A Word from Watto - May 2012

At 1000 hours Wednesday April 25th 2012, some 56 women, men and children attended our Preston Beach ANZAC Memorial Service held at our community centre’s ANZAC memorial Wall. This service gave our community an important opportunity to pay tribute and respect to those Australians and New Zealanders who fought and died in many fields of action around the world so that others could live in freedom. To me ANZAC Day is a day to join my fellow Aussies, of all race, colour and creed in remembering and giving thanks to the men and women for the sacrifices they made. After the formalities we enjoyed morning tea, biscuits, later a BBQ and a few throffies. I would like to thank all those involved with the formulation of our program, this year’s venue setup, service formalities, morning tea, and sausage sizzle – truly a great community team effort.

Preston Beach Proposed Bench Chair Locations for Public Viewing

The Shire of Waroona has been very supportive to our community and provided an allocation of bench chairs to showcase some of the tranquillity Preston Beach exposes. At this stage during our recent general meeting it was moved to table four (4) suggested preferential sites to the Shire which have no invasion of residential privacy. Suggested sites are as follows:-

• A - End of Panorama Drive approx 20 metres north of last power pole north/east view of old farm and lake area;

• B - The Point or Spit at end of walk trail from Mitchell Road heading north. Good 260 degrees view of bird life during late autumn, winter and spring. Has small sign with arrow pointing east "Observe – Conserve". DEC approval would be needed;

• C - End of Hillview Court, excellent view of north/eastern area, of golf course, lake and hills;

• D - Heading west along Mitchell Road half way between shop and beach just as the road slowly descends on left hand side - good Ocean views.

Click on the image to see full size

It’s Curtains for the Old Curtains at the Hall

New roll-up blinds have now been purchased and fitted to replace our old un-serviceable curtains at our community Hall. This was moved and has now come to fruition with Bob the blind-man doing a great professional job.

The Four Wheel Drive that Had a Dive They say a picture tells a thousand words, well this one does when it depicts just how rough the ocean high tide can be at Preston Beach when it erodes the beach embankment. Over the past several months the Rangers and other local beach goers have witnessed extreme high tides reaching the sand dunes, cutting sections of the beach out leaving large voids between the dunes and beach area. Extreme caution should be taken when driving along the beach when these conditions are encountered. Caution, common sense, slower speed and appropriate selection of beach track is the go. Look to the right of the photograph and you can see the preferential track to take - the unsuspecting driver of this vehicle didn’t. Most importantly no one was injured in this incident. Remember "local solutions for local problems, if you’re not part of the solution then you’re part of the problem"
Angry Anderson.

John Watson
President Preston Beach
Progress Association

Please Don't Rubbish Preston Beach

It's not a full year since we trudged the verges of Preston Beach Road and intersections of the Old Coast Road but we still managed to collect a truck load of rubbish.

The variety of cast away items never ceases to amaze us.  Everything from mattresses, to disposable nappies (Eewwk).  Vast quantities of drink containers in all shapes and forms as you might expect, but surprisingly volunteers picked up a heavy duty, well made wrought iron table frame and two matching chairs!  Who throws this kind of stuff away?

But I get ahead of myself; A cross section of the community gathered at the hall last Sunday, bringing together representatives of all organisations in Preston Beach.  The golf club had put in a several hours on Saturday due to prior golfing commitments on Sunday.

The weather was threatening and didn't disappoint, but our dedicated volunteers shrugged it off, getting on with the job of clearing away the unsightly litter despoiling the entrance to town.  Which beggars the question, what ever happened to respect for your surroundings?  Who are these people who think so little of a national park, the local fauna and our beautiful little town that they happily toss anything and everything out the window of the car?  Are they illiterate, uneducated, despots or merely ignorant and arrogant?  Perhaps a mix of all the above? 

The most disturbing find for me were two containers that had held kiddies drinks.  There they were on the roadside almost side by side, indicating they had been tossed together from a moving vehicle.  I found this particularly disturbing because it was either thrown by an adult in the presence of children or thrown by children with the consent of adults!  I shake my head...

Every year I ask the question, why don't we in WA impose the same deposit impost on all drink manufactures as they do in South Australia?  We know it works.

