Wednesday 26 June 2013

Interview of OAM recipient, Charters Towers 2013, Shirley Symes by Maria Caesar

According to the Australian Government’s “It’s an Honour” website, the main purpose of the Order of Australia is to recognise, by national honour, those who have made outstanding contributions that benefit their communities, and ultimately our country.
Maria Caesar of the Bush Curlews interviews the Charters Towers 2013 OAM award recipient, Shirley Symes.

Various groups Shirley is involved within the community
During the 1970s there was the restoration of the Stock Exchange Arcade. More recently was the Zara Clark museum, which had been closed down a few years ago. In both instances, Shirley gathered groups of interested people to save the National Trust buildings.
The Don Roderick Gallery had also been closed down until Shirley gathered a group of volunteers to re-open it. The gallery is now a great incentive for local artists to display their work and every year they have a competition, bringing in artists from out of town.
Shirley has always been fond of writing so she is a member of the Bush Curlews. She has had a lot of interest in the schools and was on the Advisory Board of All Souls St Gabriels School for seven years. Shirley’s husband used to own horses so she became involved with the Charters Towers Amateur Race Club, another club that needed reviving as it was very close to closing down.
In her younger years, Shirley played basketball in a team called the “Red Wings”, travelling out of town for several competitions. She was also a member of the Charters Towers Dramatic Society performing in plays in the Theatre Royal before the building was torn down after the war.
It was the loss of this “beautiful timber building with great acoustics” and several other valuable buildings within the town that ignited Shirley’s passion for reviving and restoring historical premises. Nowadays, the heritage structures that grace the town’s central business district are a major drawing card to tourists and movie-makers visiting the region. Shirley says she likes to “encourage people to preserve what we have and to bring about an awareness” of the importance of keeping history alive.

Coming to Charters Towers
Shirley was born in the Burdekin. After the death of Shirley’s father, her mother moved to Charters Towers. Shirley’s great aunt, Mary Palmer, also known as “Maude”, was the proprietor of the Occidental Hotel (located where the Commonwealth Bank is now), then later the Excelsior Hotel and then The Australian (now the Rix Hotel). Aunt Maude was a very elegant, artistic woman and Shirley had always looked up to and admired her.
Shirley was only seven years of age when they came to Charters Towers and has been here ever since.  She worked in a goods and produce agency called Bartlams Ltd (located where the Zara Clark Museum is now), until 1952 when she got married. Her stepfather had been the managing director of Bartlams Ltd until he retired.

Shirley's main achievements
There has been great satisfaction in rescuing and restoring the old buildings but generating awareness amongst other people of what we have is the hardest thing to do. When the group was working towards the restoration of The Stock Exchange Arcade many people were against it. The group constantly asked: “Why restore a building that broke so many people’s hearts?” There was a lot of vitriolic letters going back and forth in the paper. But now it is done most people appreciate the restoration.

You won another Australia Day award in a previous year. What award was that?
It was the Senior Citizen Cultural Award in 2011. As with the Order of Australia Medal, Shirley would have been nominated for the award by the community.

School life 
Shirley attended All Souls Saint Gabriel’s School, but during the 1940s when the war was on the Americans came to Charters Towers and many of the schools were confiscated. All Souls Saint Gabriel’s became a hospital. Some boarders were sent to Richmond, but Shirley’s parents didn’t want her to go out of town so she went to Blackheath & Thornburgh instead.
Charters Towers was a garrison city and there were two airstrips here during the war. The only schools in the city not vacated were Saint Mary’s and Blackheath & Thornburgh.  The military had taken over Mount Carmel – their students moved into the Park Motel. The military used many of Blackheath & Thornburgh’s playing fields as a defence base, keeping artillery there.
It was scary times, but when you are young you can’t quite comprehend the degree of danger. They had an air-raid shelter in the backyard and they each had a little suitcase with clothes and food. Her stepfather was an air-raid warden and used to walk around with a little cap, looking like a character from Dad’s Army.

Hobbies and Interests
Shirley enjoys painting and she tries to do so once a week. She also enjoys writing. Shirley loves music. She used to play the piano and also used to sing in the Eisteddfods every Easter. Shirley was a member of the Charters Towers Philharmonic Choir – there were about thirty people in the Choir. Gardening, beauty and colours all appeal to Shirley’s artistic nature.
Shirley has travelled abroad, visiting San Diego, New Zealand, the UK and Canada but her favourite holiday destination is Paris. She has been there twice, once in the spring and once in the winter and she fondly recalls the cars buried by snow as their windscreen wipers waved back and forth futilely.
Education has always been a main interest to Shirley and she believes that Charters Towers “is a wonderful educational centre. It’s a shame there was never a university located here.”
Shirley cherishes her role as great grandmother. Her first great grandchild was born just before Christmas 2012 and in 2013 she will be a great grandmother again, this time to twins, which is “very exciting”.


