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Seniors March, 2018
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In this edition
Cover Story: Sue Pieters-Hawke ...........................Page 3 Feature Story: Jacqui Lambie ................................Page 8 Travel ...............................................................Pages 13-16 What’s on ................................................................Page 17
Contact us General Manager Geoff Crockett – 07 5430 1006 geoff.crockett@news.com.au Editor Gail Forrer – 07 5435 3203 gail.forrer@seniorsnewspaper.com.au Media Sales Executive Brett Mauger – 07 3623 1657 brett.mauger@seniorsnewspaper.com.au Now online Get your news online at www.seniorsnews.com.au Advertising, editorial and distribution enquiries Phone: 1300 880 265 or (07) 5435 3200 Email: advertising@seniorsnewspaper.com.au or editor@seniorsnewspaper.com.au Location: 2 Newspaper Place, Maroochydore 4558 Website: www.seniorsnews.com.au Subscriptions Only $39.90 for one year (12 editions) including GST and postage anywhere in Australia. Please call our circulations services on 1300 361 604 and quote “Toowoomba Seniors Newspaper”. The Seniors Newspaper is published monthly and distributed free in south-east Queensland and northern New South Wales. The Seniors newspaper stable includes Toowoomba, Wide Bay, Sunshine Coast, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Northern NSW, Coffs and Clarence and Central Coast publications. Published by News Corp Australia Printed by News Corp Australia, Yandina. Opinions expressed by contributors to Seniors Newspapers are not necessarily those of the editor or the owner/publisher and publication of advertisements implies no endorsement by the owner/publisher.
Welcome
seniorsnews.com.au Monday, March 12, 2018
Innovative ideas improve lifestyles AN AUSTRALIAN first initiative could change the face of ageing and give world peace a nudge because as the designer said: “The answer is on your doorstep”. This month Nursing Practitioner Mathiu Bush claimed first prize in the Senior Living Innovation Challenge. The challenge, thought to be an Australian first, initiated by QUT in partnership with Retirement Industry organisations, offered a first prize of $20,000 for a concept that aims to reframe ageing in Australia. Mathiu’s winning project was ‘One Good Street’. Using a combination of simplicity, thoughtfulness and use of new technology, he worked up a grassroots concept of meeting, sharing and caring with the people in your street (and perhaps even a few blocks away), that seeks to enhance and perhaps inform the whole idea of ‘staying in
FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK GAIL FORRER Group editor Seniors Newspapers network
your own home’ for the older person. The idea that the neighbourhood street is a community within a community is an old one. It might begin with playing with neighbourhood kids, sharing a neighbourhood barbecue, gradually growing familiar enough to borrow a cup of milk, and then perhaps accepting an invite to milestone birthdays and so it goes on. In the best world, the street stays the same and people come and go, but the traditional sense of community survives. However today, modern mobility and new work life balances, have changed a lot of those customs – but not all of them. Recently I moved and came home to
find a pot-plant and welcome note on my doorstep, it was warm introduction to my new abode. This summer during searing weather, Mathiu told me his street introduced the air-con club, an initiative that saw neighbours with air-conditioning open up their homes to hot and bothered neighbours. The ‘One Good Street’ model works as an online platform, where residents register what they’re doing in their street and are rewarded with accreditation. These accreditations will show up in the street and then, perhaps throughout a whole suburb. Mathui said it creates a culture of participation, which tackles social isolation, a major issue for people over 65. Physiotherapist Meg Lowry was runner-up with a concept focused on the practicalities of gaining fitness and reducing falls.
Certainly, another great idea for older people (for more on this story and videos, please visit seniorsnews.com.au). This issue our cover story features Sue Pieters Hawke. Sue’s life took on another dimension when her mother, Hazel Hawke was diagnosed with Alzheimers. At this point she began her journey into reframing the stereotypical treatment of dementia, since then she has expanded her advocacy into ageism in all forms. She is not alone, The Australian Men’s Shed Association has acknowledged the issue of elder abuse and rather than turning a blind eye, is tackling this with a strategy of informal conversation (page 4). We also have informative stories on well-being, living and travel. I trust you enjoy them all. (To see more stories go to seniorsnews.com.au). — Gail
Singles celebrate two years of friendships place, where people over 50 can come and have interesting conversations over good food”. At least that’s Jennifer Leigh’s summation. Jennifer, 59, has been a member of the group, which turns two this month, for about 18 months, having lived out a dream to retire from
Brisbane to Warwick, and suddenly found herself knowing no one. Never a wilting violet, and still active in services to people with a disability, Jennifer said she reached out to the group for friendship. And she’s delighted that many others have done likewise, with the
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group now boasting 52 members and getting 10-12 regularly at arranged outings. “There’s no membership, no fees, no MAKING FRIENDS: Members of the Southern Downs formal structure,” Over-50s Singles Social Club at a recent get-together at Jennifer said. Stanthorpe RSL. And for a lot of people, that’s important. venues and of men and women, and They don’t want to be destinations, with such a great mix of tied into set days, times carpooling making stories and or cash outlays. outlying areas more experiences,” Jennifer Instead, Jennifer easily accessible, said. publishes events in the building relationships, community notes, texts and letting the group ■ To find out more, people about these and share their buying dollar phone Jennifer on more last-minute around different 0400 505 943 or email catch-ups. businesses and areas. warwickssc@gmail. Everyone can suggest “We have a lovely mix com.
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IT’S tough meeting new people and making friends when you’re single, over 50 and you move to a new area or lose a partner. That’s where the Southern Downs (Warwick) Over-50s Singles Social Club comes in, providing “a safe and welcoming
Cover Story: Sue Pieters-Hawke
Monday, March 12, 2018 seniorsnews.com.au
Toowoomba & Darling Downs
Seniors 3
Dementia advocate calls for elder rights & respect Abuse of elders is everyone’s problem ONCE referred to as the “accidental advocate”, Dementia Australia ambassador Sue Pieters-Hawke doesn’t miss a chance to talk about elder respect and against ageism. The daughter of Hazel Hawke, who had Alzheimer’s disease, and the author of two books on her mother’s journey, Sue holds lead roles with government, private sector, consumer and advocacy groups that tap into her deep understanding of the many issues around dementia and ageing. She also uses that experience to consult to and educate aged care industry members on re-framing dementia to reflect the rights and choices of people living with dementia. Recently Sue used her role of ambassador for the 2018 National Elder Abuse Conference to contribute to improving the understanding of her peers of the links between dementia and elder abuse. “It’s important to not make the mistake in thinking all older people are vulnerable to abuse or that all older people get dementia,” Sue said. “A minority of them do. But, age is a risk factor for
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various things which are risk factors for abuse.” Being female is one risk factor and another is when age leads to social isolation. The National Ageing Research Institute reports at least five per cent, or 180,000, of older people in Australia are reported as sufferers of elder abuse and women are 2.5 times more likely to be victims. Almost 67 per cent of that abuse is inflicted by their children. “Other risks are different forms of disability, one of which is cognitive disability which is caused by dementia or other things.” “Others are impaired mobility and increased dependency on other people.” Sue wants the public to understand that dementia is a set of diseases, but people still have capacities as well as impairments. “They need to be treated with dignity and respect as people with individual needs, wishes and preferences rather than stripped of personhood.” Human rights are often what is forgotten in the dementia journey. The right to dignity, safety, respect and personal choice are not always remembered by
VOCAL ADVOCATE: Dementia awareness and positive ageing advocate, Sue Pieters-Hawke talks to Seniors News .
those around older people. “Violation of those human rights – anything which causes harm or damage to a person, whether it be financial, social, sexual, physical, psychological, neglect – we see these as an abuse of a person’s right to be treated decently.” She reiterates the importance of older people not waiting until it’s too late to get good advice and ensure written agreements containing specific requests are in place with their supporters. “For a long time as an advocate for a greater understanding of
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Toowoomba
Updates from the Toowoomba Region Tech Savvy Seniors
Free computer classes are now available at Oakey and Highfields Libraries. Our friendly trainer’s help people learn to use mobile devices and computers gain new skills and confidence. For more information phone Oakey on 4692 0154 or Highfields Library on 4699 6519.
Payment Options
Did you know we have a number of options to pay your rates and charges to Council? You can make payments online on mobile devices or computers, over the phone or in person. To view all your payment options visit www.tr.qld.gov.au/payments
CHANGE Project Survey
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dementia and greater support for people who care for and about them, we have been working to help people remove stigma and understand dementia as a cognitive
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but still needs to stand on its own. “We need to unravel it and see what different ways it can occur and then what are the different things we can put in place.” “If we don’t do anything about it, by the middle of this century there is going to be 500,000 elders in Australia who experience some form of abuse – and that’s pretty disturbing.” She also reminds us that dismissing the issues with “that’s not me” isn’t a valid argument. “If we don’t die young, we will get old and the issues around dementia and elder abuse will be part of our broader community and possibly our own lives as we age.” “Combatting ageism and putting in place strategies that can protect our older community members against elder abuse can’t remain somebody else’s problem. “A lot of these issues we can deal with. “We just need the will to do it.”
Let us know what you like about the CHANGE Project and how we can improve. Complete the survey by 23 March at yoursay.tr.qld.gov. au/changeproject and go in the draw to win a Healthy and Active pack.
