Independently Owned, Locally Grown, Community Loved
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On August 3, 2024, the streets from Mackay Harbour to Seaforth became a whirl of vibrancy and colour as participants united in bright tutus for the 2024 Tutu Challenge in support of ovarian cancer research. Miss Diamond International Finalist of 2024, Jennifer-Lee Houseman, who is widely recognised for her modelling and dancing talents, organised the event, and the day turned out to be a powerful demonstration of solidarity in the fight against one of the most common cancers affecting women.
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By Hannah McNamara Australia's beloved musical icon, Marcia Hines, is bringing her highly anticipated Still Shining: The 50th Anniversary Concert Tour to Mackay in 2024! In an interview with Mackay Life, Marcia spoke about her musical journey over the years and touched on her upcoming tour to the Mackay region. She said, “I feel really blessed that people still want to come see the show and hear me sing… I’m stoked about it.” This exciting event will celebrate Marcia’s incredible five-decade-
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Mackay State High School showcased its basketball prowess, winning two titles at the recent Mackay Interschool Basketball Tournament, which brought together schools from across the region. The school's Open Boys and Junior Girls teams emerged victorious, demonstrating skill, teamwork, and determination. The Open Boys, coached by Mr Stuart Watkins, began their campaign with a commanding win against Sarina State High School, setting the tone for the tournament. Their second game against Northern B
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Tuesday morning Mackay Table Tennis players warmed up for another season of fixtures with a doubles tournament. Janice Kent carried all before her to win the first division with 151 points, Don Boettcher winning division 2 with 155 points. The tournament was first to 31, five matches with partners swapping randomly and was strongly competed by a good turnout of players, who especially enjoyed the ‘bring a plate’ spread at the end of play. A new season of fixtures is starting, and if you haven’t
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In a thrilling display of skill and determination, the Slade Point women’s rugby union team won Mackay’s inaugural Women’s Rugby 7s Grand Final at BB Print Stadium. Capping off a remarkable season for women’s rugby in the region, a star player for Slade Point, Hula Day, has been playing different codes of rugby for seven years, starting in 2018 before switching to rugby union in 2020. Her versatility on the field has seen her excel in various positions, from flanker in 15s to playing as a ho
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AFLW is making its exciting return to Mackay as the Gold Coast Suns take on Carlton at the Great Barrier Reef Arena. The region is thrilled to welcome back Mackay’s very own Lauren Bella, Alana Gee and Wallis Randell, who will all be showcasing their skills in front of a local crowd. This match is a significant event for the region, bringing two traveling teams to North Queensland. Carlton, a renowned team from Victoria, will clash with the Gold Coast Suns, representing Queensland’s vibrant Gold
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Last week was a massive week for the Mackay Bridge Club with the playing of the Australian Wide-Open Pairs, the final week of the Anne Hird Memorial, the Mackay Barometer Pairs Walk-in and the Mackay Barometer Pairs competition, which was played over two days. Winners of the Australian Wide Open Pairs N/S were Janelle Conroy and Terry Sheedy with Janine Rodgers and Richard Wix winning E/W. After three weeks of play with three different overs, Joy Block took out this year’s Anne Hird Memorial.
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Walkerston Wanderers Rugby League Club are celebrating a premiership quadrella in the Mackay & District Junior League. The Roosters underlined their depth of junior talent by annexing the Boys Under 15 and Under 16 premiership titles and the Girls Under 16 and Under 18 trophies in Grand final action at BB Print Stadium last weekend. It is a tremendous feat by the Wanderers club that remained undefeated in both the Under 15 and Girls Under 16 years divisions. Trent Peno’s all-conquering Under 1
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Four of Mackay’s dedicated rowers are about to embark on a thrilling journey to compete in the Masters World Championship Rowing event at the Beetzsee regatta course in Germany, from September 11th to 15th. This natural regatta course situated in Brandenburg, boasts 320,000 square metres of surface area and offers eight lanes for rowing and nine lanes for canoe racing. The event will see between 4,000 and 5,000 athletes competing, and the Mackay rowers are ready to make their mark. The team i
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With World Suicide Awareness Day fast approaching, Whitsunday Suicide Prevention Network has been raising awareness with a variety of initiatives right across the region. From the recent Memorial Service and plaque unveiling held in Airlie Beach last week to the sunflower sale at Stackelroth Farm where over $500 was raised for the cause. Starting a conversation about suicide awareness is considered the most effective way to normalise such a stigmatised issue and encourage those living with men
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Hi Everyone, Thank you so much for all the well-wishes and congratulations following my wedding. I really appreciated the phone calls, text messages and personal encounters that have all made my husband and I feel super special over the last few weeks. You’ll be pleased to know, it was the most spectacular day and the weather was perfect . . . thankfully! A few people have been asking me to share photos so here is one for you! In other news, it’s the much-anticipated Whitsundays Writers F
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Even here in the Whitsundays with its diverse wildlife, it’s not every day a wild echidna comes crawling across your driveway, but for local Ruby Honey Gorlick, that is exactly what happened. When Ruby arrived home last week, she saw the echidna crawling across her driveway and initially approached it because she was curious. When she got closer, however, she noticed it had ticks embedded into its skin. “I noticed it had lots of ticks on it, which I know can hurt them and potentially kill them
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The team at Tourism Whitsundays are elated this week, not only with the announcement of their new CEO, but also with Council increasing its annual funding from $750K to $1M this year. The CEO position at Tourism Whitsundays has been efficiently overseen by interim CEO Aimee Cameron for the past few months following the surprise resignation of Rick Hamilton earlier this year. The team is now excited to announce that highly experienced tourism leader, Tim Booth, has accepted the role and is due