Overall, Shirley admits that she loves her life. She has met many wonderful people and has achieved a lot within the community, having saved numerous local heritage properties. It is with thanks to the efforts and dedication of people like Shirley that Charters Towers is now known as a town rich in history, and will continue to be so for many generations to come.

Tuesday 11 June 2013

Writers of North Queensland flock to Charters Towers

The Bush Curlews added an extra little twist to their Awards Presentation Ceremony for their annual literary competition.
    This change was inspired after a few of our members attended a couple of informative writing workshops earlier this year. During those workshops we met many wonderful people, learnt heaps & had lots of fun. So the Bush Curlews decided to return the favour and invite our new literary friends to Charters Towers.
     On Sunday, 26 May 2013, authors from Townsville, Home Hill and Ayr journeyed to Charters Towers for a sumptuous lunch buffet, to attend an enlightening awards ceremony and to challenge their imaginations in our writing activity session.
      In total, there were approximately 22 participants during the writing challenges with many additional guests showing their support during the presentation of the awards.

       It was another successful event. The Bush Curlews look forward to more interaction with our fellow North Queensland writers over the coming months and years.

Bush Curlews entertain diners at the CT Civic Club

We are authors not performers, more comfortable seated at a desk with a computer or a notepad or pen. So when the Bush Curlews were invited to entertain diners during the Charters Towers Civic Club’s annual country style feast our response required much deliberation.
     Our Club bravely accepted the challenge. Several members had never before used a microphone, so multiple practice sessions were in order. With the assistance of Dr Kett Kennedy, long term supporter of the Bush Curlews, we learnt how to perform our work not just read it out loud. Adding expression and enthusiasm to our words helped bring our stories and poems to life.             
      On Wednesday, 1 May 2013, several members of our group presented their poems and short stories to a large gathering of patrons during the Ten Days in the Towers festivities. The dining hall had been booked to full capacity. The crowd was wonderfully attentive, laughing and applauding and eagerly listening to every word.

      The event was a huge success and helped to bring our talented authors out of their shells and into the community.

The Judges' Scores

Extract from Maria Caesar’s speech during the 2013 Bush Curlews Literary Awards Presentation, 26 May 2013

Overall, the scores were very close. Only 6 points separate the first Commended award from the first place in the open poetry section. And only 7 ½ points separated the first commended prize from the first place position in the open short story category.

Most of the time, scores between the judges were similar, however others….
Well, we discovered that the gender of the audience plays a big role in the response to a story or a poem, so it good that we have male and female judges for both the poetry and the short story categories.
One of my own stories was a classic example of this. Marnie and Jenny both gave it very high scores, however Kett’s score was more than 10 points less (and no, Kett "will not live that down"). Clearly, that particular story has greater appeal to a female audience. That is just one of many reasons why receiving feedback on our writing is so important. 

Once again we would like to thank our judges for the many hours of hard work required to judge and comment on each entry received in our competition.

Out of curiosity, after compiling the judges scores to determine the winners we thought it would be interesting to see which entrants received the highest score from each individual judge.
Each judge had given a highest number of points to a different entrant.

In the poetry section, both Allan & Sarah's highest scores were tied to two separate entrants.
Allan Georgee's highest score went to Shirley Syme's poem Old Bob and to Cherelle Murphy's poem Bluey.
Sarah Callcott's highest score went to Terry Slack's poem Fields of Green and to Christine Stewart's poem Two-faced.

In the short story section the judge's
Had again given their highest scores to three different entrants.
Kett Kennedy's highest score went to Jeanyne Whitmont Sekel of Nowra, NSW for her story A junior vikingess. Kett comments that Jeanyne's story "a riveting piece, well presented, well constructed and poignant".
Marnie Niemi's highest score went to Maria Caesar of Charters Towers The Final Page.  Marnie said she "enjoyed this light hearted, amusing and very unusual story with a surprise ending"
And Jenny Schaefer's highest score went to Sandy Bogilevu of Charters Towers for her story Suspended Memories. Jenny commented “the writing with its vivid and varied descriptions is an excellent reflection on another’s experience and is able to evoke in the reader an understanding of a new way of life”. 