Council Cabs
We’re excited to be continuing our Council Cab service. The service provides affordable transport for seniors and people with a disability. Eligible users can travel from their home to their nearest major shopping centre one day a week. The cab service has been offered to allow residents to enjoy greater independence and convenience without relying on friends and family to get out and about, whether for shopping or socialising. For eligibility criteria and locations of the service in your area call 131 872 or visit www.tr.qld.gov.au/councilcabs
For bookings for all events call 131 872 or visit www.tr.qld.gov.au
Active Seniors
Milne Bay and Highfields Aquatic and Fitness centres have plenty of options to keep you active. Join us for Aqua Aerobics, Steady Steps, Qigong for Health, Pilates, Yoga, Tai-Chi, Zumba Gold, Senior Citizens group (HFR only) and aquatic walking lanes. Concession rates available, contact MBAC 4688 6330 or HFR 4699 6530 for more information.
Thank You
Summer Tunes has drawn to a close. A big thank you to the 256 entertainers that took part in this great musical program along with the hundreds community attendees and visitors who enjoyed the performances across the region.
Seniors Concerts
The Seniors Concerts are set to rock the region once more! Come and enjoy Classics with Cathy. Pittsworth Function Centre, 6 March, Yarraman Hall, 7 March and Millmerran Cultural Centre, 8 March. Doors open 9.30am, free entry and morning tea. For more info and to book your seat call 131 872 or visit www.tr.qld.gov.au/events
My Community Directory
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Tracey Johnstone
disablement of a chronic disease and to argue for the rights of people with any sort of impairment to be supported and protected.” “That’s one of the reasons I work in the areas of positive ageing and anti-ageism. “Human rights of people with dementia are abused every day by our failures of care and understanding, by our lack of respect, by our stigmatised understanding, by the demonisation and isolation of people with dementia. “People with dementia don’t have social structure to support their rights and that’s something that we are working and fighting for.” The first steps she says to finding a solution to this problem is getting the public to better understand dementia and to maintain respect for a sufferer rather than be dismissive, and which may overlap elder abuse,
4 Seniors Toowoomba & Darling Downs
Special Interest
seniorsnews.com.au Monday, March 12, 2018
Shoulder to shoulder we stand in support ❝
Elder abuse: Helping men approach this difficult issue Tracey Johnstone
THE Men’s Sheds approach to informal conversations over a cuppa or a handyman project is helping the shed members open up about elder abuse concerns. Across Australia there are 980 registered Men’s Sheds which provide a perfect platform for information on elder abuse awareness to be disseminated to what Australian Men’s Shed Association executive officer David Helmers describes as a “notoriously difficult demographic of Australia to reach”. “Our primary objective is prevention of poor health of men and social isolation,” Mr Helmers said. “In doing that we have
created a very comfortable space for men to talk to each other and some of these issues do come up quite regularly in the sheds.” Those sheds support about 200,000 “shedders” with an average age of 72 with many coming from an unskilled working background. Shedders meet each week with some sheds open three or four days a week, while others are open all seven days. The sheds offer a conduit for a lot of organisations who can offer knowledge and support on a variety of men’s health issues. Mr Helmers said reaching out to this demographic has a limited success rate when using electronic communication.
The sheds offer a conduit for a lot of organisations who can offer knowledge and support on a variety of men’s health issues.
MEN’S SHEDS: Taking a stand against elder abuse.
The critical elements of a health message are often lost as many of the shedders are not regular users of email and the internet. It’s the “shoulder to shoulder” conversation
that works. “When we create these environments, they will talk about problems. I have been working in Men’s Sheds for 10 years and some of the conversations I have
heard – elder abuse and domestic violence – have been quite eye opening.” Mr Helmers hopes that through the Men’s Sheds that are appearing in aged care facilities and through its other sheds, the association may be able to take more obvious role in the elder abuse awareness campaign. “Many organisations have looked at how we have addressed a problem and come up with a very practical solution,” Mr Helmers said. The old way of approaching a problem
was to get a group of men together with a facilitator and say “let’s talk about it” and then listen to the silence. “Get the same 12 blokes, put them in a room, put an old lawn mower on the table with a bunch of tools and tell them to fix it,” Mr Helmers said. “Give them a couple of hours and the results at the end of the day are guaranteed that one, the lawn mower still won’t work, but two, they will have formed friendships and talked about subjects they would never have spoken about. “That’s where we can be a conduit for this conversation that needs to be had.” The association is recognised as one of Australia’s largest male-based community organisations. Phone 1300 550 009 or visit mensshed.org.
Baton relay brings community together Alison Houston
NOT many daughters get to show their father just how proud they are of him by scoring him a spot in the Commonwealth Games Queen’s Baton Relay. But that’s exactly what happened when Catherine Flanagan nominated her dad, Dan, for one of the 18 places up for grabs to carry the baton in Gatton on Thursday, March 29. Mind you, Dan, 66, has done a fair bit in his own right to earn himself the spot; the electrician having been heavily involved in the community for some 40 years, including working for a couple of decades as Laidley Recreation Reserve committee president on turning the old racecourse into the community sporting mecca it is today. The reserve now comprises seven fully lit touch (three rugby league) fields, six netball courts, two softball diamonds and two soccer fields, a skate park and a 1.4km walking path,
grandstand and function room, as well as athletics facilities which each week plays host to about 150 Little As (a group Dan also started so kids and their parents wouldn’t have to travel so far to compete). “But it’s not just me,” Dan is quick to point out. “I’m happy with where I am and what I’ve succeeded in doing, but you can always be better. There’s a lot of people do a lot more …” As for his part in the baton relay, Dan said he’s “pretty proud to be selected, knowing how many people put in for it …” But a self-deprecating quip isn’t far away ... “It’s something else for them to read out in the obituary,” he laughs. It’s a day few in the area are likely to forget, according to Lockyer Valley Regional Council community development and engagement officer Neil Williamson, with a big party planned to celebrate the baton’s arrival. “We’re really excited about it,” Neil said.
“It’s a big thing to close the main street on the day before Good Friday, but it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for this town.” Gatton is the only town between Toowoomba and Ipswich to be honoured with a leg of the relay and celebrations at the Gatton Showgrounds will run from 12-6.30pm on March 29. Schools will create an opening ceremony-style march past with their banners and, after the baton arrives at the grounds about 12.40pm and formalities are over, local talents and the big drawcards Justice Crew and AccaDacca will hit the stage. There will be markets, rides for the kids and, of course, a fireworks finish. But it doesn’t end there for Dan, who will get his chance to enjoy the Games first-hand, when he and wife Colleen head to the Gold Coast to see the athletics in April. The Games run from April 4-15. ●Toowoomba residents
THANKS DAD: Dan Flanagan with daughter Catherine who nominated him for a place in the Queen’s Baton Relay for all he had done for the community, particularly the Laidley Recreation Reserve.
are invited to join festivities to mark the arrival of the baton the previous day, with a community celebration at Civic Square from 4.30-6pm on Wednesday, March 28. Mayor Paul Antonio encouraged residents to line the relay route through Oakey and Toowoomba.
The final baton bearer will arrive at the Civic Square around 5.30pm, and Art Gallery Park will feature a focus on indigenous culture and sporting activities, with a range of entertainment and food stalls. Members of Canada’s boxing team, preparing for their Commonwealth Games bouts in
Toowoomba, will join the celebrations. ●Southern Downs Regional Council will hold its Warwick community celebration at Leslie Park immediately prior to Gatton’s from 8am-10am on March 29. There will be children’s activities, entertainment and the official arrival of the baton at 9.15am.
Toowoomba & Darling Downs
Monday, March 12, 2018 seniorsnews.com.au
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Local Story
seniorsnews.com.au Monday, March 12, 2018
A sweet 21st birthday Chocolate dreams just as delicious as they were in 1997 Alison Houston
KAYE Edwards is a believer. She believes in having a vision and working hard to make it come true. And that’s exactly what she did 21 years ago to bring The Chocolate Cottage and Café to life with husband Colin in April 1997. She started out with a dream of owning her own chocolate shop. “I wanted to create a place that people would step through the door and into another world and leave all their worries behind and relax,” she said. She found the perfect location in the old Highfields State School (circa 1877 and then operating as an art gallery), and set up shop with four tables and chairs. “It was perfect – right on the edge of the range with these wonderful views,” Kaye said. But it wasn’t easy.
She and Colin used the deposit they had been saving for a house to plow into the business, and for years she worked 10-hour days six-days-a week while the pair also cared for their toddler daughter. These days The Chocolate Cottage and Café has 25 staff, produces all its own chocolates – over 100 varieties – handmade in moulds in-house, and the cafe seats 230 people and serves meals six days a week. It’s also surrounded by its own mini-village, with six other boutique businesses springing up, including quilting, gifts and home décor, art, high-end shoes, skin and beauty care, and a well-being cottage. “It’s a real destination now,” Kaye said. But while the growth has been overwhelming, Kaye said it had not taken away from her original vision of a peaceful haven to escape to. She still loves going to
and found many customers preferred to create their own unique specially wrapped gift boxes, with just a few little eggs added for the occasion. As for celebrating 21 years in business, Kaye said they had been so busy they hadn’t come up with a plan as yet. But she said the anniversary had made her reflect on the kids who had passed through the store over the years, coming in with parents after school, then getting jobs there, and now bringing in their own children. “It’s really lovely to see the generations coming through,” she said. “It really is just like a big family; it’s a wonderful culture and environment and all the staff are really passionate about what we’re doing.” You can enjoy coffee and a chocolate from $5, and the cottage is wheelchair-friendly. You can find The Chocolate Cottage at 10475 New England Highway, Highfields or call 4630 8729.