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There was a great turnout at Whitsunday Suicide Prevention Network’s (WSPN) ‘Shine The Light’ event which took place at Fairy Tree Park on the Airlie Beach Foreshore last week. WSPN has illuminated the two iconic fig trees on the Foreshore, hoping to raise awareness for World Suicide Prevention Day, to start conversations and encourage anyone affected by mental health stuggles to speak up and reach out for assistance. As trees around Australia are being painted blue to raise awareness for men
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Protecting children is a shared responsibility, and organisers Whitsunday Counselling & Support Inc. is dedicated to raising awareness about this crucial issue through their upcoming Community Colour Run. This year's activities will include a colour fun run, bubble blowing, face painting, sausage sizzle, raffles & prizes, arts & crafts, games, races and a fantastic live music performance from Josiah. Intensive Family Support Case Manager, Niamh Mulvihill, says she is excited for another year of
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Tangaroa Blue Foundation, in partnership with Clean Up Australia, is excited to announce the launch of ReefClean’s Great Barrier Reef Clean-up 2024, the biggest community-driven marine debris clean-up of the year. With The Whitsundays bordering the Great Barrier Reef, the event provides the opportunity for communities to come together and do their bit to clean-up their favourite sections of the reef before wet season begins. Heidi Tait, Tangaroa Blue Foundation CEO, has said the event also “pla
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The Mayor's Charity Ball is a fundraising event with all proceeds supporting BMA CQ Rescue and the Whitsunday Suicide Prevention Network. The event is funded entirely through ticket sales and generous sponsorships. We extend our heartfelt thanks to all our sponsors and look forward to raising as many funds as possible for these two important charities on the night. If you'd like to get behind these great causes visit the Proserpine Entertainment Centre website for more information or to buy tick
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At last week’s monthly Council meeting in Proserpine two significant motions were adopted that highlight that my Council is proactively addressing the current housing pressures in the Whitsunday region. The first was the adoption of the new Local Housing Action Plan (LHAP) which was developed by Council in partnership with the Local Government Association of Queensland with funding from the Queensland Government. The LHAP outlines 28 practical and tangible actions that will assist Council to a
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At Bendigo Community Bank Cannonvale-Proserpine our customers and our community always win. We offer face-to-face full banking service, under the leadership of Branch Manager Amanda Anderson, with lenders and bankers, and open 9:30am-4pm Monday to Friday. Business Banking expertise We also offer Business Banking expertise. Luke Sheppard, Senior Business Relationship Manager for North Central Queensland and Cairns is available to discuss a range of business banking services such as business lendi
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Here’s a look at what’s coming up at the Whitsundays Chamber of Commerce and Industry for September. With the Queensland State Election looming and a Federal Election next year, the Chamber will be engaging its members to confirm business priorities for its election agenda. Through this work, the Chamber will also be strengthening its relationship with Business Chamber Queensland and other stakeholder groups to help amplify the needs of regional Queensland businesses. With a number of new indu
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Excitement is building as the Whitsundays Tourism Awards approach. Mark your calendars for October 19th, when we’ll celebrate the best of our region’s tourism industry at the stunning Daydream Island Resort. If you haven’t grabbed your tickets yet, now’s the time—this is the event where we recognise the hard work and dedication of our local operators and service providers. We’re thrilled to announce that Bishopp is joining us as the naming rights sponsor for this year’s awards. As Australia’s
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Next Father’s Day imagine your dad living the dream by sipping world-class Shiraz in the Heart of the Barossa Valley at lunch, and by sunset, swimming in the Coral Sea in the Whitsundays, Heart of the Great Barrier Reef. This idyllic escape is now a reality with the first direct flights between Adelaide and Whitsunday Coast Airport (WCA) taking off earlier this week connecting the two cities in less than three hours and creating 58,000 low-cost seats a year. Whitsunday Regional Council Mayor R
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Katelyn Collins has owned the café inside Whitsunday Coast Airport for over 2 years and has seen many achievements during that time, including the airport winning best regional airport, but nothing makes her happier than providing hungry customers with great food and service. To give customers great food, Taste Whitsundays focus on fast and speedy food but make it extra delicious by focusing on local produce. “We make all our own salads using as much local ingredients as we can; anywhere tha
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Tucked away from the bustling streets of Airlie Beach, is a hidden gem. Think healthy deli-style sandwiches, Vibrant salads carefully curated by Prickly Pineapple, acai bowls and nutritious sweet treats, Wisdom Cafe has it all. Be prepared to have your body well and truly nourished with the cafe’s selection of healthy treats made lovingly with fresh ingredients from local suppliers such as Prickly Pineapple and Airlie Health Hub. Rusty Blazkovic and business partner, Michaela Sopkova, purchased
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September 6-8 Whitsundays Writers Festival 6-8 White on Whitehaven, Whitehaven Beach, from 9am 6 Don River Dash Community Night, Bowen Showgrounds, from 4pm 7 Don River Dash 300, Telegraph Road Spectator Area, from 8am 7 Colour Run for Child Protection, Coral Sea Marina Gardens, from 9am 7 Mini Roller Disco, PCYC Whitsunday, from 10am 7 Kath and Kim Drag Bingo, at the Proserpine Entertainment Centre, from 8pm 8 Whitsunday Thrift Club Market, Kipara Rainforest Retreat, from 9am 8 Memorial Servic
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