CHAPPY CHAT – May 2023
Arron of Sandshapers with his amazing turtle sand sculpture
What glorious weather we had over the Easter break and I hope that everyone was able to get out and enjoy the sunshine. Rainbow Beach certainly turned it on for the annual Sandcastle Competition on Wednesday 5 April and 19 teams made up of locals and tourists spent the morning working together to build some outstanding creations.
During the morning, the call of the surf was too much for some younger team members and they cooled off in the waves, then went back to put on the finishing touches for judging by Arron of Sandshapers of Noosa. Arron inspired everyone with his amazing turtle which attracted the attention of many passersby.
The winning teams were:
- Most lifelike animal or fish: Team Sandins with a gorgeous elephant complete with flower headpiece
- Most outstanding sandcastle: Team Somehow
- Open: Team Sandy Cheeks with a mumma and baby hippo wallowing in the sand
- People’s Choice: The Beatles with an Octopus’s Garden
These teams each received a wonderful hamper of goodies and vouchers from local businesses and Sam and Maureen from the Rainbow Beach Tourist Centre kindly donated 70 balls for every child on the beach.
Our thanks go to: Vinnies, RB Meats, RB IGA, RB Post Office, RB Pizzeria, the Flying Fish Cafe, Soul Food, RB Hardware, RB Learn to Surf, Cooloola Coast Realty, Rainbow Beach Realty, Century 21, and the Rainbow Beach Community News for supporting us to make this event happen
Rainbow Beach Learning Community
We have a wonderful range of activities lined up for Term 2 with visits from members of the RSL Sub-branch for ANZAC Day, Gabriella and her team from the Tin Can Bay CWA, Curtis and Gareth from the Gympie Library who bring robotics and drones, Rowena and a team from Bunnings, and a representative of ANARRA Wildlife Rescue & Rehabilitation sharing about how to care for sick and injured animals.
During May and June the young people will be heading out into the community for a tour of our local IGA store, a come and try day at the TCB Bowls Club, and a visit to a Goomboorian dairy farm.
We are very excited about our camp that will be happening from the 16-18 May at the Aldershot Scout Campgrounds just north of Maryborough where around 40 children and 20 parents will be canoeing, learning bushcraft, team building and visiting the Flying High Bird Park at Childers with a detour on the way home to Mammino Homemade Icecreams.
This will be a great opportunity for homeschooling families who have joined the Learning Community this year to get to know each other. If you are at the Sports Club on Saturday nights during May, please buy a raffle ticket as we are raising funds to help with the cost of our camp.
We were very thrilled with the photo of Mo, Ellie, and Topsy our recycling turtle that was on the front page last month. If you have cans or bottles to donate that will provide vital funds for TurtleCare, please send a message via our Rainbow Beach Learning Community Facebook page and we will organise to pick them up. Thank you to Mo who heads up the team and the dedicated Learning Community families who empty the recycling bins each week.
Community Pantry
Thank you to everyone who bought raffle tickets from our amazing team of ladies at the Sports Club during April – this will help us continue to distribute low-cost hampers to help people in our community who are finding it harder to provide healthy meals for their families due to the rising cost of food, rent and power. Foodbank reports that on any given day in Australia, half a million households are struggling to put food on the table.
Our hampers are available to anyone who needs one for $10 and are worth between $50 and $60 – a pension or healthcare card is not required. We are currently ordering items to make up 30 hampers each fortnight, but if the need is there for more, can increase this considerably.
To order a hamper for yourself or someone who needs a helping hand, you can contact us by text to 0413 135 867 or hop onto the Rainbow Beach Community Pantry Facebook page and send us a message.
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