CHOCOLATE DELIGHTS: Kaye Edwards’ The Chocolate Cottage and Café at Highfields.
work each day and is excited to create new chocolates. While strawberry creams are her favourites, she said the cottage’s signature was the Chocolate Yumball – a malt ball, wrapped in
caramel fudge, rice crisps, peanuts and dipped in layers of chocolate. Choc-dipped Turkish delights and homemade fudge are crowd favourites, but Kaye said the novelty chocolates, such as the pigs, ‘fried
egg’ and caramel cane toads were as popular with adults as with kids. And with Easter around the corner, there’s rocky road eggs in abundance. Kaye said she didn’t want to compete with the supermarkets at Easter,
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Monday, March 12, 2018 seniorsnews.com.au
Local Story
Toowoomba & Darling Downs
Seniors 7
HEALTH HELPERS: Holding a couple of the new fluffy robotic harp seal pups which help dementia patients at Toowoomba Hospital are Lions Club of Toowoomba West’s Margaret de Nooyer and Bill Griffin, Toowoomba Hospital Foundation CEO Alison Kennedy, Toowoomba’s Christmas Wonderland chairman and Lion Marshall Cox and Lions Jan Griffin and David Orton.
Given the seal of approval Seal pups and gym equipment changing lives of patients TOOWOOMBA Hospital has had an injection of valuable new equipment over the past month which will help cardiac and dementia patients. The most unusual acquisition is three fluffy robotic harp seal pups, thanks to funds raised during Toowoomba’s Christmas Wonderland. The seals, each valued
at $7850, have been used worldwide and were first trialled in Australia in 2014. They have been proven to improve the emotional state of dementia patients, reduce challenging behaviours and feelings of loneliness and stress, and improve social interactions between patients and
caregivers. In some cases, patients who had not communicated for months or even years began to do so again. The seals make eye contact, remember faces, respond to their name, and to touch and petting by moving their tail and opening and closing their eyes, and provide similar benefits to patients as therapy animals, without the complications of having real animals on site.
But why seals? Apparently, the inventor did trial the more expected shapes of dogs and cats, but found patients compared the robot to their memories and ideas of real pets and were disappointed. Approximately 425,416 Australians are currently living with dementia, with another 250 joining that number every day, so providing patients comfort and relief from stress without having to resort to costly ongoing medication
and its potential side effects has to be good. And to date, Toowoomba Hospital reports a very positive response from patients. ■ Slightly less out-of-the-box, but no less valuable, has been the provision of $5000 worth of new gym equipment specifically for the rehabilitation of cardiac patients, thanks to the Toowoomba Hospital Foundation. The equipment includes a treadmill, rowing
machine and balance trainer, and Toowoomba Hospital Foundation CEO Alison Kennedy thanked the community for their support. “Recovering from any type of illness can be extremely difficult and overwhelming and being able to provide support to our patients through the provision of equipment and resources to help them get back on their feet is an absolute privilege for the Foundation,” she said.
8 Seniors Toowoomba & Darling Downs
Profile Story: Jacqui Lambie
seniorsnews.com.au Monday, March 12, 2018
JACQUI LAMBIE
Shooting from the lips: ex-senator’s memoir reveals all teenager she found herself in the Australian Army, at first in the transport corps and then in the military police. For the first few months during drills, exercise and parades she threw herself into hard work. Without knowing she was pregnant. After that shock she then spent two years in the Army as an unmarried mother, and in typical Lambie form, had many a run in with Army hierarchy (throwing a punch at an officer) before she fell in love with a sergeant who fathered her second son, Dylan and treated her first son, Brentyn as his own. Their relationship lasted five years. It was on a military skills competition that Lambie suffered a horrendous back injury which eventually caused her to be discharged from the Army as unfit with spinal neuralgia. The Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA) refused to believe the military skills competition was the cause of her back injury and declined to pay for her treatment. This led to a bitter 10-year battle with the DVA which left Lambie depressed, addicted to pharmaceuticals and alcohol, which finally led to an attempted suicide. “Pharmaceuticals only cover the pain, they don’t get rid of it,” she said. “They don’t help, they lead to other health ailments, and you can explode like a bomb. If you can avoid them, stay away. I went cold turkey off everything but that knocked my system around and I ended up with chronic fatigue.” For a painful decade Lambie stumbled in a fog from doctor to hypnotherapist to psychiatrist to chiropractor, but never found permanent
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relief. She eventually took the DVA to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal and was finally paid compensation. It is this fighting and never-give-up spirit that eventually led to Lambie entering politics, mostly, she admits, with vengeance in her heart to get back at the DVA, but also with a determination to prevent others experiencing the bureaucratic-inflicted torment she was forced to survive. Rebel with a Cause. By Jacqui Lambie in bookstores now.
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SHE jumps in boots first and then uses her gut instinct and relentless passion to make things work. This is the thread throughout Jacqui Lambie’s recently released memoir, Rebel with A Cause, and it gives insight into the workings of an active and ferociously honest mind that at first bewildered and then amused the Australian political scene, and finally made it sit up and listen. “Yes, I do tend to jump in,” Lambie said from her home in Burnie in Tasmania on the eve of the state election. “I wouldn’t advise everybody to do that though. I do it because I don’t have certain skills and the only way for me is to jump in if I need to be there and work it out from there.” Lambie has never been the norm in Australian politics. During her time in Parliament she was the most genuine but spontaneous voice in the Senate, something disquieting but refreshing, and something she admits to easily. “When I first got up there I was a wrecking ball,” she said. “But I changed things. Normal people like me belong in the Senate. We have a place there.” Lambie has always stood out, even in childhood and adolescence. The no-nonsense working-class Tassie girl left school in Year 11 and joined the Australian Army at just 17. The Army wasn’t planned, just happened when she and a few girlfriends spotted an Army recruitment van in the carpark of their local Centrelink. They made a girly pact to join up together but when Lambie had completed and signed her forms, she discovered her friends had bolted. The recruitment officer would not let her back down and so as a naive
Toowoomba & Darling Downs
Monday, March 12, 2018 seniorsnews.com.au
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10 Seniors Toowoomba & Darling Downs
seniorsnews.com.au Monday, March 12, 2018
Community
TO ALLOW for readers’ requests for the publication of more neighbourhood news, please keep notices short and to the point (100 word maximum). If you would like to submit a photo please ensure it is at least 180dpi or 500kb to 1mb in size and of faces, in a nice bright setting. The deadline for the April issue is March 27. Email: editor@seniors newspaper.com.au
CHOIRS OF TOOWOOMBA
THE Choirs of the Toowoomba Choral Society are off to represent the Garden City on the Easter long weekend at the Queensland Eisteddfod in Ipswich. Please support our choirs and enjoy a preview of some of our competition pieces at Saturday, March 24 at 5pm, in the TACAPS Millennium Centre Hall, corner of Wirra Wirra and
Dudley Streets. Tickets available at the door. Adult $20, secondary student $10, primary $5, under 5s free.
EASTER CONCERT
ARTS Cantorum presents Eastertide Story on Friday, March 23 at 6.30pm at St James Anglican Church, corner of Russell and Mort Streets, Toowoomba. The concert will feature verse and sacred music telling the story from Palm Sunday to Easter and beyond. Tickets available at the door. Adults $20, concession and uni’ students $15, accompanied school age children $10. The concert will be followed by “cheese and wine” for audience and performers in the adjacent Parish Centre.
FREE LEGAL TALKS
SOUTHERN Downs/Scenic Rim – Free community legal educations sessions – Retirement Living Options. Caxton Street Legal
CELEBRATING HOPE: Mayor Paul Antonio (left) and Cr Geoff McDonald (right) with Hope Horizons committee members Peter Turnbull, Anna Barrett and Jo Capp.
Centre will be presenting free talks to provide legal information about retirement living options, with a focus on common issues with retirement villages and manufactured home parks. Our talks are on Monday, March 19 from 10.30am-noon at Beaudesert Library and Monday, March 19 from 1.30-3pm at Boonah Library. Phone Michelle at Caxton on 3214 6333.
GARDEN CITY NATIONAL SENIORS
WE MEET on the third Monday of each month at Drayton Bowls Club, corner Ball and Gipps
Streets at 9.30am. Our next meeting will be celebrating St Patrick’s Day, albeit a few days late, on Monday, March 19. John Colville on accordion will entertain with some Irish music and there will be a competition for best dressed in green. A donation will be made to the Toowoomba Hospice during the morning. Visitors welcome. Cost $7. March 28 the Bus Trip is to Law dogs at the Summit. Phone Hazel on 4635 4519.
MORNING TEA
OUR Saviour’s Lutheran Women’s Guild is holding a morning tea on Tuesday,
March 20 at 10am, at the church hall, corner West and Alderley Streets. Entry is $6 and there will be a trading table and guest speaker. All proceeds to go to Fresh Hope. For information and RSVP for catering, phone Shirl on 4630 1104.
TOOWOOMBA NATIONAL SENIORS
WE HAVE a morning tea at All Seasons Function Centre, corner of North and Tor Streets, Wilsonton from 9.30am on April 5. The guest entertainer will be John Miners. Phone Desma on 4613 6750 or Yvonne 4638 5252. If attending our morning teas, call the Monday before the date.
