Issue #

New Faces To Focus On Jetty Project

A prominent Bowen business advocate has urged all parties involved in the redevelopment of the town's deteriorating jetty to respect the rich history of the structure. Chairman of the town's Chamber of Commerce, Bruce Hedditch, made the comments following appointments by North Queensland Bulk Ports of a project director and lead design consultant for the multimillion-dollar project. Nawar Spear will be project director, while global consultancy firm Arup Australia under its own project directo

Local Couple Recognised For Service To Community

Meet Mark Richards Operations Manager It has been a whirlwind of 13 years for Mark Richards, acting as Operations Manager of Whitsunday Foodservice with confidence, pride, and tenacity. With a logistics and warehousing portfolio background, Mark transitioned seamlessly into this role, and has not looked back once. His greatest pride has been watching the gradual evolution of Whitsunday Foodservice, originally operating out of a cold storage warehouse with 25 staff and a fleet of six trucks, wh

40 Years Of Fabulous Food! Whitsunday Foodservice Celebrates Huge Milestone

What began as a light-hearted conversation between some long-term entrepreneurial locals during the Christmas of 1983, has since blossomed into one of the Whitsundays’ most successful and long-standing businesses. Originally the milk depot in Proserpine, this humble and fledgling company has constantly diversified and expanded over the years, its name now synonymous within the foodservice industry. In 2024 Whitsunday Foodservice celebrates 40 years in business, an impressive milestone, steeped i

Discover The X Factor With Andrew Wishart

This Easter long weekend, head to Airlie Beach Hotel to catch some X Factor action with Andrew Wishart, star of the 2011 series. Against the odds and as the crowd favourite, Andrew made it to the Grand Final of X-Factor Australia; to be placed runner-up in the series, missing out on winning by 1 per cent of the national vote. Before his X Factor success Andrew worked as a sales manager for 30 years but that all changed when his children made him audition for X Factor Australia. Despite being

Line-Up Of Literary Luminaries

The line-up for the 2024 Whitsundays Writers Festival continues to generate excitement with the addition of three highly-acclaimed authors. The Whitsundays Writers Festival proudly expands its schedule of literary luminaries with the addition of three authors: Karina Kilmore, Melissa Ashley, and Jack Roney. President Karen Jacobsen expressed her delight and excitement. "We have built a substantial list of authors this year as we are focused on writing excellence," Karen commented. "This Fe

Comedy Legend Ross Noble Performs In Prossie

Highly hilarious and extremely popular English comedian Ross Noble is coming to the Proserpine Entertainment Centre this August. Marking his 21st solo stand up tour, Noble is launching a bunch of fresh comedy with the ‘Jibber Jabber Jamboree’. Audiences can expect Noble to display his expertise in improv and audience participation, guaranteed to get the audiences laughing in hysterics. Noble’s Jibber Jabber Jamboree is taking him all around Australia, from Alice Springs, to Wollongong, Mackay

AFL Back With Preseason Carnival!

Saturday saw cracking AFL matches return to Airlie Beach with 2024 AFLQ Mackay Senior Preseason Carnival hosted by Whitsunday Sea Eagles at home. AFL players from across Mackay, Townsville, Moranbah and Whitsundays put on a show in the competition for the Preseason Carnival Shields. Whitsunday Sea Eagles Senior Men took out the Men’s Preseason Carnival Shield in their first hit out of the year after some tight contests throughout the day saw them finish in the final. Sea Eagles were looking f

St Paddy’s Day - Celtic Cup

The Celtic Cup was held on St Patrick’s Day this year which was nice for a change and 15 contestants took part in the competition. In the round of 16 we saw early exits for Reef Peel, Naomi Mitchell, Jodie Collins, Hawkeye Rick, Jayden Lloyd, Josh Fraser and Guy Graham. Kevin Brown had a bye into the quarterfinals where he defeated Kam Reason 5/1. Art McMinn beat Gary Robbie 5/2. Jamie Maher secured a 5/1 win over Steve Lloyd and Joe Wilson managed to just edge out Andy Peel in a close 5/4 e

What should my child eat before exercise?

