Independently Owned, Locally Grown, Community Loved
The fun was on for young and old as Merinda State School, several kilometres north of Bowen, celebrated 125 years of service to its tight-knit community.The centrepiece of celebrations on Saturday July 22 was the cutting of a 'birthday cake', with school principal Rebecca Bowyer overseeing both the school's oldest surviving former student, 97-year-old Irene Mellon (now Irene Millier) and the school's youngest student, five-year old Maddis Allan, as they made the first cut in the large cake.
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This week, 99 wonderful people ran, jogged, and walked the 5km waterfront course, of whom 18 were first timers and 25 recorded new Personal Bests.
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Whitsunday Raiders travelled to Quarry Hill, home of Mackay Cities for the last competition round for 2023. With the overcast skies and no wind, for a change, it was going to be a tough mental game as well as a physical one.
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The local branch of the RSPCA is excited to welcome any and all animal lovers to a free special connection Morning Tea at the VMR in Cannonvale. Attendees will hear from the local RSCPA inspector about their job, the inspiring work they do rescuing and rehoming animals in the Whitsundays region. There will also be a presentation showcasing the Home Ever After program that provides emergency care for pets, a Q and A session about the local RSPCA branch and so much more.
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The Zonta Club of the Whitsundays is excited to announce the scholarship applications for the Laura Morrison Bequest Scholarship is open for 2023. The scholarship is in memory of late Laura Morrison, a long-standing member of the Zonta Whitsundays club.
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Living in Paradise gives you many reasons to smile but this week began with an extremely special event. Tuesday afternoon saw 2 fantastic finalists playing in the A and B Grade Pairs.
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It all started on Friday when Harry Craig played in the District play off for the All Schools Cup Challenge for St Catherine's School down at North Mackay. Harry and his team partner Alfie Moretto won their section and will be representing the Whitsunday region at Pine Rivers later this year. Champion of Champion Fours were played at Mackay Club this weekend.
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The Women's Pennant Competition was held over the weekend with the Proserpine team winning Division One at the Pioneer Golf Club and Division Six at Mystic Sands.Other Results this week:Congratulations to Lloyd Kingston on taking out the 2023 Men's Handicapped Match Play competition, a close match against Brian Allen.
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Another windy day on the course for Tuesdays Stableford comp. 31 competitors - 21 men and 10 ladies.
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Winners for Monday Triples were L Fox, K Pedlar, and G Feast.Runners Up S Roome, D Richards, and R Agg. The jackpot didn’t go off.
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This week’s 9-hole stabelford competition saw Dee Norman take first place on 27 pts, second with 24 pts Cy Taylor and third with 22 pts Bree Harvey. This week was a good week for Bree Harvey getting not only third in the weekly comp but a hole in one on hole 2 also Justyn Durbin scored a hole in one on hole 7.
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While the weatherman said that the wind would be from the south-east, Wednesday afternoon saw the wind swinging by up to 40 degrees, making for a challenging race for the 18 boats who competed in the Whitsunday Sailing Club twilight race.First away was Treasure VIII (Rob Davis), frantically checking that they hadn’t fouled the starting process.
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On Saturday, three Cannonvale swimmers joined 80 other swimmers from around Australia to swim 8km from Magnetic Island to Townsville. Cannonvale swimmers, Jacob Bell, Kyle Pevitt-Scott and Mark Erickson could not believe their luck with the weather.
