One of our very early members George Madden turned 90 on Sunday 8th March 2020.

He said he celebrated on the day with family and friends (we didn't know he had any friends) and had a great time. 

We had (in February) decided to hold a shed BBQ for this rare occasion as he is officially the oldest aged person in our shed. To make him feel special we sat him down to a nice piece of scotch fillet steak with bacon onions and a bread roll while all the other members only had sausages. He was presented with his usual trophy of the shed horses arse (he has won it 9 years in a row)  as well as an official trophy for being the oldest tool in the shed. His only request was that we sing happy birthday to him which we did.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GEORGE AND MANY MORE TO COME

 

A local pre-school came to us with some bench seats that were falling apart because they were outdoors and made from untreated radiator pine. As they were beyond repair we offered to make some new ones from Jarrah & Merbau at cost and a small donation. The director jumped at the chance to have new and much sturdier seats for the children. 

The ever reliable Tom Greene & Barry Scott cut and drilled all the pieces in their limited time and Niel Elliot who has been helping us out tirelessly assembled them with stainless and galvanised screws. 

The result of their efforts can be seen below.

 Thank you guys 

 This sort of co-operation helps to keep us going.

 Niel putting the finishing touches to the seats

 

The finished product

Another contribution was made to the Community Wildlife Network who asked if we could cut up and pre-drill timber to make Native Bee boxes. The Network was to hold a workshop locally and needed these to hand out to the public. Because they were supplied as a flat pack the person would screw them together, fill the box with small hole tubing,bamboo etc. then hang it in their backyard or another suitable location. 

It didn't take long to do but was much appreciated by the Network.

  These are the flat packs

  With a couple assembled as a guide

After much discussion with our members, and after our large donation of cash to the drought relief, it was decided we again need to make some contribution to help the bush fire victims in their recovery from this latest disaster.

 The towns Cobargo  and  Quaama were chosen.

We elected to send $1000 of the donation received from Eagles Plumbing and $50 from Kathy for whom we were making some mahjong stands at the time. 

We also had numerous bench, power and hand tools surplus to our needs so a decision was made to send these to Quaama Men's Shed to replenish anything the had lost in the fire, and pass the bulk of them on to townsfolk in need of such equipment.   

The reason for choosing these towns was that one of our members sister is the President of the CWA in Cobargo. She assured us that every cent would go to the needy of both towns by way of $25 vouchers as soon as it was received. This then would enable the townspeople  to spend the money locally and in turn would  help their town businesses. 

We thought the Men's Shed would be best suited to distribute the tools where most needed. 

Our member Steve Sinclair volunteered to load his Ute with all the tools and take them down to save us freight costs. On his return he relayed to the members how grateful the towns were for our efforts and surprised that the Men's Shed movement was so thoughtful and could contribute in such a manner.   

A gracious gesture from all you guys  

A special thank you to Steve  and Eagles Plumbing Supplies donation to  enable us to pass this cash on to the more needy.

Some of the power tools

And hand tools as well