This largely depends on the duration and intensity of the session, however there are some general guidelines to help. The longer your child is training and the higher the intensity, then the greater the energy requirement. If the session is longer than 75 minutes (again, depending on the individual child and the intensity of the session), intra-session fuelling may be necessary. Before exercise, children should focus on fast-digesting carbohydrates such as a piece of fruit, low-fibre cereal wit

Raiders Welcome Coach Rota

The Proserpine Whitsunday Rugby Union Club is gearing up for an action-packed 2024 Season, fresh off the heels of the Women's 2023 Grand Finalists appearance and the Men's 2023 MRU Premiership win. The club is buzzing with anticipation as they welcome back both teams to the field. Returning to the Presidency after a season away, Trent Elson is back at the helm of the Club, and alongside the Club Committee, they are excited to welcome new faces and talent into the Raiders family. At the forefr

New PB’s and Club Records at Cannonvale Cannons Swimming Club

The Cannonvale Cannons Swimming Club hosted a very successful Club Championships with 48 swimmers participating. The coaches Ken Crittenden, Rylee Erickson, Shay Wilmot, and Mark Erickson were very impressed with all the swimmers. Three swimmers set new club records and just about every swimmer achieved at least one personal best time. Some age groups were very competitive, so it wasn’t easy to win a ribbon. The coaches would like to commend all the swimmers on their team spirit and sportsmans

Whitsunday Touch Football

Round Five Results Mixed A Vipers 5 defeated In The Crear 3 Raiders A 5 defeated G.E.T. Touch 3 Mixed B Whitmonday Eagles 10 defeated Full Boar 5 Raiders B 14 defeated Ray White 5 Stingers defeated Flame Tree Flames (forfeit) Mixed C Sheds N Homes 7 drew Bulls 7 Mighty Mustangs 8 defeated Untouchables 6 Mixed Juniors Raiders Purple 7 defeated Raiders Blue 3 Hamo Rent 8 defeated Raiders Green 5 Whitsunday Touch Football is thrilled to have

Whitsunday United Weekly Football Report Rain stops, football starts

After three rounds of washed out games, finally Whitsunday United hit the fields with some great results over the weekend. On Friday night, the Divisional Men hosted Dolphins at Whitsunday Sports Park. While WUFC Divison 2 men scored in the first half and had other chances, the youth of the Dolphins team began to take its toll Dolphins scored late in the second half, ending in a 1-1 draw. With the Whitsunday Division 1 team one of the strongest ever fielded, the end score was 20-2 to the Whitsu

Sailing Regatta Over Easter Weekend

Abell Point Yacht Club’s next monthly sail is this Easter Weekend. Departing from the Abell Point Yacht Club this Good Friday, join the crew. Once departed, you will travel towards Cid Harbour, when there, gather on the beach with your fellow sailors. Enjoy a barbecue, games, chats, adventures or lounging on the beach. After Cid Harbour, you’ll be travelling to more of the beautiful islands the Whitsundays has to offer. Long Island or South Molle Island are next up, the island of choice wil

School Holiday Bowls

A special new initiative is about to begin for women and girls, commencing on Tuesday 2 April and running for five weeks. The hours 10am to 12pm, were selected to enable women to manage family commitments and school hours. During school holidays students are welcome to join in too. Bowls are available at the club. Very young children will be given soft rubber bowls to play with. The club has a good supply of bowls suitable for all ages and capabilities. Tuesday winners were Lyn Graham and

64 Compete in Ladies Fours Tournament

Results of Club Rinks Competition: Andy Peebles, Lee Welsted, Jason Wright and Mitch Wright defeated Lou Fordham, Helen Jacobsen, John Trembath and Shane Spann. Sunday Social: I. Thatcher, Daryl Tuttle, Gavin Charles defeated A.Delic, Allen Williams, Jane Gilbert. L.Kruger, Peter Bruce, Ron Gould. Wednesday Social: B.Neal, Allen Williams and Doc Fordham defeated MaryEllen Pratten, R.Rodda, Jane Gilbert. Ray Muir, Robyn Stitt and Wendy Coles defeated I Thatcher, Daryl Tuttle, Glen. Friday Marc