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Mackay Regional Council has been forced to make the difficult decision to postpone Daly Bay Illuminate due to unseasonal rains and strong winds. Daly Bay Illuminate was set to kick off this Thursday (July 27) and run until Sunday (July 30). Manager MECC and Events Andrew Bobeldyk said setup for the popular Mackay Festival of Arts event was considerable and would be impossible to achieve safely in the current conditions. Read more here: Full release for website: Council has been forced to mak
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Queens Park became a sea of picnic blankets on Saturday for the highly anticipated Wisely Wine and Food Day. Punters enjoyed a wide selection of wine, food and entertainment, with sporadic rain only heightening the energy in the park. Musicians, bands and dance groups, both local and visiting, shared the stages providing a perfect soundtrack for a day in the park. Wisely Wine and Food Day is one of the biggest events on the Mackay Festival of Arts calendar, with plenty more to come before the f
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Doug Petersen is a man passionate about preserving history. The Bucasia-based historian and author has taken the next step in sharing Mackay’s local history with the younger generation by donating two of his books to Mackay State High School (SHS). The first was a copy of ‘St Joseph’s Orphanage Merera’, which sheds light on the history of a Bucasia orphanage between 1869 and 1886. Published in 2019, the book is the product of three years of research, telling the tales of the children who lived
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Brace yourselves readers, because my story this week involves sweat, shaky hands, and a blast from my past that I thought might not resurface. Yes, I'm talking about the glorious game of table tennis. Now, let me take you back a bit. In my homeland of New Zealand, table tennis was a sport I loved. As a teenager I enjoyed nothing more than to slice and dice my way through the competition. I was never a prodigy, but at one point I ranked in the top eight in New Zealand for my age. I struggled with
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Bonza Scraps Mackay – Cairns Route Bonza, Australia’s newest airline, has stunned customers with its decision to scrap the Mackay to Cairns route just a couple of months into providing the service. While the airline says it has had to step back on some routes to make its service more reliable, the surprising move has left travellers questioning the airline's strategy and its commitment to establishing a strong presence in the region. In an open letter addressed to customers, Carly Povey, the Chi
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In Dawson’s Biggest Survey Andrew Willcox prides himself on listening to his constituents and being the voice of his electorate, so over a year into his tenure, the Federal Member for Dawson is conducting Dawson’s Biggest Survey. Mr Willcox said the survey is another way to get to know the needs of the Dawson community. “It’s a pleasure to work with people, community groups and local businesses to get outcomes for our community,” he said. “And I know that I’m most effective when I have a clear u
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Moranbah residents now have local access to a range of mental wellbeing and suicide prevention services as not-for-profit charity, selectability, opened the doors to a dedicated facility. The initiative, made possible through funding from the BHP Mitsubishi Alliance’s (BMA) Community Resilience Project, provides a central location for those across the region to access support and information and connect to a range of early intervention programs. selectability regional coordinator Keri Webster
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redhotblue Claims Top Honours As Creative Agency Of The Year redhotblue, a creative agency with more than 25 years of industry experience, has been honoured as the Creative Agency of the Year 2023 by the Australian Enterprise Awards. The local agency's expertise in strategic digital marketing and creative content development has consistently delivered tangible results, empowering local businesses and fuelling community growth. With a trailblazing spirit and an insatiable hunger for innovation,
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Choral Fanfare is back on stage in 2023 with a Mackay school being amongst the five primary and five secondary school choirs being selected for this year’s state final. Almost 10,000 students from 213 choirs took part in a series of regional festivals held across Queensland, with the final ten choirs set to perform in Brisbane next month. The biennial Choral Fanfare program began in 2001 and gives students an amazing opportunity for performance experience, development of teamwork skills and well
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The culmination of a fantastic Whitsunday Voices Youth Literature Festival saw over 500 people walk into a magical wonderland Literary Dinner last Friday evening, one that was decorated with fluffy white clouds and bright white star lanterns. Keynote speaker, political commentator, and comedian Annabel Crabb, enthralled the audience with her personal and deeply moving life story, creating a worthy end to an exceptional event. This was the 19th annual Whitsunday Voices Youth Literature Festival
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Fun and engaging challenges were the order of the day for schools in the Mackay region when the 2023 Festival of STEM opened in style at the Mackay Entertainment & Convention Centre. More than 300 students from twenty-five schools participated in the annual Whitsunday STEM Challenge, competing across three competitions. Students had the opportunity to test their skills in the Junior Robocup, Drones and F1 in Schools challenges, showcasing months of hard work and dedication. St Patrick’s Coll
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Whether you are a Christian or non-Christian, looking to strengthen your faith or simply curious and looking for a new direction, Christ Embassy welcomes you. The worldwide Christian ministry was founded in Nigeria in 1987 by Pastor Chris Oyakhilome and has been active in Mackay since December 2022, meeting every Sunday for worship. Pastor Chris has since established himself as a Christian faith leader, preacher, author, philanthropist, and televangelist and will lead the upcoming largest Global
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