Let's not put up with it.  You can and you should report a litter bug or persons who dump illegally.  Here's how to go about reporting them; http://www.kabc.wa.gov.au/litter-reporting.html

I'll get off my soapbox now. 

Our band of workers set off in private vehicles, armed with sturdy gloves, fluoro jackets, mechanical grabbers (not sure what they are actually called but they work a treat) and dozens of orange rubbish bags which they dutifully stuffed with rubbish over several hours.

In a well coordinated effort, the Rangers came behind to collect the rubbish from the roadside and deposit it back at the hall for later collection and disposal by the Shire of Waroona.

All of this was rewarded with a sausage sizzle, a few stubbies and a glass or two of wine back at home base.  Well deserved I'm sure you will agree.

A bedraggled, damp and cold group stuck it out in the shelter of the hall to devour the offerings.  A few headed home for a hot shower and a set of dry duds before the footy game started, which was played on the big screen.  Great to see everyone enjoy themselves after their hard work.

Important Notice

 

IMPORTANT NOTICE TO ALL OWNERS AND RESIDENTS OF PRESTON BEACH  

The Preston Beach (Townsite Strategy) Community Workshop has been set down for Saturday 19th May 2012 from 10.00am until 1.30pm. This is to be held at Lake Clifton Herron Community Centre, 114 Tuart Grove Avenue, Lake Clifton.  

This meeting is dealing with the development of Preston Beach and our future. It is imperative and essential that you register to attend by Friday 11th May 2012 by emailing PrestonBeach@bodhialliance.com.au or calling the project information line on 1800 012 498.  

There will be a car pool at the our Community Centre on Saturday 19th May at 9.00am to commute to the Lake Clifton Community Centre meeting.

Following this meeting the Executive Committee of the Progress Association will meet with representatives of the Steering Committee on Friday 25th May at 3.00pm to report the project developments. The community is more than welcome to attend this meeting and give their thoughts to the Steering Committee.

John Watson

President

Preston Beach Progress Association

You can read more about the Shire of Waroona Townsite Stategy for Preston Beach on their website http://www.waroona.wa.gov.au/prestonbeach

A Word From Watto - April 2012

A Word from Watto – April 2012

 St Patrick’s Day at Preston

The Preston Beach Progress Association held a St Patrick’s Day community function at the Preston Beach Community Centre on Saturday March 17^th, 2012, from 1200 midday to 10.30 pm. Some 58 local community members attended and enjoyed St Pat’s Irish stew and live entertainment throughout the day and into the evening.

Behind every successful event is a band of willing workers

This fun event was planned to entice local community members from the confines of their homes to our community centre to meet and greet the Irish way. The live entertainment was provided by “The Hay Seeds” with some Elvis renditions by David Forsey Management of Footprints.

The Irish stew was brewed over night in two large beer kegs, and then preheated on St Pat’s Day to be served hot with dumplings and bread. Local ladies prepared and served desserts which were enjoyed by all. I appreciate everyone’s outstanding work and support ethics to make this event happen. Special mention to Dave Evans for his assistance in food prep and servery.

AFL Game Day

Some good football games are coming up during this year’s AFL run and we intend using the big screen at the community centre throughout the football season. A gold coin donation and BYO drinks will be the go; we will place the blackboard notice outside the hall when the big game day is on. Everyone is welcome.

Break-in Golf Club

Over the evening of Wednesday the 4^th of April 2012 the Preston Beach golf club was broken into. Offender(s) smashed in the padlocks and forced the heavy built main door to the club open. They took a large coffee machine which would require at least two strong people to lift, a large quantity of alcohol, a microwave and some money. This really took the damper out of everyone as the golf club were preparing for the Easter cup. This incident was reported to local police who responded and arranged for Forensic Officers to attend later. Well the good news is that the Easter Cup day went ahead and was well attended. On Monday April 9^th, 2012, Harvey Police contacted the Preston Beach Golf club to advised that they had arrested all those responsible for the break-in and theft on the golf club. This was a good result of Waroona, Yarloop and Harvey Police all working in unison together. More importantly these types of incidents must be reported to police in a timely manner and a very crucial point is marking your property with an engraver somewhere at the back or underneath the property item. This was the case that led to these offender(s) being arrested and charged - some of the property had been marked and was identifiable by members of the golf club. This at times can make it easy pickings for local police who have executed an exemplary operation in tracking down those responsible in Harvey for the hit at Preston Beach Golf club.