Competition Games Kick Off At Proserpine Bowls

Players were lucky to get a break in the weather for Wednesday's Social Bowls and Saturday for the beginning of the Men's Competition for 2024. On Wednesday with all the rain prior, we had 5 players for Social Bowls. Heather Brown played double lead. Heather, Dale Haack and Sandy Daffara defeated Heather, Philip Brown and Peter Lawton 22 - 14. There were no Social Bowls played on Sunday due to heavy rain on Sunday morning. On Saturday in Club Championship Singles Luchie Gardel defeated Jona

Wangaratta Bowls

Social play on Tuesday resulted in Gwenda Lydom, Linda Smith and Penny Warren defeating Lindy Suann, Irene Laird, Geoff Danvers and B Reddcliff, Lyn Danvers and Greg Colquhoun defeated Merle Elphinstone, Sue Shearing and Kevin Daniels. The jackpot didn’t go off. In the ladies club competition Deb Retchless defeated Bron Tolcher and Jocelyn Defranciscis defeated Tiarna Winter. The first round of the fours was played on Sunday morning. Congratulations to the winning teams of Irene Laird, Merle El

Bowen Golf Weekly Results

On Wednesday, we played a single stableford for a club trophy. Men's Winner, Nathan Vine 40 points, Benny Bon was runner up on a countback with 39 points. Ladies' Winner, Susan McInnes 38 points, Runner up Tracey Cousemacker 37 points. Pin Shots to Viv Clark, Trish Sellen, Tracey Cousemacker, Hayden Williams, John Courtney, Isaac Fellows, Jumbo Miller. Peter Theodossio claimed the Suntan Snack Bar voucher. OBP’s for Mark Russell, Hayden Williams, Jo Goldup and Jeremy Chrzanowski. Chocolate

Dry Weather Allows Golf Comps

The course dried out enough to see Vic Feldman edge out Ross Hammond on 37 points in Thursday's stableford event, where Warren Deighton and Gary Scotford won the pin shots. Friday's Met run saw Scott Mason win with 22 points, two ahead of Ryan Wilkes with a handy four under par for the nine holes. Christopher Bartlett and Karlene Lloyd took out the pins. Joshua Norris had 41 points to dominate the Hayman Electrical Saturday competition with Brodie Slater his A Division runner up on 37 points

Event Guide

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Zonta Social Pics

Bowen Candidate Forum “An Informative Meeting”

The third Whitsunday Local Government Candidate Forum was hosted by Bowen Chamber of Commerce on Monday night and held at the Larrikin Hotel in Bowen with an audience of 85 in attendance. All four Mayoral Candidates, Peter Hood, Richard Evans, Ry Collins and Phil Batty, were present on the evening alongside the Division 6 Councillor Candidates, John Finlay and David Paddon. Three questions were given from Bowen Chamber of Commerce and then three additional questions taken from the floor. Pres

Editors Note

Hi Everyone, As the weather cools down, the local event scene certainly heats up! This Sunday, I called in at three local events and was reminded once again how vibrant our community is. Firstly, the International Women’s Day celebrations held by the Zonta Club of the Whitsundays at Coral Sea Resort, then the Whitsunday Chef’s Lunch at Eastwoods and finally the 10-year birthday bash at Anchor Bar. Also taking place over the weekend was the annual Cut Out Party, Collinsville Sea of Pink and a

Pay It Forward

A local lady’s heart was filled last week by a random act of kindness that came just at the right time and lifted her sprits when she needed it most. Earlier that week she had received a call from family who reside in Western Australia informing her that a serious car accident could have claimed the life of a family member. Thankfully, the family member was helped by some wonderful people, but the whole family were left shattered for a few days at the possibility they could have lost him. Whi