WEIGHT REDUCTION CLUB
WE ARE a small group at the moment, would love to reach out to more people who need to be better educated about weight loss and all different
aspects of losing weight ie, moods, size of portion, society pressure different foods that help. We meet from 5.30-7.30pm at 625 Ruthven Street, across the road from Bob Jane T-Marts. Phone Sue Waters on 0415 279 026.
HOPE HORIZONS
RAIN wasn’t what organisers of Toowoomba’s Hope Horizons open day had wished for last month, but about 60 people braved the damp to celebrate the opening and learn more about the new cancer wellness centre on Drayton Road. The centre is a hub for services from psychology and counselling to physiotherapy, oncology massage, art therapy to yoga, dietary advice, financial help, support and education for patients going through cancer treatments, in remission and their family and carers – all with no out-of-pocket expenses. Phone 4636 6108 or go to hopehorizons.com.au.
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Call 1300 68 77 38 to book your personal tour retireaustralia.com.au/draytonvillas
Toowoomba & Darling Downs
Monday, March 12, 2018 seniorsnews.com.au
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Subject: housing for singles. I was interested in your article about homelessness. Because of the high divorce/separation rate in Australia, we have a lot of single people needing accommodation. Developers build these units by the thousands but singles cannot afford them. Why do they not build a percentage of these units as bedsits? Very basic one room accommodation with shower, basin, toilet and kitchen. These should be able to be sold for under $300,000. These units are close to transport shops, etc, so car space would be provided. Working singles would be happy to have a place of their own to start again after a break up and this would give them a start to move on later if they chose to. Caravan parks are now not available and there is a crying need for cheap accommodation. I think bedsits are the answer. — Gwenda
Seniors 11
Talk ‘n’ thoughts
Don’t retire when 65 Start up a business
INSTEAD of retiring at 65, older Australians should be starting their own business, making money and contributing to the economy. That’s the view of the outgoing chairman of the Sunshine Coast branch of Regional Development Australia, Tony Riddle, who believes that “retirement” is an obsolete notion. He has some good reasons for saying so, but you might not agree. I see his viewpoint as a good conversation starter about retirement age, age discrimination in the workplace, the place of mentoring in the workforce and the value of life-long learning.
For many people the aged pension is no longer available at 65, but rather 67, and one imagines that sooner rather than later, that age will be extended to 70. How do you feel about this? If you would like to have your say on this viewpoint, please email me at Gail.Forrer@seniors newspaper.com.au. Gail Mr Riddle, an entrepreneur himself, said that stopping work at 60 or 65 and doing nothing for the rest of your life was not good for a person’s health, wealth or well-being, and catastrophic for the
FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK GAIL FORRER
Group editor Seniors Newspapers network
national economy. He said not only was there no reason why older people could not be successful in business, many mature-age entrepreneurs had already shown the way. “KFC, Coca-Cola and McDonald’s were started by men aged over 50,” Mr Riddle said. “Benjamin Franklin invented bifocals at 76. “Dame Judi Dench won an Oscar at 64.” Mr Riddle said older people had many advantages when starting
business ventures. “The kids will probably have left home and started their own lives,” he said. “We’ve often paid off the family home, built up a network of useful contacts, and developed experience, knowledge and wisdom. “The only serious disadvantage I can see is societal perception that entrepreneurship is for wide-eyed 20-somethings. “That is wrong – entrepreneurs are as diverse as the population, and there is nothing to say you can’t become one in your later years.” Mr Riddle said older Australians were living longer because they ate better, adopted healthier lifestyles and benefited from advances in medical
science. “We’re staying fit and well, and the percentage of older people in our population is growing,” he said. “So why do we continue to stop work at 60 or 65? “And, more importantly, why does the community expect this of us?” Mr Riddle said it was time society changed its view of older people. “Bureaucrats, politicians and, indeed, the whole community need to understand that the future of Australia depends on this change,” he said. “It makes no sense that we eliminate from the workforce fit, talented, intelligent men and women simply because they have reached at a certain age.”
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seniorsnews.com.au Monday, March 12, 2018
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Seniors 13
Travel
10
Great reasons to visit Melbourne in the autumn
Ann Rickard
MELBOURNE is famous for its unpredictable and crazy weather, but during the autumn months it seems to settle into a more consistent pattern. The days can be warm and sunny, the nights cool enough to throw on a jacket. Those hideous hot days have passed and the chill of winter is yet to arrive. Autumn in Melbourne is marvellous. Here are 10 reasons why you should visit. ■ A FIX makes you know you are alive. While Paris, New York or London would be nice, Melbourne is within distance and budget and it definitely has a big city flavour. All the city-life you want is there, from restaurants to theatre to museums and galleries, to shopping … it never stops. ■ THE autumn landscape in Melbourne is gorgeous and the transformation from parched and baked, to a haze of burnished reds, golds and yellows as the trees shed their leaves, is worth a visit alone. A walk along tree-lined St Kilda Rd, or a stroll through the Royal Botanic Gardens will make you wish autumn was a permanent season. ■ TRAMS. What’s not to love? They’re synonymous
SIMPLY STUNNING: Melbourne in autumn is beautiful.
with Melbourne, and the City Circle Tram is free. It’s a very Melbourne way to get around the CBD, and these free maroon and green trams look spiffy with their yellow and gold trimmings. ■ ACCOMMODATION in the heart of the city will have you within walking distance of everything Melbourne has to offer. We love Double Tree by Hilton, opposite the historic Flinders St Station. Its location is perfect, then there are the warm chocolate chip cookies brandished at you on arrival, and the Sweet Dreams bedding and
Verbena and Lavender by Crabtree and Evelyn bathroom products. ■ ANY cuisine you want is available in the city from hundreds of bistros, cafes, restaurants and bars that exude style and city flair. We can never go past MoVida in Hosier Lane with its Spanish wines and the best croquettes outside Madrid. Another favourite is Lucy Liu in Oliver Lane (you’ll have to search for it as it’s very hidden) where the Asian share plates will have you giddy for choice. We swooned over the crispy pork buns with
spicy kimchi, and the tempura prawn betel leaves. ■ OKAY, more favourite foodie spots. Osteria in Little Bourke St, for its long bar and open kitchen where the chargrilled octopus swept us away. Then there is Longsong, little sister to the wildly popular Longrain. We could barely take our eyes off the decor in the voluminous dining space, kept looking up to the bevy of glowing lanterns, a nod to Thailand’s floating lantern tradition. ■ THE National Gallery of Victoria, or NGV as it is fondly called, is at your
doorstep. Until April 15, the speculator Triennial is showing, and entry is free. Four floors of art, installations, sculpture and everything and anything technological is on display. Do not leave Melbourne without visiting. NGV is a quick 10-minute walk from Flinders St Station. ■ THE laneways; oh, the lanes. Melbourne has embraced lane culture like no other city and what were once dowdy back lanes used to service shops, business and workshops are now jam-packed, bustling lanes filled with shops,
bars, eateries, all against a backdrop of dazzling street art. Put on good walking shoes, pick up a laneway map from the friendly people at the information centre in Federation Square, set off on a self-guided tour and lose yourself in the giddy excitement of the iconic lanes. ■ SHOPPING. Myer and David Jones are still there in the Bourke St Mall as reassuring and reliable as ever. Enter their glittering spaces and everything you desire is yours for the buying. And when you tire of so much temptation, both department stores have stylish eateries. Then there is Block Arcade, so glamorous and 19th century and heritage listed with its mosaic floors and glass canopy. Wander, admire, love, and then go into Haigh’s Chocolates and let yourself loose. ■ IF YOU have time after your city-fix, all of Victoria is lovelier in the autumn. Hire a car, take to the beaches and restaurants on the Mornington Peninsula or head to the Great Ocean Road, or enjoy a wine break in the Yarra Valley and then find out about the luxury retreats at Daylesford, or the historic charms of Bendigo. Just go, before it gets too cold.