ANZAC Day Service

Preston Beach ANZAC day service will be held on Wednesday April 25^th, 2012, 1000 hours at the Community Centre Memorial Wall, after which morning tea, coffee and biscuits will be provided, followed by a sausage sizzle at $2.00 each. If you want something a little stronger that’s OK, just BYO your drinks.

Books Sale

The girls have done a great job with the book sale at the community centre over the last long weekend and Easter period. A lot of locals and guests from Footprints Resort wanted reading material to pass away some leisure time. Total funds raised to date ar $670

Raffle

Winners of the recent Progress raffle, which was drawn by Pat Thompson, are Gail Parkinson and Esmae Southorn. Thanks to all those who supported this raffle.

Regards

John Watson

President Preston Beach

Progress Association

April 11^th 2012

A Word from Watto

From time to time, John Watson, President of the Preston Beach Progress Assoc., will put together a few words for the membership and it will be published here on the blog.  This is the first of what should be regular updates from Watto;

A Word From Watto - 2012

 General Background

As you are all probably aware after the recent Annual General meeting The Preston Beach Progress Association executive now consist of Fred Evely, Vice President, Marion Herkes, Secretary, Danny (Mac scrooge) Norton, Treasurer and myself as President. Judy Carroll is to be congratulated on her hard work for the Progress Association over the many years and deserves a well earned break from the presidency. However in saying this Judy is still prepared to support and assist the Progress as we continue to travel into the future.

 Welcome to Our New Members

Under Larraine’s initiative and Marion’s support Preston Beach Progress has commenced a new membership drive which is having outstanding results. If you know of others who have a vested interest in Preston Beach, either residential or transient to Preston on weekends, public holidays or when they please, can contact us for membership forms. The more membership the better, as we are all in this together.

Community Ownership Vision

In my other life before retirement there was a mindset syndrome called “The Broken Window Syndrome”. Also documented in enforcement research. In summary, it relates to damage, anti social behaviour, and crime. The syndrome starts from a small incident of a window in a street building being broken and left unrepaired. It then becomes a signal that there’s no ownership and no one really cares, so the breaking of more windows in that street occurs. This cascading affect is the same as a motor vehicle being left unattended on the side of the road for several days. Someone comes along and smashes in the front windscreen, if still left unattended the mind set signal comes to fruition – no one cares so the vehicle becomes totally trashed and sometimes burnt along with other vehicles in the vicinity. The area or neighbourhood then declines - people begin to ignore rowdy, unruly and threatening behaviour. They no longer become the eyes and ears by ceasing to exercise social regulation over little things happening in the area. When law-abiding eyes stop watching the streets, social order breaks down and a more vicious cycle begins. Pride, community ownership, law-abiding eyes and ears to enhance social regulation can eradicate this broken window syndrome.

To enable us to display a form of pride and community ownership, in liaison with the Shire of Waroona, there will be a placement of a Welcome to Preston Beach entry sign on the right hand side of the causeway as you enter Mitchell Road. More work is planned to develop this area into a viable entry statement with a new upgraded Information Town site map, a picnic rest area and seating. Our current Preston Beach Town site information map at this location is outdated with its support structure becoming unserviceable and unsafe. This will be addressed at our next Progress general meeting Saturday March 31^st, 2012.

Preston Beach Community Open Day

The Preston Beach Community open day for the Town Site Strategy project, took place between 10 am to 2 pm Saturday March 10^th 2012 and was well attended by community members. Approx 120 people attended our community centre to find out what was happening, asked questions and provided feedback. Appreciation is given to all who assisted and contributed in making this a successful occasion. Marie and her team, Larraine, Marion, Bev Judy, Jan, Fred, Lew, Geoff and Doug, your support and commitment was outstanding, so were the few wines and frothies’ later.

Thank You

On a personal note, I would like to thank you all for your kind thoughts and condolences on the passing of my son John Patrick Watson (Jnr). Your support was greatly appreciated by Larraine and myself.

