He's Called John the Reducer!

Each day when John comes to the Shed he gets hold of his trusty electric screwdriver and begins to demolish, or as some call it reduce, another item of the computing age to the most number of individual pieces possible. No screw, spring, belt or clip is safe when John gets to work. The delight on his face when another major component is released from the main frame is something to behold.

When he is finished there are parts all over the lunch tables but the more the parts are spread the better John likes it.

Lift That Load

When the offer of a truckload of dressed Radiata Pine was offered we gladly agreed to collect what ended up to be 2 loads of the timber.

But how to offload it when it arrived at the Shed? No worries, we got Alex to leave his guide dog Cherry in the cool of the Shed, and then put him to work carrying the timber. He was a somewhat reluctant worker though and refused to carry anymore than 5 boards at a time. Trouble was he had no idea as to where to put the timber once inside the Shed.

Alex is a great member of the Shed and his contributions to our activities are often an example to us all.

A Second Mobile Shed is Coming

The original Mobile Shed has been a great hit at community gatherings across the Coast and in the Lower Hunter. Many more people are aware of "Sheds" and how they operate in the community after speaking with the men who tow it to the various public displays.

Because of its popularity another group of Shedders have suggested they build a companion for the old faithful original.

And who better to measure up for the internal fit out of version 2 but Mr Mike, the letterbox, Gavaghan seen here with the Shed lifting its skirts for him to poke around underneath. Mike is now planning to prepare a set of working drawings on CAD so it may be that many more Mobile Sheds will appear across the country when the drawings are finalised.

George of the Shed Award

Who else but George has won he inaugural "George of the Shed Award". The award - also known as - the "Horses Arse Award" was presented today for outstanding efforts in mobile phone management, losing car keys when they were in the car door, looking for a brown jacket when he wore a blue one and for a convincing suggestion that our new Shed Acheivement, Achievement trophy had a spelling mistake engraved on it.

Well done George the trophy is yours for a year and we expect it back this time in 2011. Special thanks to ATB Trophies of Bateau Bay for donating and engraving the trophy.

The bottle of scotch was not part of the presentation but a deal done on the side with a fellow Shed member!

Someone Will Be Happy This Christmas

The men in the Shed have presented the rocking horse and the rocking plane to the Samaritans to pass on to some worthy children who may have missed out on a Christmas present this year. The plane was repaired and repainted by the men while the horse was made from scratch. Thanks to the men who put their skills into practice to support the community

Christmas Opening Times at Bateau Bay

Just in case you were planning a visit or even turning up to work, the Shed will be closing on Thursday 16 December and will open again on January 4.

This will give everyone a break for a few days over the festive season and hopefully all will return refreshed, and not having put on too many Kilos. For those with the sweet tooth we have already made plans with our Cake Shop Sponsors to be prepared for our first day of 2011 and they have promised the supply of quality morning tea cakes is assured.

We take this opportunity to wish all Shedders, and would like to be Shedders, a joyous and a safe festive season and look forward to sharing 2011 with you.

ADSSI CEO and Our Shed Goddess Pay Us A Visit

Today we had the pleasure of having Jenni Allen and Colleen Cooper visit the Shed to share a morning tea with the members. This is not the first time for Jenni but today we welcomed her in her new position of CEO. Colleen visits us regularly and she is always most welcome.

Both of our guests were presented with a small suitably engraved gift of a Bateau Bay Men's Shed key ring.

We are looking forward to entertaining other members of ADSSI in the New Year once the holiday season is over and business settles back into a routine.