14 Seniors Toowoomba & Darling Downs
seniorsnews.com.au Monday, March 12, 2018
Indian Pacific “Gold Class” & WA Adventure, 8 Days, 12 Sep $4750
* PP* *Single, Add $350 *Seniors Group Discount Rate
Travelling Sydney to Perth including Blue Mountains Broken Hill Adelaide Nullarbor Plain Cook Rawlinna Perth Swan River Cruise Fremantle The Pinnacles Benedictine Abbey Busselton Margaret River Augusta Perth Mint Return Flights Ex BNE All Meals Accom & Fully Hosted
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Coral Sea P&O Cruising & Cairns Rail & Sail, 14 Days, Dep: 24 July Hosted 7 Night Coral Sea Cruise P&O Pacific Eden, Trobriand Islands Kitava, Kiriwina & Conflict Islands Cairns Touring, Kuranda Scenic & Skyrail Railways, Paronella Park 4* Accom, Spirit of QLD Train Add Rail at Discount Rates TBA*
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Townsville, Magnetic Island Charters Towers, 7 Days 1st Aug & 12th Sep Explore this amazing Region Townsville, Magnetic Island Museum Nth Qld, Reef HQ Overnight Charters Towers Historic Guided Town Tour Ghosts of Gold Presentation Harvey’s Range Scenic Drive Cobb & Co Heritage Cottage
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Gulflander & Savannahlander Cairns To Karumba, 10 Days 1st Sep, 6th, 13th Oct Join our Fantastic No1 Tour !!! Cairns, Mt Surprise, Georgetown Croydon, Normanton, Karumba Sunset Surf & Turf Gulf Dinner Cobbold Gorge Tour & Cruise Unbelievable Undara Lava Tubes Gulf, Savannah & Kuranda Trains “The Real” Outback Spectacular 7 Days, 8th Sept 2018. Longreach, Winton & Lark Quarry Stockman’s Hall of Fame & Show QANTAS, Thompson River Cruise Winton & Waltzing Matilda Centre Age Of Dinosaurs Museum & Tour Sunset Dinner with the Dino’s Lark Quarry Dinosaur Stampede Lawn Hill & Mt Isa 11 Days, 23rd June, 4th July, 22nd Sep Hughenden, Cloncurry, Julia Creek Mt Isa Discovery Underground Mine Lawn Hill Gorge & Creek with Cruise Adels Grove Cabin Accommodation Fourways Burke & Wills Road House Richmond, Charters Towers, TVille Longreach & Winton Experience 7 Days, 23rd June, 28th July, 1st & 29th Sep, 6th Oct Experience the Outback with Campfire Dinners & Shows. Stockmans Hall & QANTAS Thompson River Sunset Cruise Winton & Age of Dinos Museum The new Waltzing Matilda Centre
Return Flights Ex Brisbane Meals as per itinerary Guided tour of Darwin Day Tour to Kakadu National Park Most Off Train Excursions included Alice Springs Bush BBQ under the stars Adelaide City Markets & Oval
All accommodation inc Train Dinner cruise on Darwin Harbour Entry to the Darwin Military Museum Katherine Gorge Cruise Underground Lunch Coober Pedy Exploration tour Fully Hosted by our Friendly Staff”
The Kimberly & Beyond 11 Days, 5th July 2018 Darwin Discovery Tour Dinner Cruise Katherine Gorge Cruise, Lake Argyle, Argyle Mine Tour, Bungle Bungles Hidden Valley, Ord River Cruise & * $5590 Geikie Gorge Cruise, Halls Creek, *PP Twin Share, Single add $800 Chamberlain Gorge, Fitzroy Crossing, Including Flights EX BNE Broome Discovery Tours Cable Beach Half Price SINGLE
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TOTAL TASMANIA 11 DAYS, 21st October 2018 Return Economy Flights, Launceston & Tamar Valley River Cruise, St Helens, Freycinet National Park, Coles Bay, Wine Glass Bay, Bicheno Triabunna. Swansea, Hobart, Port Arthur, Derwent Bridge & Queenstown, Strahan, Gordon River Cruise, Cradle Mountain, Dove Lake, Stanley, Smithton, Devonport Canberra Floriade Blue Mountains, Bowral Tulips 7 days 18th Sep Bowral Tulip Festival & Bradman Museum, Canberra Floriade & Cookington Green, Parliament House & Museum of Democracy, War Memorial & Last Post Tribute, Cowra & Japanese Gardens, Bathurst & Mount Panorama Drive, Oberon & Mayfield Gardens, Blue Mountains & Everglades Gardens
*Hunter Valley Roses &* *Xmas Lights Spectacular !!!* *8 Days, 1st November 2018* Coach Tour from Brisbane Grafton’s Jacaranda Festival Port Macquarie, Maitland Hunter Valley & Wineries Rose Spectacular Xmas Lights Port Stephen, Nelson Bay Cruise Historic Stannum House
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Travel
Monday, March 12, 2018 seniorsnews.com.au
Toowoomba & Darling Downs
Mouth-watering Melbourne tour An exploration of beautiful locations
GO SEE Touring is pleased to announce a brand new escorted tour to Mouth-watering Melbourne, the food capital of Australia, in November. Christine Perkin will be hosting the tour and taking you to her favourite restaurants and wineries in Melbourne including the Yarra Ranges and the Mornington Peninsula over eight delicious decadent days. You will experience Neil Perry’s Spice Temple for dinner at the Crown Casino, lunch at Shannon Bennet’s Jardin Tan in the stunning Royal Botanical Gardens, take a Le Cucina di Sandra cooking class and enjoy a Italian cooking and eating experience, the magnificent old world Windsor Hotel for
Seniors 15
The beautiful Yarra Valley, Chandon Winery, Yering Station and the Melba Estate.
DELIGHTFUL: High Tea at the Windsor Hotel will be one of the highlights of the tour.
afternoon tea and the amazing Tram Car Restaurant and, not to forget, a visit to the Iconic Queen Victoria Market. We will venture off to the picturesque Yarra Valley where you will experience quality food and wine and breathtaking scenery. Then it’s a visit to the
Yarra Chocolaterie for chocolate and ice cream tasting, and the beautiful Chandon winery with a tour and bubbles tasting. We visit Yering Station for a fabulous modern French lunch, a wine tasting at historic Coombe Yarra Valley Estate, once owned by Dame Nellie Melba.
The beautiful seaside area of the Mornington Peninsula is next where you will experience gourmet delights and boutique wineries. We visit Montalto winery and olive grove for lunch, a wander through the sculpture garden, and breakfast and bubbles at the Woodman Estate,
experience Arthurs Seat gondola and fly over the state forest and take in the breathtaking views of the peninsula, then visit a Main Ridge Goat farm and dairy for a tasting and the Bass and Flinders Distillery for a quick tipple. We will also enjoy a classic paddock to plate experience at the Linenderry Winery famed Linden Tree Restaurant for a delicious dinner with paired wines. On our last day we will enjoy Cruden Farm the much-loved home of Dame Elisabeth Murdoch for morning tea. This tour promises to be a wonderful exploration of beautiful locations, wonderful restaurants and
wineries in Melbourne. All of this including accommodation, return economy airfares from Brisbane, our own coach and coach captain, seven breakfasts, one morning tea, one afternoon tea, three lunches, four dinners, all touring, meals admissions as per itinerary, for $3480 a person twin share. The single supplement is $698. If you would like to join Christine on her Mouth-Watering Melbourne tour, phone 1300 551 997 or (07) 3868 4760 or email info@gooseetouring.com or go to www.gosee touring.com for more information and a detailed itinerary.
A refreshing approach to overseas travel
where relatives of the tour participants are buried. As a final treat, the last night of the tour will be spent at the Chateau d’Ermenonville, a mediaeval castle complete with moat, only a few kilometres from Charles de Gaulle Airport. For more information, phone 5557 9888 or go to zeppelintravel.com.au. ADVERTORIAL
PART OF OUR HISTORY: Fromelles (Pheasant Wood) Military Cemetery is the first new war cemetery to be constructed by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission in 50 years.
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BATTLEFIELD tours are two a penny these days, especially as 2018 marks the centenary of the last year of World War I. However the tour being offered by Zeppelin Travel in August this year is rather different. Andi von Zeppelin and Robert Likeman are old hands at arranging this kind of tour, and those who have been on one of their previous battlefield tours will tell you that their approach is refreshingly different. Instead of moving on to a new hotel each day, this tour is based for half the time in Amiens (close to Villers-Bretonneux) and half the time in Ieper (Ypres). No more than 25 people will be booked, so there will be plenty of room on the coach, and two Australian historians will be there to explain the sites visited. The tour will include all those locations where Australians were engaged in the fighting, such as Pozières and Passchendaele, and every effort will be made to visit any cemetery
16 Seniors Toowoomba & Darling Downs
seniorsnews.com.au Monday, March 12, 2018
Toowoomba & Darling Downs
Monday, March 12, 2018 seniorsnews.com.au
What’s on JOURNALIST ALISON HOUSTON
HOT CROSS HEAVEN
IF YOU’RE in the mood for a drive and some delicious Easter treats, head to the Old Fernvale Bakery on the Brisbane Valley Highway, which is again using its talents to raise money for the Children’s Hospital Foundation. Owners Bill and Lyn Rose donate $1 from every packet of hot cross buns to the cause, but they’ve also come up with some ‘extreme’ buns, the likes of which gourmet delights you aren’t likely to find elsewhere, including their caramel and white chocolate hot cross buns. On Wednesdays they hold online auctions for their first-release buns such as February’s Ferrero Rocher buns, which raised $250. The fun and fundraising goes on until Easter Monday. Oh, and, by all accounts, the pies are damn fine too. Phone 5426 7557.
ST PATRICK’S DAY
The day when everyone’s a little bit Irish (or likes to think they are)... St Paddy’s Day, Saturday, March 17, is almost upon us again, so grab your greenest gear and head on out to The Irish Club Hotel celebrations (always a good craic), or check out other local venues. Just don’t miss your chance to celebrate.
CASH FOR OAKEY
Johnny Cash is one of the
world’s legendary performers, and Dave Reynolds and his six-piece rockabilly show band are set to do him justice in Oakey on Saturday, March 17. The Johnny Cash Tribute will also pay homage to other classic music from the era when Cash was at his height, including Credence Clearwater, Patsy Cline, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, The Shadows and Roy Orbison. And if you don’t hear a song you thought you would, there’s even a time when the band will field requests. The concert is at Oakey Cultural Centre from 7.30pm with doors open from 6.45pm. Tickets, are $25, available at Oakey Newsagency, online at ticketebo or phone 0407 014 185.
