by Ian Wells

Winter finally came to the Mountain, with brisk westerlies and a frost or two on the quieter mornings. The feed has responded accordingly – by shrinking and burning. But most of us are still in a very fortunate position for the time of the year – and there is plenty of water. Can’t complain! The dollar is falling too!

The oft-abused term ‘feast of entertainment’ is almost relevant to the next few weeks on the Mountain. The Savoyard Singers concert “Let Us Entertain You” is coming up on Sunday afternoon 14th September. There are still some seats, so phone Kay on 5498 2104 or Joyce on 5498 2270 if you wish to book. It will be a very pleasant and relaxing musical afternoon – and of course there will be that afternoon tea, for which many would crawl over broken glass!

This Elysian interlude will be followed on Saturday 18th October by something entirely different – The Mt Mee Country Music Night and Dinner. With music by “Lights on the Hill” from the Pioneer Country Music club, a generous dinner by the women of the Mt Mee Hall and a licensed bar stocked by your humble writer you couldn’t ask for anything more. But there is more – the floorshow spot featuring the delightful “Bellaires” – two very accomplished singer entertainers. This event will mark the 75th anniversary of the present Mt Mee Hall, so it is a special occasion.

And then, on Sunday 30th November we return to something perhaps a little more serious with the Sunshine Coast Orchestra with our own Les Suart and Cathy Croot in afternoon concert.

The annual Mt Mee Rural Fire Brigade open day will be on at about that time too, and hard on its heels will be the Community Carols evening – on Saturday 6th November.

“Carols” will be at the Sports Ground this year because this date clashes with the Mt Mee Hall monthly Dance and Markets.

Talking of the Hall, the transformation of the old internal toilet area into a stage dressing room is nearly complete. This has been done and funded by Hall committee, (not Council), mostly by working bee, although professional help was needed to get rid of some asbestos cement sheeting and with the electrical work. The dressing room was a very badly needed Hall amenity and is a welcome spin-off from the completion of the new toilet block.

We do need one of those folding screens, popular in past years, for the dressing room door. If someone has one unwanted and unloved, we would be very grateful recipients. Phone 5498 2104.

The Mountain’s feral dogs have taken a few hits in recent days. Rod Thomas has almost recovered from his nasty leg injury and has accounted (at the time of writing) for no less than eleven of the troublemakers, perhaps some comfort to those who like Squire Tumbridge, have been losing calves to them.

It is very important that dog sightings and dog livestock damage be reported to Council. Council is keen to assist, but the resources that are allocated for this are proportional to the size of the problem – as it is perceived by the bean counters.

Council is working up a dog website, but in the meantime please phone the switch or Ray Johnson - 5420 0100, or email Ray at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Council is currently planning a small baiting program in the vicinity of the State forest on the western side of the Mountain.

The long awaited public meeting on the management of the Mt Mee Cemetery was chaired by Councillor Adrian Raedel and took place in the Hall on Saturday 16^th August. Whether the cemetery should be more intensively managed and be landscaped has been an emotion charged issue for some years and almost 40 residents turned up to discuss things.

The three surviving trustees, John Robinson, Tony Hewitt and Ron Tumbridge had each decided to retire, and their resignations were received by the meeting with considerable regret. All have been serving for more than 20 years and all have been very committed to this unrewarding form of community service.

Seven new trustees were elected by the meeting – Sabra Austin, Deb Cook, Vern Duncan, Rodney Eaton, Dan Ford, Leigh Knight and Peter Wise. The new recruits then chose Rodney to be Chairman of Trustees, Deb to be secretary and Leigh as treasurer.

There was general agreement that the idea of a cemetery support group has merit and the names of volunteers were passed on to the trustees for their consideration.

It was all wrapped up with a vote of thanks to the outgoing trustees, followed by a traditional huge mountain afternoon tea.

The tragic Hendra Virus saga at Redland Bay is a timely reminder to all of us of the danger in handling fruit bats. These little fellows can be carrying two separate fatal and untreatable human diseases – the Hendra virus and a rabies related virus. Bats which are behaving strangely or appear unwell are to be particularly avoided – contact with body fluid or a scratch or bite could “bring down the curtains” for you.