Independently Owned, Locally Grown, Community Loved
Bowen Bowls Club hosted a successful iteration of its Classic Weekend last week with 16 teams participating. First place was taken by the tram of P. Martin, A. Hay, F. Watson, and C. Paine, while second went to Wayne Crowhurst, S. Hamilton, Mitch Wright, and Gus Munro.
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Saturday morning Scroungers’ first round at Airlie Beach Bowls was won by John Brown, Nik Fernbach, Rick Galea, and Warren Mills. Tony Whitehorn again won Group B for the second consecutive week, playing some excellent bowls while he did so.
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Whitsunday Touch Football Association’s new season kicked off on Monday night with 25 teams nominating across its four divisions of Open A, Mixed A, Mixed B and Mixed C Family. The season will run through to the Grand Finals in June, with the Association committed to encouraging participation and development of women, juniors, and referees.
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Ten Cannonvale Cannons swimmers travelled to Brisbane to compete in the 2023 Queensland Sprint Championships last weekend. Club coaches Mark Erickson and Ken Crittenden were very impressed with the swimmers and their outstanding efforts, with this being the first state competition for many of the attending Cannons. The Whitsunday team achieved a total of 30 personal bests (PB) out of 35 swims.
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With last week a washout in the Proserpine Cricket Association calendar, four eager teams took to the grounds on Saturday on a damp outfield where scoring was hard to come by. Batting first, the Whitsunday Colts were off to a shaky start as Ben Davis (1/24) and Scott Milne (2/31) made the early breakthroughs.
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A new chapter of aviation love took flight on Valentine’s Day, as the new Aussie airline, Bonza, made its debut direct flight from the Sunshine Coast to Mackay.
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Australia was left in shock when two young police officers, Constable Rachel McCrow and Constable Matthew Arnold, lost their lives in the line of duty on a property at Wieambilla, west of Brisbane, on December 12.
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The surf and sand of the Sunshine Coast was brought closer to Mackay earlier this week, with Bonza’s inaugural flight taking off between the lands of pineapple and sugar. It’s part of Bonza’s promise to open up more regional pathways via air services, with a Mackay to Cairns route opening for ticket sales in March.
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Andrew Willcox, Member for Dawson is calling on the Federal Government to immediately reverse its decision to impose a de facto regional processing penalty on skilled workers in priority sectors hoping to take up one of thousands of jobs that need to be filled in regional communities.
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Early Bird registrations are now open for the 2023 BMA Mackay Marina Run to be held in June. Now in its 15th year, the annual run is widely regarded as Queensland’s most scenic running event with a flat, fast course set against stunning sub-tropical scenery. Event Director Tim Magoffin advised the run was fast becoming a signature event on the national running event calendar.
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The Mackay community was shocked by the murder of 23-year-old Shandee Blackburn in 2013, with Shandee’s life and legacy celebrated on the ten-year anniversary of her death on Saturday. While the assailant is yet to be brought to justice, the incident has united the Mackay community and shone a light on certain failings of the Queensland justice system.
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Passengers were left in shock after the Spirit of Queensland train, travelling from Brisbane to Cairns, was involved in a collision with a road vehicle north of Mackay earlier this week. The incident occurred at 8:40am on the morning of Tuesday, February 14 at the Pratts Road level crossing at Calen, just off the Bruce Highway.
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A local volunteer has recently been recognised at the state level for his commitment to the PCYC Braking the Cycle (BTC) program as the program celebrated its 10th anniversary last year. Alan Williamson was flown to Brisbane last December and recognised for eight years of service to the program at a presentation at Parliament House.
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Kim Baker has donated 33 human beings’ worth of blood in the past three decades across three states -- accounting for roughly a person worth a year. The Mackay registered nurse completed her 300th donation in mid-January at the Mackay Donor Centre after 30 years of what she said had developed into something of a lifesaving “habit”.
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After previously living in a three-bedroom house, Mackay social housing tenant Stephen recently had to move to a two-bedroom unit after coming out of hospital. “I couldn’t get up the stairs at my house so the occupational therapist with Mackay Housing Service Centre found me a ground floor unit in a newly-built complex,” he said.
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Mackay Hospital and Health Service (HHS) welcomed a strong intake of graduate nurses, as 84 newly qualified nurses have been recruited to the 2023 Mackay HHS Nursing and Midwifery Graduate Program.
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“I am moving into a rental property after moving out of my own home I owned due to a change of circumstances. I really want to make it feel like home but there are so many limitations as a tenant. Can you help me create my new happy place?”
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Edible flowers are not only beautiful but also delicious, adding a unique flavour to dishes and providing a colourful and ornamental touch to any garden. Growing edible flowers can be a rewarding and simple task, even for the novice gardener. Here are a few tips for growing your own edible flowers.
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Knowing the right tool for the right job is a skill that all tradies learn early in their careers. Knowing the difference between each tools important features and functions will make a major difference in your productivity and completing a project on time.
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An Ipswich-based historian is searching for any information, photos, letters, cards or memorabilia relating to his great grandparents. Terence King reached out to Mackay Life in his journey to research Jens Lauritzen and Anna Cathrine Meng who migrated to Australia from Prussia in 1882.
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Walkerston’s next generation of leaders were recognised on Monday, February 6 as Walkerston State School held its Student Leaders Induction Ceremony. The ceremony celebrated and acknowledged the school’s 2023 student leadership group, with student leaders pledging their commitment to their roles and presented with their badges.
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Gold nanorod probes combined with an optical microscope can now be used to detect signs of a highly contagious and lethal virus that poses a major threat to the swine industry worldwide.
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The Queensland sugar industry has been rocked by what can only be described as a bold and arrogant move by Sugar Terminals Limited (STL) to announce that it would terminate its Operator Agreement with Queensland Sugar Limited (QSL).
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Mackay Isaac Tourism (MIT) has launched a new destination events marketing campaign to align with the region’s exciting and diverse events calendar. ‘MAKE IT Mackay Isaac’, which will run from February 8 to July 31, 2023, is designed to entice the youth market, families, couples and empty nesters to visit our backyard, enjoy our events and stay a little longer to explore the region's natural wonders.
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If you believe the narrative of the climate change lobby, we are all doomed unless massive changes are made to how we live, work and operate our economy. There’s a list of things we have to eradicate, most of them enjoyable and central to how our economy operates, if we are to survive.
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