Burning Off at the Beach

We took a drive to the beach this morning to find out where the smoke plume was coming from and discovered Brian Beales and the boys from the Preston Beach Volunteer Fire Brigade burning off the brush pile near the beach car park.  This might seem like a waste of good brush material but unfortunately the brush becomes unusable when contaminated with noxious weed, domestic waste and common garden plants.  On the upside it provides the brigade with a good opportunity to hone their skills. 

The Rangers were there to lend a hand with traffic control.

Beef and Bangers

What a great night!  Beef and Bangers was a roaring success and well and truly worth the hard slog that went to organising it.  Thanks to a great bunch of volunteers who helped set up the marquees, lighting, tables and chairs etc.  And then there's the food!  Several ladies put their hand up for salad and dessert making while Fred oversaw the carvery.  More than 50 people enjoyed a fantastic feed, loads of laughs and the chance to catch up with friends and neighbours and meet a few new folk.

We're very grateful to Harvey Beef for their generous donation of 7 kg of prime beef roasts. 

We would also like to acknowledge funding from The Government of Western Australia, The Rural Business Development Commission through the Department of Food and Agriculture, Dry Season Assistance Fund.

It was great to see our good friend Don Randall MP and his lovely wife Julie and we are most grateful for their contribution of Brumby's Bread


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Julie and Don Randall

This was a great way to test drive both the new BBQ's and bring the community together for some pre-Christmas cheer.  It has long been the role of the Progress Association to foster community well being and there is no better way to do that than over a delicious meal.

Without further ado I will post some photo's of the evening as a picture speaks a thousand words - or so the saying goes;-

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Looks like fun!

Yes, a great time was had by all.  Perhaps we'll see you all at the next function.

Busy Bees at Work

The Silly Season is almost upon us which means more frequent events at the Preston Beach Community Hall.  Time to get spruced up!

A dozen or so willing workers turned up on Saturday 12 Nov to get stuck into some serious cleaning, erecting and landscape work.

The girls attacked the cobwebs, weeds and leaf litter around the hall and pavilion area while the boys settled for various jobs including assembling one of the new barbecues purchased with am $800 grant from the Shire of Waroona.  If you've ever tried this you'll know it's no mean feat.  John and Robbie got it sorted while the rest of the men tackled a paving job.

A section of lawn had to be removed at the back of the fire shed to level the ground in preparation for laying the paving bricks left over from the pavilion a few years ago.  The Shire of Waroona delivered a load of yellow sand and Don Bebbington arranged for a free loan of a compactor from Coates Hire in Waroona.

Once the ladies had finished with the cleaning and sweeping they attacked the shed!  The contents were emptied onto the lawn (making certain as they went that there were no surprises hiding in the shed, such as a 'joe blake'!

Read the instructions carefully!

Robbie overseeing the quality of workmanship

Everyone pitched in to shift sand, even the girls....

It's hard work but with plenty of help the sand is moved into place in now time at all and Denis got to work on the compactor.   But somehow I didn't get a photo of that :(

While this is happening, the girls decide to have a go at erecting the shelving for the shed.  It's easy, right?

Watch out Jan, Marion's got the mallet!

The best part about a brick paving job is the actual laying for the bricks.  Once the prep is all done the bricks go down really quickly, and if the photographer isn't snappy she just might miss it.....

Peter getting on with the job

All in all the busy bee took around three hours and achieved some great results.  The workers were rewarded with a few bevies and sausage sizzle on the newly constructed BBQ, which passed quality control with flying colours.

The shelves were moved into the shed and loaded up with the newly sorted storage boxes and equipment. What a difference.  There was plenty of room to accommodate both BBQ's.  The old BBQ found a welcome home along side it's twin at the Golf Club.

A few of the workers - a rightly proud of a good days' work

Everything is ready for the big Beef and Bangers on the Barbi next weekend.