HEAL YOURSELF
The Heal Yourself Expo at Centenary Heights High School, Toowoomba on March 17 and 18 sets out to help people heal themselves by acknowledging that emotional and physical pain are linked, and providing spiritual guidance. If you are interested, go to healyourselfexpo.com or phone 0415 800 888. The expo runs 9.30am-4.30pm both days and entry is $5.
FRIDAY AT THE FLICKS
A DOCUMENTARY 22 years in the making is this month’s Friday at the Flicks on March 16 at USQ Artsworx. When We Were Kings traces the lead-up
and eventual fight between George Foreman and Muhammad Ali in 1974. There’s footage and interviews, including the questionable ethics around the fight’s location, the relationship between Ali and locals, and the ‘Black Woodstock’ soul music festival that accompanied the fight. Everything got bogged down by legal issues and civil suits, so director Leon Gast couldn’t release his film until 1996, when it won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. As with all Fridays at the Flicks there’s a post-movie discussion and a glass of champers. Phone the box office on 4631 1111.
Working Class Man: an Evening of Stories and Songs tour to the Empire Theatre on Friday, April 13. No point keeping news of this one until the next edition, because I’m taking bets it will be a sell-out. It’s the sequel to his 2016 stage show, Working Class Boy, and begins where his troubled childhood left off, with tales of 40 years of rock stardom and addiction, starting from 1974. Tickets are $99. Phone 1300 655 299.
GARDEN CITY COUNTRY MUSIC ASSOC.
RIDE THE RANGE
IF YOU haven’t signed up yet, don’t forget the Rotary Club of Toowoomba’s Ride the Range event is on Sunday, March 25. This is the eighth charity event, which will this year help Toowoomba Hospice, the new Hope Horizons and RACQ Life Flight. There are four routes, so you don’t have to be a professional to take part, but you definitely need a bit of puff. To find out more, go to www. ridetherange.org.au.
GRAND HOMES TOUR
FOR lovers of television’s Grand Designs and the magazine Home Beautiful, the Zonta Club of Toowoomba Garden City has lined up something a little special for Sunday,
CASH BONANZA: Dave Reynolds will bring the best of Johnny Cash and the stars of his era to Oakey on March 17.
March 25. It’s your chance to see inside five stunning homes and gardens, including two recently built award-winning homes, a historic East Toowoomba residence, a cottage and an incredible garden with majestic views. Tickets for the bus tour (leaving 9am) are $80 each, and $65 self-drive, including morning tea at the Empire Theatre. For more, go to Zonta Grand Homes Tour on Facebook, or phone the Empire on 1300 655 299.
EASTER VINTAGE FESTIVAL HIGHFIELDS Pioneer Village is again
celebrating Easter from March 31 to April 2. Now in its 21st year, there really is something for everyone at the festival, from great food including billy tea and damper, to live music, displays of traditional Aussie skills like whip-cracking and blacksmithing, to the Grand Parade, with vintage tractors, cars and trucks, and military vehicles on the Monday. Go to the website eastervintagefestival.com to find out more or phone 4696 6309.
JIMMY BARNES
AUSSIE rock legend Jimmy Barnes is bringing his
Veteran actor keeps telling our stories
ACTIVE AGEING: The actor John Howard at Sydney's Ensemble Theatre where he is playing in Sorting Out Rachel. PHOTO: TRACEY JOHNSTONE
audiences. John currently leads a small cast of characters in Sorting Out Rachel which paints a confronting, and for some people, accurate picture of a three-generational
tussle over money and lives. Mother-daughter arguments, early inheritance demands, ignoring the needs of a child, and accepting responsibility for our indigenous heritage pours into the consciousness of audience members. “Being an actor and being in the business of telling stories about Australians is my favourite thing to do,” John said. Sorting Out Rachel is on at The J Theatre Noosa on March 21 to 23 for four performances.
GARDEN City Country Music Association’s next social is on Sunday, April 8, when their special guest artists will be Dennis and Kathy Sankey from Dalby. Dennis and Kathy are seasoned performers who give their all on stage and love entertaining crowds. On the guest artist front Garden City Country Music Association are pleased to announce they will be holding a concert on Saturday, March 24 at the Oakey Cultural Centre as part of the 2018 Country Music Rush Festival from 7pm. Guest artists at this event will be veteran Keith Jamieson, the “Guitar Pickin’ Chicken” Alisha Smith, Caitlyn Jamieson and our own local Bush Balladeer Jeff Brown. Entry is $15 per head if you turn up after 5pm or only $10 if you attend the Rush on the Saturday, making it $10 for the Rush and $10 for the concert. All enquiries regarding the club or the Rush give the secretary, Dell Lowien, a call on 4635 6429 a/h.
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JOHN Howard, one of Australia’s most recognisable actors, is keeping his career at a high with a new movie now in production giving him time to return to the stage for a very modern play. At 65 the Silver Logie award-winning actor has been in our lounge rooms and our theatres for 40 years. Think Seachange, All Saints, A Country Practice and Mad Max: Fury Road just as a start – his passionate performances, commanding statue and cheeky spirit bringing delight to Australian
Seniors 17
Highfields Pioneer Village!
18 Seniors Toowoomba & Darling Downs
seniorsnews.com.au Monday, March 12, 2018
Wellbeing
Deal with pain the Zen way Regular meditation can help clear the pain Gail Forrer
MINDFULNESS: Zen Buddhist teacher Barry Farrin, 73, is a lifelong advocate for meditation. PHOTO: GEOFF POTTER
CHRONIC pain is just that, an illness that lasts a long time and is constantly recurring. All you want to do is to get rid of it, to push it way, to fight against it and finally to be the victor in the battle against pain. But Zen Buddhist Master and retired academic Barry Farrin offers another way of dealing with pain. He is teaching a form of “mindfulness” meditation for chronic pain sufferers
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consultant counsellor in palliative and cancer care and considers meditation a way of enhancing quality of life.
❝
There’s no sitting on the floor these days. We’re all on chairs.
— Barry Farrin
He has designed a stress management program and conducts weekly mindfulness meditation training classes at Bloomhill Cancer Care on the Sunshine Coast. These days, 73-year-old
Meditation the nice and easy way
Dr med dent (Berne, Switzerland), Phd, Specialist SSRD
OPEN SATURDAYS
that asks us not to fight against pain, but in simple terms, to name and claim it and doing so, strip away the fear, anger, defeat and a multitude of other negative emotions that we attach to pain. The meditation seeks to give space for you and the pain alone, without all the associated drama that can make things worse. Barry’s life studies are wide and deep including spiritual studies in Buddhism and meditation since 1976, together with academic qualifications including Bachelor of Social Science, a Masters Degree in Applied Science. It is this knowledge that led him to work as a
Barry is retired, but his desire to do service for others is satisfied in the new and ongoing meditation classes. With his wife Marie, he is a daily meditator, but he has made a few concessions to accommodate the general aches and pains that can accompany ageing. “There’s no sitting on the floor these days,” he laughs. “We’re all on chairs.” He also indicates the once very early rises are not quite so early and the long hours of meditation have been shortened. But his commitment to teaching meditation remains steadfast. Barry describes this meditation as facing the pain as it is, rather than “battling” against it.
WE WON’T ask you to put your hand up if you find meditating difficult, even impossible. Most of us do. Trying to sit or lie still and empty the mind is impossible for many. The unwanted thoughts creep slyly in and before even a few minutes have past your mind is full of clutter and you give up. Meditation takes a lot of practice. If you succeed, good. If not, there is another way to look at it according to Amy Molloy author of The World is a Nice Place.
“I personally don’t mediate,” she said. “I see that as more of a chore. I read a book or go for a swim as an alternative to meditation because that works for me. Giving yourself comforting mechanisms that support you because they make you feel good in the moment is another way to look at meditation.” Amy Molloy has good reason to have found her own way to reach peace of mind. She has had a tumultuous life. From a dangerously premature baby, she
became a child with obsessive-compulsive tendencies, a teenager with an eating disorder and at 23, a widow. Throw in a history of depression, a father paralysed from cancer, and a tendency to have spiritual premonitions and that’s a recipe for a messed-up adult. A survivor, Amy details her long journey to recovery in her book and says she is now in a happy place where she has accepted what life throws at her and deals with it in her own way, through meditation.
