  

Everybody can contribute something.   

I wish to thank the outgoing committee for their efforts & help during the year and especially their willingness to accept responsibility in their various rolls.  

To our executive Graham Craike, Richard Howison, Robert Corlet, Peter Crabbie, the general & sub-committee Barry French, John Mills Alex Lee, Clive Tubnor Ron Belshaw & Nigel Stretton my sincere thanks. Your eagerness to be involved in running the Shed has been invaluable.  

We should all be grateful to John Innis for his enthusiasm in picking up cakes for morning tea every day as well as looking after the timber storage, garbage disposal, organising & catering for our regular BBQ’s & the myriad of other things he does for the shed. Our thanks to you John; it is very much appreciated. Also a special thank you to Barry Mitchell & his team for their efforts in keeping our amenities clean.  

I now ask our treasurer Robert Corlet to update members of our current financial status.

   I now declare all positions vacant & wish the incoming Executive and Committee a successful year confident in the knowledge that this Shed has firmly established management policies and day to day working arrangements that have positive influences on all our members.

Thank you.   

Fred Murray   President

Members Elected to Executive Positions

Fred Murray  (President)
Graham Crakie (Vice President)

Robert Corlet (Treasurer)

Richard Howison (Secretary)

Peter Crabbe (Public Officer)

 General Committee

 Alex Lee

John Innis

John Mills

Clive Tubnor

 Ron Belshaw

You need to make up your mind George!!

You're either going to turn it or weld it.

If you know how to weld wood please tell us.

 

Thursday 17th September 2015

We copped the brunt of a freak storm that hit the Central Coast

Bateau Bay suffered the worst damage of all areas involved.

95% of our members had some degree of water damage to their homes & property.

We nearly lost our awning at the Shed due to the huge weight of hail on it.

It was only the quick thinking of some members to prop it up that saved it.

We waited for Santa to arrive but he didn't come.

The push is on Child Care Centres to concentrate on all things natural.

They have been advised to try and use or buy toys from natural materials and incorporate nature wherever possible. Below are some of the projects we have been asked to make as well as some of our own ideas. 

Building blocks made from tree branches cut to various lengths & angles

 These are commonly known as tree cookies & have a lot of different uses

 

 Finger Puppet Storage Stands

 

 This table game was made by our (now) children's

 game expert Bryan

Wyong Council is running a trial program in conjunction with their libraries.

The idea is to have a mini library in different locations throughout the shire where people can take a book & leave a book, & hopefully encourage people to read more.

They asked us to make 2 letterbox type structures on a pole to house a selection of these books. 

Graham our V.P. took on the task ( they are similar to the possum boxes he makes for us) & between working at the shed and his home came up with these two beauties.

Amanda who is running the program for Council was extremely impressed with the result & indicated there will be a lot more for us to make if the program succeeds.  

 

Here is the new Board Room for all our VIP members at 

Bateau Bay Men's Shed.

Not bad eh???

 

Mark Segal is the MAN when it comes to innovation & artistic skills.

Therefore when we are asked to do something special & original he's the one to handle it.

A concerned grandad came to us wanting a special plaque for his son & daughter in-law's new born twins.  

The little fellow had all sorts of complications while being delivered as well as after his birth. The girl also had problems to a lesser degree. This meant their arrival home was delayed a couple of weeks.

Their father is a keen surfer so we thought it would be nice to do a surf board from timber as a keepsake & hand me down. Grandad chose the wording & left the rest to us.

Tom Carrol who was a world surfing champion & is a family friend of Mark graciously signed the board. 

The excellent result of the project can be seen below. 

Well done Mark, we know we will be calling on you again.

 

      While on the subject there is a huge diversity of skills in all  Men’s Sheds

Here is another example of the talented expertise  from our  Shed.

John Cooper is a newbie & his hobby is making scale models of vintage cars.

He builds them in his spare time using mainly Western Red Cedar along with other softer timbers.

Each model takes about 1 month to complete. Below are 2 examples of what he has done.

 

1905 Cadillac

Henry M Leland made his own motor car which was designed by Henry Ford in 1903.

The Cadillac Model “E” was a semi racer type business car capable of high speeds on average roads.

It had a single cylinder 9 horse power water cooled engine, with 1 reverse & 2 forward gears & sold for $750

1911 Stanley Steamer

Twin brothers Francis & Freelan Stanley believed the future of the automobile lay with the steam engine.

They produced an early version of the Stanley Steamer in 1897.

 In 1906 one of their steam cars set a world record of 28.2sec for a mile, which equates to 127 miles/hr.

By 1910 most steam car manufactures had turned to petrol power.

In 1918 the brothers had sold about 10,000 cars @ $1500ea but by 1925 these steamers were no longer built.

This is an unusual jewelry box made by Jeff Fanning & donated to the shed for sale.
It started as a construction bearer from the Memorial hall in Wyong which was being demolished.
The whole box is a solid block of Oregon with the best grain selected by Jeff.
The workmanship is outstanding & again shows the expertise of our members. 
It was offered to our members first for biding & took all of 3min to sell at morning tea..

SOMETHING TO BE PROUD OF

Leather work and plaiting has been a hobby of Ross Jenkins for 35 years now, adding whip making over the past 12 years after doing a course with Dean Williams (son of RM Williams) . 

Around 8 years ago he traveled to Glen Innes for the Northern NSW Plaiting Championships. He was very fortunate to meet three plaiters there who have helped him immensely.

Chris Barr, who undoubtedly would have to be one of the best plaiters in Australia, with the ability to plait 72 strands of leather that are only ½ mm wide.

Maurice Dohan, from the far North Coast of NSW,  is well known and respected for the Red hide Work Whips he plaits. 

 John McMaster’s  ability and help has also been invaluable.

His 20 years of living in Scone, gave Ross the opportunity to complete a 4 year course at the local TAFE, which covered Saddles, Horse Gear and Whip making. 

All of these items are so much a part of life on the land.

Whip 
Awarded 2^nd Prize at this year’s Sydney Royal Easter Show. It is a two tone Brandy & Black Kangaroo Hide Whip, 5’9”long, 20 plait handle and 20 plait thong which took approx. 3 weeks to complete from the planning to the finished article.

 Knife Pouch
 Is a 28 plait top section and 18 plait bottom, with a gaucho knot keeper and is sown together with a single cardover  round braid. From start to finish took about 1 week to complete. The Pouch was also  Highly Comended at the Royal  Easter Show this year. This was a very pleasing result as the section entered was Any Plaited Articled, which covered a vast number of items including bridles, halters & fobs.

 

 Riding Crop 
 Received a Highly Commended award at the Sydney Royal Easter Show. It’s a 12 plait Whiskey & Fern Green Kangaroo hide crop and is something he has always wanted to do. He was extremely happy with this result as in this section you are competing against bull and coach whips as well. The crop took approximately 1 week to complete