Steve Craige has many varied & unusual hobbies. In the past he has made a scale replica model of an American destroyer (the name of which escapes me), He has also made a full size Gypsy Caravan that he & his wife lived & toured in, but has now sold.

He is 2/3 of the way through making another scale model of the American PT596. 

He brought it to the Shed recently to make some mounting brackets to sit it on. 

We don't know how you have the patience for these projects Steve.

David Greene is associated with the Australian Catholic University (Strathfield) Gymnasium & is the son of Tom Greene one of our veteran members. 

He said it would be nice if they had some sort of storage racks for the various bar weights they have in the Gym. 

Tommy never shy's away from a challenge so as usual said, 

"I can do that".

We set him up with a bending jig & away he went.

After much cutting, bending & welding, he had the racks professionally painted in a Grey hammertone finish.

For something quite different from your normal timber projects, you did a great job Tom; well done!

 

 

The Shed had a phone call from Kelly who is an avid rabbit lover.

She asked if we would be interested in making a 3 tier rabbit bank to house her rabbits overnight.

There was a specific criteria needed so we agreed to give it a go.

Bryan reluctantly (as always) agreed to see it through to the end & after much stressing out & with the help of a couple of other members managed to achieve a great result.

 Kelly was so elated with the Bank she will be ordering another one early in the new year.  

We don't think Bryan will be interested in the next one.

Some months ago Nicole from Community Wildlife Environment Network asked if we would make some boxes suitable to house micro bats. Our wildlife expert Graham put his hand up, did some research & came up with this simply constructed box with attached mesh.
 His team can now add this to their list of wildlife protection boxes they already make.

. .   

In early August Clive Tubnor, one of our long standing members, attended a function where the new member for Dobel, Emma McBride MP was present. 
He introduced himself & in the course of conversation the activities of Men's Shed movement were discussed. 
Emma showed keen interest in what he had to say & asked if it would be possible to visit our Shed at a later date. A visit was arranged for 26th September & she arrived at 10am in time for morning tea.
Emma was gracious enough to answer all the questions the members had without being too political. 
She then asked to be shown around the Shed as well as the Community garden at the rear of our premises.  
She was suprised by the mens many activities as well as the machinery we have & left with a lasting impression of what Men's Sheds are all about.  As soon as Emma arrived back at her office she posted the days events on her Facebook page together with photos. It turned into a worthwhile visit for all concerned.

The shed has formed a strong relationship with the Central Coast Amateur Bee Keepers & have been working with them on their experiments to increase bee & insect population.
2 of these experiments are shown below.

A Swarm Box is the start of a Bee Hive

Racks inside the swarm box; there are about 7 when installed

Perspex cover over the bee's entry for transportation

The completed unit ready for hanging in a suitable tree or elsewhere

This is a Critter Castle..........Home for all sorts of insects

AGM results for Bateau Bay Men's Shed Inc.

Held 9 August 2016 

Present were 45 Financial Members as well as John Sharples (AMSA - NSW Secretary/ Public Officer) & Colin Henson representing ADSSI Home Living  Australia our major sponsor.

As there were only enough nominations to cover the vacant positions the members were not required to vote.

The uncontested positions are as follows:

 Fred Murray              President

 Graham Craike          Vice President

 Richard Howison       Treasurer/Secretary

 Peter Crabbe             Public Officer

General Committee

Clive Tubnor

John Mills

Ron Belshaw

John Innis

Alex Lee

The President also reported :

 

We are into our 8^th year of operation this year.

Unfortunately this year we have lost some members due to their illnesses.

Shed members have been present at their memorial services, offering help & support to the immediate family. The shed executive hopes & encourages you all to continue this important & comforting roll in the future.

It’s good to know you understand the Shed belongs to you; the members, and you are making decisions for the good of all when asked to do so. The executive need & appreciate all members input. 

Once again we have had a busy year that has past all too quickly. 

The committee has been slowly improving & updating workshop machinery & purchasing upmarket consumables to make life a bit easier for our members. 

 We participated in numerous events & functions some to raise money & others just to spread information about the Men’s shed movement.

 We continued to support the Samaritan’s Purse for children in 3^rd world countries, now in its 20^th year .   400 blackboards with chalk as well as 60 small toy cars; were made & have been donated. Some members donated bags of educational needs & clothing. All these will be packed & shipped to New Guinea, Vietnam, Fiji, Thailand, & a few other countries close to home. 

Due to a strict clause in our insurance policy governing age, we find it impossible to host Whoosh before and after School Care children in the workshop, but we still have a strong relationship with them.

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

He also tried his hand at micro bat boxes.

We have become involved with the Central Coast Amateur Beekeepers & have made numerous experimental items for them, that could lead to another good source of income for us.

Then there were all those small projects you were involved in, for people who simply call in seeking assistance, advice, a repair, or to have something made.

 Our members are given until August 30 to become financial so our financial membership at present totals 65 with an average daily attendance of 25.

This shows the importance this Shed has for many men in our community.  

We all need to acknowledge the aid & support 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 un-rivaled, with equipment and facilities second to none; but this will not continue if we don’t look ahead and plan for the future.    

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

To the Administration Graham Craike, Richard Howison, Peter Crabbie, & general committee, John Mills, Clive Tubnor, Ron Belshaw, Alex Lee, & John Innis my sincere thank you.

The committee also thanks Robert Colet who needed to resign mid-year for personal reasons but still managed to keep our finances in check.

The eagerness of you all to be involved in running the Shed has been invaluable.  

Once again 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 declare all positions vacant & wish the incoming Executive and Committee a successful year knowing the Shad has policies in place that will make the transition as easy as possible.

Would the returning officer please take the chair.

Fred Murray   President