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Advertising Feature
Toowoomba & Darling Downs
Seniors 19
LIVING WITH PAIN
A new look at how to deal with back pain
Specialist shares points of pain management strategy Tracey Johnstone
WITH chronic back pain numbers among seniors increasing, pain specialist Associate Professor Malcom Hogg offers some sage advice on how to manage it, and if possible, prevent it. “We know that chronic pain in general increases with age, and in particular, there is an increase in the frequency of musculoskeletal pain conditions,” the Royal Melbourne Hospital pain clinic head and Pain Australia board member, Dr Hogg said. This is likely to happen because of accumulated injury or as earlier trauma progresses to arthritic degenerative changes, age-related changes to both bones and soft tissues where the spine changes shape and you lose height, and where people have difficulty in recovering from pain at a nerve level. Management strategies Dr Hogg recommends that seniors ensure they have a broad, multi-dimensional assessment of their back pain. “The assessment of back pain in older people is complex and needs to be done over several sessions in combination with a general practitioner, a physiotherapist and possibly some surgical
assessment,” Dr Hogg said. Approaching it this way will help to gain a full understanding of it and exclude serious causes of the pain. Other strategies are: ■ For common causes of back pain, improving posture and increasing activity such as walking, doing exercises to strengthen the muscles, and linking this in with weight loss. ■ Medications are another option. Paracetamol or anti-inflammatory drugs can be used with caution as they may have side effects in an older person. In some cases, low-dose opioids can be used. In other occasional cases nerve medications may be used. ■ Injections are used to target arthritis or nerve pressure, after a specialist has assessed the pain. ■ Surgery is used where there is clear compression on the nerves creating nerve-related pain, or if there is instability between the vertebrae. “Even if people don’t have pain now, they should be actively managing muscle, joint and bone health,” Dr Hogg said. To do that he recommends: ■ Take calcium and
BACK PAIN: Even if don’t have pain now, you should be actively managing muscle, joint and bone health. PHOTO: FLYMINT AGENCY
Vitamin D for bones. ■ Participate in low-grade exercise programs. ■ Be careful with lifting. ■ Pace activities. “Back pain is so common as we age, we should be doing some preventative work,” Dr Hogg said.
“The problem with managing pain once it is established in the back is none of our treatments are particularly good because the process leading to the pain is well advanced. “We don’t have a fix once you have thin bones
and fractured spine. We can’t repair that. What we can do is restore some function.” Prevention The best choice is regular walking Dr Hogg said. While it might increase the risk of falls, Dr Hogg recommends
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wearing appropriate shoes, staying on flat surfaces and walking carefully with a good posture. “You walk to help your breathing and muscle tone around your spine, and that helps prevent back pain,” Dr Hogg said.
20 Seniors Toowoomba & Darling Downs
seniorsnews.com.au Monday, March 12, 2018
Living
An aspirational way of life Alison Houston
IT’S official: over-50s can soon get a taste of the Hamptons, Toowoomba style, with turning of the sod and work beginning on the $71 million Seachange Lifestyle Resort at Harristown. Ultimately comprising 162 houses, the first stage for Brisbane developer Pradella Property Ventures is 20 homes and a summer house to be finished by September, with a full country club to be built later. Sales and marketing director Alex McMahon
Seachange promises to break new ground for over-50s said the resort would be a game-changer in the over-50s market. This is definitely no retirement village, but marketed as an aspirational way of life aimed at a younger demographic. The focus, Alex said, was on “active community living”, reflecting the company’s ethos of “healthy mind, body and soul”. “You aren’t just buying a house, you’re buying a lifestyle, with a real Toowoomba look and feel
to it,” he said. The summer house, for example, is designed to take advantage of its north-easterly position, looking directly on to Adams Park, and features exposed white beams, timber floors, wide open verandas and lots of glass, looking directly over the heated pool, a covered outdoor area with barbecue and fire pit, and a full-size tennis court. Internally, there’s a kitchenette and bar to promote interaction, and a small library – and that’s
before we even start to talk about the larger country club, with its indoor heated pool, Men’s Shed, art studio, bowling green, gymnasium, cinema and ballroom! “We’ve definitely moved away from the idea of high-density retirement living for over-50s,” Alex said, adding that the developer’s 414-home resort at Arundel on the Gold Coast was Queensland’s most awarded, and residents averaged just 63 years
old. “We’re trying to invigorate the community to get involved and upskill in things they’ve always wanted to do,” he said. Houses, 75% of which will be north-facing with an alfresco deck, will start from $375,00 for two bedrooms, two-bath and one-car garage, up to $515,000 for a 200m sq two-bed and multi-purpose room, two bath, kitchen with walk-in pantry and double garage. With the number of Australians aged 55–75
UNDERWAY: Pradella Property Ventures, Hampton style.
expected to nearly double in the next 25 years, the company’s Emerald Lakes development on the Gold Coast selling out its first 124 homes in 18 months, and a new development just launched in Coomera, it appears Pradella is pretty confident it’s got the recipe for success. “We’re the landowner, the developer and the builder, and people like that and the confidence of dealing with a family company of over 59 years,” Alex said. For details, call 1800 546 655 or go to seachangelifestyle resorts.com.au.
PHOTO: NEV MADSEN
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WHAT YOU CAN DO It’s never too late to protect your skin even if you have sun damage from your younger years. You should monitor and act to protect your skin by: ■ Staying out of the sun at the hottest time of the day; from 11am–3pm. ■ Use SPF 50 blocker, and apply at least 15–20 minutes before going outside. ■ Reapply the blocker every two hours. ■ Wear a broad-brimmed hat. with a brim of at
MELANOMA: Expert recommends over 60s remain skin vigilant. PHOTO: SATURATED
least 7cm, rather than a baseball cap. ■ Seek shade wherever possible. ■ Wear UV protection clothing when in the sun. ■ Know the skin you are in by keeping a regular eye on it. ■ Look for changes, particularly if you have a lot of moles and freckles ■ Get your skin checked by your GP or a dermatologist. ■ You can prevent further damage if you use sun safety measures.
Monday, March 12, 2018 seniorsnews.com.au
Toowoomba & Darling Downs
Seniors 21
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22 Seniors Toowoomba & Darling Downs
seniorsnews.com.au Monday, March 12, 2018
Money
Annuities: what to know
Take a moment to consider facts before making decisions
FINANCE TONY KAYE WHEN it comes to the development of a robust framework for lifetime retirement income stream products, it seems there is still a fair way to go. In everyday language, what we’re talking about here are annuities, products especially designed for retirees that deliver a guaranteed set income for life. In the finance industry, they’re often being referred to as Comprehensive Income Products for Retirement – and there is a strong push being led by the Federal Government to make them a more attractive investment option. Indeed, the Turnbull Government used its 2016-17 Budget to announce it planned to remove many of the tax and other legislative obstacles standing in the way of the development of better retirement income products. On the surface that announcement was a step in the right direction, and retirement product providers have been working closely with the government ever since to develop a preferred structure and rules that will encourage individuals into lifetime income
products in retirement. In January the Department of Social Services released a position paper setting out proposed new social security means test rules for pooled lifetime retirement income stream products. But it hasn’t drawn favourable reviews. A follow-up report from the Actuaries Institute that reviewed the DSS paper has found the department lacking. For one thing, it notes that the DSS has not recognised the obvious fact that retirees who invest in a lifestyle retirement income product (annuity) will generally lose access to some or all of their capital. This carries a liquidity cost, because an annuity prevents individuals from accessing their funds as a lump sum. The institute also notes that the modelled scenarios by the DSS assume that retirees draw down from account-based income streams at minimum drawdown rates. But the reality is different, because those with lower assets, who are more likely to be impacted by means testing, actually tend to draw down at higher rates. The list goes on. The DSS analysis has made no allowance for the impacts of risk, with only central estimate outcomes being considered.
ANNUITIES: Do they offer you the best benefits?
Most importantly, when the DSS total outcomes are considered, including bequests, the proposals result in a significant disincentive to lifetime retirement income streams. For example, a single homeowner with $300,000 in superannuation and no other assessable assets will have their total outcome reduced by around $40,000, or 6 per cent of total outcome, under a lifetime annuity or group self-annuity product compared to an account-based income stream. The Actuaries Institute notes that the DSS
proposals have a great adverse impact on those with lower means. A single homeowner with $600,000 in superannuation and no other assessable assets has around the same outcome between an account-based income stream and a lifetime annuity compared to the 6 per cent detriment for the single homeowner with $300,000 in assets. “This is particularly important for the future development of CIPRS considering the current (and future medium term) average balances at retirement are below $300,000,” the Actuaries Institute says.
PHOTO: SQUAREDPIXELS
There are other potential problems with the DSS position paper. The DSS has suggested that 70 per cent of the purchase price of an annuity product be counted towards the age pension assets test, dropping to 35 per cent once the retiree has passed their life expectancy, as calculated at the time of purchasing the product. But the Actuaries Institute believes that the income test will likely be used more often if annuity products are adopted widely, and 70 per cent of all pension payments from annuity products will be counted in the means
testing of the pension. It recommends changes to both the assets test and the income test to cater for the growing use of annuity products, which will help level the playing field with those choosing to stick with other conventional retirement products. The lesson for retirees? Watch the CIPRS space. There is a lot more work to do by the Government and industry to create a system that will make annuities more attractive. Tony Kaye is the editor of Eureka Report, which is owned by financial services group InvestSMART. www.investsmart.com.au.
Wills Estate Planning Enduring Powers of Attorney Expert Legal Advice WITH THE PERSONAL TOUCH Looking for legal assistance? Turn to James Madden of Madden & Co, Solicitors of Toowoomba. With extensive experience in all areas of practice, he’ll work with you to help you get the outcome you want.
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Monday, March 12, 2018 seniorsnews.com.au
Seniors 23
Let’s save
For the love of family and food GROWING up in the ’60s I was very lucky to have parents who were wonderfully innovative when it came to food. My father was well before his time as he loved cooking and entertaining. His barbecues were legendary among family and friends. Sometimes we would have up to 100 people at these shindigs; much to my mum’s horror. Lamb on the spit was for special occasions. We used a manual spit which meant I spent many hours of my childhood turning the spit by hand, taking turns with my friend Beagle. There are no memories of burns so it mustn’t have been too bad; just great memories. Mum would make the salads and her special cheesecake, which she still cooks today.