Regards

John Watson

President Preston Beach

Progress Association

March 16^th 2012 

St Patrick's Day Photo Album

There were a heap of excellent photo's taken on St Patrick's Day which couldn't all go into John's report so here are a few more for you to enjoy.

We would like to thank the Shire of Waroona for supporting the event through Summer Events funding.  This funding meant that we could offer a meal to the local community for a tiny $5 a plate - where else will you get a good feed for so little?!!

I wish we had 'smellavision' because the aroma's coming off the cooking pot were just amazing and the flavour of the stew was something to write home about.  Best stew ever!  Well done boys.

Fred - not just a clever sparky but a pretty good gardener too!

Shire President Noel Dew pitching in with spud duties - is there no boundary Noel?

Of course, these events don't just materialise overnight.  John and his band of workers put a lot of effort into the planning and execution of the day.  A team of willing hands turned up on the Friday night prior to St Paddy's to peel a ton of vegetables (might have exagerated a little), dice meat, set up marquees and do a general tidy up.  Fred did his lighting tricks as usual - what would we do without his special talent?

John has thanked Dave for his help with the main course and I would like to add thanks to the ladies who supplied a delicious range of desserts; Carmel for a trifle and pavlova (how fast did that go??) and Larraine for the green jelly trifle.

The terrible triplets from Tipperary

We all know how good the "not so rusty" Hay Seeds are but what a surprise when Dave Forsey came out and did his Elvis numbers for us.  We are very lucky to have such a wealth of talent on our doorsteps and no doubt we'll be seeing more of Dave and the boys at the next function.

 

We had a big crowd and they spread out over the grounds of the community hall including the use of the rotunda area which is fast gaining in popularity at events because of the cool breezes and lovely shade from the peppermint trees. Personally, I can't wait to see the hall extentions underway and the proposed deck out from the paved area installed. The view over the golf course is there to enjoy.

Ahah, a leprechaun!

What's in the water bottle?  Where's the Guiness?  These Irish scally wags are trying to fool us.

Stacee's fingers fly over the keyboard

Can't talk - too busy eating :D

Rambling About

I've been getting out and about a little more lately in an effort to raise my fitness level and general well being.  I've been rising at 6am and taking long walks around town, along the walking trail and down to the beach and can I say well done to all the other Prestonians who I see out early in the morning! 

Fig tree near the Lake Preston walking trail

It's not unusual to see lots of kangaroos and their joey's. It's not even unusual to spot an emu or two sauntering along the road, but recently I was delighted to see a gorgeous red breasted robin in all it's finery on Fairway Terrace.  I know the residents in this part of town see them quite frequently, but for us hill dwellers, they are a bird we never see.



Emus are easier to photograph than robins or eagles

Even more exciting than the robin was my encounter with a large wedge tailed eagle, right up close and personal!  He was perched in one of the dead trees opposite the Heritage Poles near the entrance to town.  When he saw me he soared overhead for a minute or two, head cocked to one side and we were looking eye to eye.  Very special!  What a magnificent bird and how lucky are we to have them living on our doorstep. Mind you I fear for the little robin...

I've also had it on good authority that there is a pair of emus that have a nest right here in town.  It will be wonderful to see them trotting about with their chicks in a few months.

Autumn is my favourite time of year and there's nothing more invigorating than a brisk walk in the crisp morning air.  I ventured down to the beach for a long walk with Lew recently and on the way back to the main swimming area we spotted a pod of dolphins playing a hundred meters off shore.  It certainly pays to get up early.  There's always something interesting happening.

Several months ago I was told by the Shire of Waroona maintenance man that the table in the gazebo at the beach car park was in a dangerous condition and would be removed.  What Mark didn't tell me was that they were going to rebuild it and reinstall.  I was very pleased to see the table reappear recently with a sturdy new frame which will give many more years of service.  It was a nice surprise.

Everything old is new again!

Finally, because I am rambling, the Progress Association made a last minute decision to hold a book sale at the hall over the long weekend to clear out some of the library books to make way for a storage area to house the tables, chairs etc.  It was a great opportunity to catch a few visitors to town and bolster the coffers a little.  The sale brought in just on $200 in a couple of hours.  Well worth the effort.

There are plenty of books left so if you missed out don't worry.  We'll be having another book sale over the Easter break