I just have one final message for all of our authors, published or un-published, prose or poetry:

“Inspiration can be found everywhere and Writing is a process of discovery”

2013 Literary Awards Competition Results

Open Poetry
1st Place = Fields of Green by Terry Slack (Charters Towers)
2nd Place = Thinking by Cherelle Murphy (Ayr)
3rd Place = A Dog’s Dinner by Brooke McReynolds (Mackay)
Commendations:
1 = The Brumby Bay by Shirley Symes (Charters Towers)
2 = ‘Tis Meant to Be by Terry Slack (Charters Towers)
3 = Two-Faced by Christine Stewart (Ayr)
4 = The Outhouse by Cherelle Murphy (Ayr)
5 = Old Bob by Shirley Symes (Charters Towers)

Junior Poetry
1st Place = Waves of Indecision by Michael Lowe (Charters Towers)
2nd Place = The Perfect Place for Me by Jacklenn Dart (Charters Towers)
3rd Place = A Lonely Widow by Charly Burge (Charters Towers)
Commendation = Moving to the City by Logan Guldbransen (Charters Towers)

Open Short Story
1st Place = Kathy Doesn’t Live Here Anymore by Lori Hurst (Townsville)
2nd Place = The Doors by Christine Stewart (Ayr)
3rd Place = The Final Page by Maria Caesar (Charters Towers)
Commendations:
1 = Voices in the Night by Kerry Lown Whalen (Varsity Lakes)
2 = Hannah’s Dilemma by Carole Phillips (Charters Towers)
3 = Days of Diamonds and Stones by Carole Phillips (Charters Towers)
4 = Emily by Maria Caesar (Charters Towers)

Junior Short Story
1st Place = Man’s Best Friend by Kirsty Healing (Charters Towers)

Additional Prizes (courtesy of Dr Kett Kennedy, administrator of the Siriol Kate Giffney Estate):
A $50 cheque to the Highest score for local Junior Short Story entry = Kirsty Healing
A book to the Highest score for local Open Short Story entry =

Maria Caesar

Writers of North Queensland work together

Earlier this year (2013) the Bush Curlews were invited by WITS (Writers in Townsville) to participate in a new and exciting joint project. WITS are putting together an anthology.
     The finished product will include stories and poems from members of writers groups based in Townsville, Charters Towers, Home Hill and Ayr. The anthology is due for an official launch in October as part of the annual Queensland Writers Week celebrations.
     Each group provided submissions based on the theme of promoting their home towns. To keep with page limitations, majority of the accepted stories will have approximately 500 words, whilst poetry will be restricted to 30 lines. Depending on space, quality and topic repetitiveness, there may be a few exceptions to the rule.

    Members of the Bush Curlews worked furiously to meet the project’s deadline. Several of our members have been notified of their successful submissions.  The group is looking forward to flicking through the pages of the final product. 

Monday 10 June 2013

Bath Time by Maria Caesar

This story was inspired by Terry Slack's poem "Black Pussy"

Bath Time

     I sat on the floor shaking and soaking wet. My thick dark hair was matted to my skin. Worse still, I felt slimy. I needed a bath. My head tilted as I scanned my body: waist, hips and legs intact and accounted for, every inch of me was coated n a jelly-like clear substance.
     There was a heavy panting noise nearby. I glanced over in anger rather than fear, poised for a fight. Instead of a snarl I was encountered by an oversized goofy grin.
“Don’t give me those puppy-dog eyes”, I called out angrily.

     Meanwhile, in the corner of the room Mr and Mrs Watson sat with mouths agape. Mrs Watson held a shaky hand to her chest whilst Mr Watson simply shook his head.
“I thought you were a ‘gonner’ for sure,” Mr Watson remarked as he eyed me up and down. “Looks like you’re down to eight of your nine lives, Lucy.”
Mr Watson picked me up and plonked me onto his wife’s floral dress lap.
“Ewwh,” Mrs Watson squealed. “She’s covered in saliva.”

     That’s what you get when you go for a ride in a dog’s mouth. I should be dead but I am actually alive. Only my tail had remained un-gooey as it had dangled freely between the big oaf’s lips. I shivered. God, this is going take a while to get over!

“Poor cat’s freezing, Love. Better give her a bath,” Mr Watson suggested.
“Finally,” I replied. “I’m not going to lick my fur clean with that mutt’s spit all over me!”
 Rover watched Mrs Watson cart me off to the laundry tub. His tail wagged furiously as he followed us.

“Bad dog!” Mrs Watson admonished him. Bad dog, indeed, I scowled.