TOWARDS the end of the school holidays, St Patricks School student Darcy Macpherson was enjoying an ocean swim on the Gold Coast up until the time he was stung by a bluebottle. When he showed the Walcha Telecottage CEO and his mother Anthea where the bluebottle had got him, she reckoned Darcy had been playing with a blue pen and there was not much to be concerned about.
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NOT long later, there was a bluebottle warning alert sounded on the beach and a number of swimmers were treated by lifeguards for the stings they had received. There is little doubt Darcy received a bit more sympathy from his mother from then on.
PART-time Walcha Council truck driver, Derby Street resident and archery champion Paul Brown isn’t fond of snakes to say the least, not even the rubber variety. Not long back, “Browny” spotted a large one up around his place rumoured to be an anaconda, which he captured and relocated to the Bergen Op Zoom bridge.
WALCHA’S own budding Harry Butler couldn’t believe his luck, or rather lack of it, when one of the first job sites he was sent to after the reptile relocation was the Bergen Op Zoom bridge. No doubt Paul would have been doing some peering about while he was there.
DIDN’T your columnist cop some last week from a couple of Walcha Council office employees after the story about a porcupine visiting the Services Club appeared in last week’s What’s the Goss? I was informed in no uncertain terms there are no porcupines in Australia, they are echidnas or spiney ant-eaters. Surely there would be a porcupine in a zoo somewhere in Australia that may have escaped.
Around 40 club members were put through their paces for about two-and-a-half hours, with a few participants a bit weary by the end of the training.
EARLIER in the week, I was wearing a pair of reading glasses in the pool kiosk when Briar Eckford told me they looked like a pair she had lost a few weeks ago. Funny that when Briar explained where she had lost the glasses, that was exactly where I had picked them up.
THE Bowling Club are holding an Open Triples Tournament today where all the action commences at 9.30am and, by all accounts, there are plenty of teams from around the region nominated to play. Not a bad way to kickstart what could be a solid few days for some people. Just a gentle reminder, “moderation is the key”.
ONE of the teams playing the triples consists of the Goodwin trio Steve and his two sons Nathan and Kyle, all handy bowlers in their own right. Best of luck to all competitors.
THIS Saturday is the Cathie Brennan Memorial Race Day in honour of a lady who loved horses and the Walcha Racetrack. Hope the Brennan family members and friends have a great day out, made even better if you back a winner or six. Go the “Seersuckers”.
STILL on the ponies, the New England Hotel 7s competition has jackpotted to more than $500 and will probably get plenty of attention from punters in town this weekend. All you have to do is back the winner of race seven in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne to collect the cash. Entry is just $2 but there is a limit of one entry per person.
“NEWIE” pub regular David Garth Clare was giving barmaid Alice Gibson plenty of cheek last Sunday, so she picked up a $2 coin out of his change and threw it on the floor. Alice then instructed DGC to “stretch and bend” before he decided to give her a bit more lip. Another $2 coin on the floor was followed by the same instructions. It took him a while but Garth did work it out in the end.
GOLFER Brian “Magpie” Lynch reckons he was a bit out of his league hitting distance-wise last Sunday when he played 18 holes with club champion Andrew “Buddha” Bowden, local sheriff Anthony Smith and Kyle Goodwin. Little wonder why, “Magpie”, most of us would feel the same way.
BOSS of the Harwood Swim School, James Harwood, brought a crew of six girls to town last Sunday when the annual Flippers end of school holiday squad session was held at the pool. Around 40 club members were put through their paces for about two-and-a-half hours, with a few participants a bit weary by the end of the training.
ONE of the instructors was former Walcha resident Izzy Winter, who was accompanied by Emma Collins, Sophie Barraclough, Sharlett Russell, Katelyn McGregor and Tanicia Brooks, who did a great job in tutoring the Flippers members who took part in the session.
JUST before school went back, we had a few training sessions at the pool which Lara McDonnell and her brother Liam attended. Must have done the “dynamic duo” some sort of good Lara smashed her 50m freestyle PB by over 13 seconds while Liam sliced 15 seconds off his 25m freestyle time.
FORMER “Pool Princess” Chloe Mackaway would have been forgiven for thinking she was a bit hardly done by when she had two of her Flippers records broken in one race in two different age divisions in the space of less than a second – by her younger sister Abbey and Chyna Smith last week. Typically, it didn’t seem to concern “Nigel” one little bit, and if it did, she certainly wasn’t showing it.
