Christmas really is a time when we all need to be especially vigilant around our neighbourhoods. At this time of year many families head off for holidays in other parts of Australia and their vacant homes provide rich pickings for thieves.
So be a good neighbour and be vigilant. If you hear or see anything suspicious at any time of the day or night call the police. Our crew here in Hervey Bay are always ready to investigate anything out of the ordinary.
So many sausages and so little time.
Yes the Rotarians are back in Scarness Park for their annual BBQ from 6am on Boxing Day morning. They’ll be hard at it 24 hours a day right through till 5am on January 2.
We can’t think of a nicer place for breakfast can you?
We hope everyone in Hervey Bay enjoyed a romantic evening sitting in the dark and we now admit that it was all our fault. Just an hour before the first blackout occurred we had finished writing the piece that you will see below about power outages and summer storms.
We especially want to apologise to Richard and the crew down at Viva Italia who were gearing up for a big night.
Like everyone else, we cheered when the power came back on after 8 and we just had our computers reset after the last sudden departure of power when the lights went out again.
We can now personally attest to the fact that Ergon’s information line can help to keep you in the picture but they really do need to find someone who knows how to pronounce the locality names 
Bones found on Tuesday at the site of a Colyton Street development are headed for the John Tonge Forensic Centre in Brisbane for testing to see if they are human.
The site were the bones were found is claimed by the Aboriginal community as an ancestral grave site but developers say that despite an investigation of the area there is no proof that the land does contain any aboriginal graves.
The area where the bones were foujnd has been cordoned off but work will continue on the parts of the site.
There is no doubt that the racial violence in Sydney during this last week has shocked all of us. This is Australia, the land of the fair go where everyone is equal and tolerance is as common as a cold beer … or so we would like to think.
The weekend has shown that the reality of Australia is far different to what many of us had thought. But up here in Hervey Bay it all seemed to be happening a world away but now it seems to be spreading north. There are reports of people trying to stir up trouble in Brisbane and that’s only just down the road for us.
Racial hatred and even racial intolerance is the breeding ground of evil and evil flourishes when good men do nothing. It’s time for good men and women to stand up and be counted. It’s time for us to say no to hatred and it’s time for us to say it publicly.
We all need to plainly state that evil and racial hatred will not flourish while we can stand up and be counted!
The Hervey Bay City Council is running the annual photographic competition again. Photographers are encouraged to submit up to 5 entries that represent the theme of Faces and Places of Hervey Bay. There are cash prizes for the winners and there is also a category for junior photographers.
Any film format is acceptable but entries must be submitted as an A4 enlargement printed on photographic paper. Entries close at 4.45pm on Monday January 30.
Call Michelle or Julie on 4197 4352 for an entry form
Every day the cabbies in Hervey Bay are involved in transporting pupils to and from the Kawungan Special School. Of course they get paid for their time but these guys are always prepared to go beyond what’s required of them to help these special kids.
Christmas is one of the times when these guys really go out of their way for these kids. Each year the cabbies put on a Christmas BBQ for the pupils and teachers at the school and this year’s BBQ was a great success.
Well done guys!
Carols by Candlelight in the Burrum District will be held at Howard on Saturday December 10.
In Hervey Bay this year’s Carols by Candlelight will be held at the Seafront Oval at Pialba on Saturday December 17 and will commence at 7pm.
Over 5,000 people are estimated to have attended the festivities last year and even more are expected this year.
You may have wondered whether people riding bikes on footpaths is legal or not. Well according to Acting Sergeant Monteith from the Fraser Coast traffic branch the riding of bicycles on public footpaths is quite legal unless there is a Council by-law in place prohibiting it.
Yesterday’s Sunday Mail carried a terrible story of a young Hervey Bay man who served in the Army until injuries sustained during training reduced him to the point where he can no longer care for himself.
You would expect that the Army, the Government, would take care of him and others like him (and there are more than just a few like him). But no – discharge and forget seems to be the standard form of treatment.
Nice one Mr Howard – use our young men and women so that you can strut the world stage and look like a big man but forget them when they are no further use to you.
Rudyard Kipling certainly seems to have had your measure Mr Howard
TOMMY
by Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936)
I went into a public-’ouse to get a pint o’ beer,
The publican ‘e up an’ sez, “We serve no red-coats here.”
The girls be’ind the bar they laughed an’ giggled fit to die,
I outs into the street again an’ to myself sez I:
O it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ “Tommy, go away”;
But it’s “Thank you, Mister Atkins”, when the band begins to play,
The band begins to play, my boys, the band begins to play,
O it’s “Thank you, Mister Atkins”, when the band begins to play.
I went into a theatre as sober as could be,
They gave a drunk civilian room, but ‘adn’t none for me;
They sent me to the gallery or round the music-’alls,
But when it comes to fightin’, Lord! they’ll shove me in the stalls!
For it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ “Tommy, wait outside”;
But it’s “Special train for Atkins” when the trooper’s on the tide,
The troopship’s on the tide, my boys, the troopship’s on the tide,
O it’s “Special train for Atkins” when the trooper’s on the tide.
Yes, makin’ mock o’ uniforms that guard you while you sleep
Is cheaper than them uniforms, an’ they’re starvation cheap;
An’ hustlin’ drunken soldiers when they’re goin’ large a bit
Is five times better business than paradin’ in full kit.
Then it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ “Tommy, ‘ow’s yer soul?”
But it’s “Thin red line of ‘eroes” when the drums begin to roll,
The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,
O it’s “Thin red line of ‘eroes” when the drums begin to roll.
We aren’t no thin red ‘eroes, nor we aren’t no blackguards too,
But single men in barricks, most remarkable like you;
An’ if sometimes our conduck isn’t all your fancy paints,
Why, single men in barricks don’t grow into plaster saints;
While it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ “Tommy, fall be’ind”,
But it’s “Please to walk in front, sir”, when there’s trouble in the wind,
There’s trouble in the wind, my boys, there’s trouble in the wind,
O it’s “Please to walk in front, sir”, when there’s trouble in the wind.
You talk o’ better food for us, an’ schools, an’ fires, an’ all:
We’ll wait for extry rations if you treat us rational.
Don’t mess about the cook-room slops, but prove it to our face
The Widow’s Uniform is not the soldier-man’s disgrace.
For it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ “Chuck him out, the brute!”
But it’s “Saviour of ‘is country” when the guns begin to shoot;
An’ it’s Tommy this, an’ Tommy that, an’ anything you please;
An’ Tommy ain’t a bloomin’ fool — you bet that Tommy sees!