We waited with our mouths watering as the dishes came out. Dad liked to try new flavours and decided to try Indian cooking in the early ’80s. He would spend days preparing the Indian feast, making butter chicken, vindaloo curry and naan bread plus many more dishes from scratch. It was very exciting to try new foods and I was always grateful that my parents opened my tastebuds to different cuisines and cultures. Have a go at using Janice’s cheesecake recipe. For more recipes, go to www.seniorsnews. com.au
JANICE’S BAKED CHEESE CAKE
Ingredients 250g packet plain sweet
HOME COOKING CHRISTINE PERKIN biscuits 125g butter, melted 3 x 250g packets cream cheese, softened 1 cup caster sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract ¼ cup of brandy Cinnamon sugar 4 eggs Fresh berries to serve Method Preheat oven to 160°C/140°C fan-forced. Grease a 6cm-deep, 22cm round (base) spring-form cake pan. Process biscuits until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add butter. Process until combined. Press mixture over base and sides of pan, leaving
DELICIOUS: Janice’s baked cheesecake.
a 2cm gap from top. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Process cream cheese, sugar, brandy and vanilla until smooth. Add eggs, one at a
time, processing until just combined. Pour into prepared pan. Bake for 50 minutes to an hour or until just set and centre wobbles slightly.
Allow to cool in oven for two hours, with door ajar. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Refrigerate overnight. Serve with raspberries for a taste sensation.
Organising sugar, spice .... and everything nice all shelves and surfaces. Make sure the pantry or cupboard space is completely dry. ●Sort and organise Sort through all the removed pantry items and divide into three groups. Put aside any items you won’t use, haven’t used in a while and any out-of-date items. Start by binning those that are out-of-date and put aside the won’t use items for a drop site of non-perishables items for the less fortunate. Those items that you haven’t used in a while are the main focus.
BE THRIFTY & THRIVE NICKY NORMAN ●Labels and storage You can group the remaining items together by using baskets or label your jars and containers. Organise the pantry in a way that makes sense to you, such as spreads and sauces, cans and jars, condiments and spices, sugar and flour and pasta and rice.
Sugar, spice and everything nice-ly organised.
This can be a stylish and practical way to organise all of your pantry items. It’s important that simplicity is key. Try not to overcrowd the area to
ensure everything is easily found when needed. Keep items or baskets on a higher shelf if not required for everyday use and the items you use more
frequently, in an easy-to-reach position. This creates a simple and effective way to a better stocked pantry. ●Get shopping Go shopping for any items that need replacing. Move any already opened items into clear, glass storage containers wherever possible. Add a label or remove the label from the item and include it with the product for future reference. Be aware of what’s on hand so you’ll use what you have.
Join Us Online Get online to find your news, your way.
Visit us at seniorsnews.com.au
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IS YOUR pantry nicely organised or a little on the messy side? Is there some spice bottles, condiments or unused jars that are well past their use-by-date? Perhaps after the Christmas chaos and New Year celebrations, you haven’t had a chance to go through what you have buried in the clutter. Let’s get organised and give your pantry a new look with these helpful organisation ideas. ●Clean and clear Remove all items from your pantry and wipe down
24 Seniors Toowoomba & Darling Downs
seniorsnews.com.au Monday, March 12, 2018
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Ph: 0412 584 611 likeableanimals@gmail.com
Professional Services
Adam Peacey, 0458 436 166
Superannuation – reduce risks and increase income
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Phone assessments, quotes, and initial meetings are complimentary.
DoHerTy HeArinG WeSTriDGe MeDiCAL CenTre 300 WeST STreeT, Kearneys Springs
Be wary if the number in the ad is disconnected. If the buyer/seller says the number is disconnected because they are overseas, ask for a landline phone number at their current location as well as a mobile phone number. All contact details of the person buying or selling the car should be verified to ensure they are genuine.
More information is available at scamwatch.gov.au
Age Pension – Check if the assessment of your benefit is correct. Aged Care – Better financial outcomes for entrants and their families.
Buyers should be cautious when dealing with car sellers that are overseas and should always arrange to view the vehicle prior to the transfer of any money.
1300 593 388 www.dohearing.com.au
adam@jemwealth.com.au
BEWARE OF SCAMS
Buyers and sellers should be cautious of possible scams when buying or selling a vehicle.
Bulked Billed Hearing Tests for Seniors Fully Government Accredited
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Professional Services
Ring foR youR complimentaRy meal!
View Public Notices Online. finda.com.au
finda Bargain!
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(07) 4632 2666
www.massageshoptoowoomba.com
Make your next transaction a Briese
I.C.E. FIRST ALERT ACCIDENT, EMERGENCY & MEDICAL I.D. DATA CARDS, KITS & LOCATORS ARE FOR EVERYBODY!
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Call
07 4613 0334
Legal
MedicReady® 604 Ruthven Street,Toowoomba, Queensland
Shop12 The Hooper centre 187 Hume street Toowoomba.
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APPOINTMENTS AVAILABLE NOW
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07 5465 9127
Enjoy a Winter Delight with HOT STONE MASSAGE
HEALTH FUND REBATE AVAILABLE
CLAIM WITH ANY
93 years of quality eye care in Toowoomba
Massage CliniC Referrals from Doctors and Specialists most welcome
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Your local optometrist
Nami Remedial
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48 Brisbane Street, Drayton OPENING HOURS P: 4614 0377 F: 4614 0367 Monday-Friday: 8am-7pm E: drayton@terrywhitechemmart.com.au Saturday: 8am-5pm Sunday: 9am-5pm
HEALTH FUND
106 Mulgowie Road
Food & Beverage
TerryWhite Chemmart Drayton
• Bus/Group Bookings Welcome Bus Groups Monday-Friday (No Public Holidays) Set Bus Menu and Pricing Available • Bike and Car Clubs Most Welcome.
• Meals • Accommodation • Pokies • Pool Table • Keno
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Health & Beauty
Freecall 1800 118 188 (24 hrs) 314 James Street, Toowoomba
187 Hume Street, Tppwomba • Ph 4639 1100 www.allanselectronic.com.au
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Judith McGrath-Colquhoun Owner and Director
Our range includes Surveillance equipment, Communications, Tools, electronic gifts & Gadgets, Solar Regulators, Inverters, NBN/SLA/ AGM Batteries, TV Antennas & cabling, Turntables, PA equipment.
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07 4634 9946
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Conveyancing: • Residential • Rural • Off the Plan • Retirement Village Property Matters: • Leasing • Commercial & Business Contracts • Mortgages & Guarantees
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Phone 07 4639 1066 4 Bowen Street, Toowoomba Q 4350 reception@connollyslawyers.com www.connollyslawyers.com
Toowoomba & Darling Downs
Monday, March 12, 2018 seniorsnews.com.au
Seniors 25
Trades & Services Home Maintenance
Jeff Hannaford Pty Ltd
Kitchen & Bathroom Renovations
Ever met a Chartered Accountant with a sense of humour?
• Seniors discount - no job too small 6649436aa
6643759aa
For a free insight into what changes you could make to your Business or life phone Jeff on 0429 894 937 or Millmerran 4695 1477 Inglewood 4652 1106 or Texas 4653 1155
48 Vanity Street, Toowoomba E: admin@coopersjoinery.com.au www.coopersjoinery.com.au
QBCC 069087 | Established 1975 PHONE US FOR A FREE QUOTE
No Call Out Charge...!
u TAPS u TOILETS u FILTERS u BURST PIPES u u GUTTER REPAIRS u HOTWATER SYSTEMS u u BLOCKED DRAINS u TANK CONNECTIONS u
Member: Master Builders - Fully Insured
Phone Alex 0407 240 358
SENIORS DISCOUNTS AVAILABLE
Ph: 0439 774 081
QBCC Licence 1033069
HOME MAINTENANCE/ CABINET MAKER
Caravan Repairs
General home maintenance Specialising in cabinet/timber work
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Prompt - Reliable
All Services
Ph Greg 0414 681 278
1 MAN UTE & TRAILER
Only work valued at $3,300 or less
Rubbish Removals
Liam: 0421 331 988 www.redshaw.com.au QBCC Licence No: 15046329
Internet Services
Roofing & Guttering
COMPUTER ISSUES?
➡ Roofing & Cladding ➡ Metal Facia & Gutter ➡ Leak Detection & Repairs ➡ Gutter Replacement ➡ Gutter Cleaning
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Pick Up Remove & Deliver Furniture Items
LAPTOPS PrinTer SeTuP iT SuPPOrT new COmPuTer SeTuP ViruS remOVAL
METAL ROOFING
SERVICING TOOWOOMBA AREA
Call us todayy more to find out m 4 3881 3884 0408 870 751
Over 31 Years Experience
Please ask for available pensioner discounts when you call
Family owned and operated
We really are Australia’s Indian
AUTHORISED WARRANTY AGENT JAYCO - NEW AGE - THETFORD – DOMETIC –ALKO – COAST TO COAST WARRANTY
OLD-FASHIONED COUNTRY STYLE HOSPITALITY
• Situated in the quaint country town of Cambooya, 10 minutes from Toowoomba on the Warwick Road. • Experience the authentic 1900’s old world atmosphere • Lunch and dinner 7 days • The ultimate dining experience, delicious gourmet menu • Seriously good coffee, daily meal specials, take away meals & pizzas • Comfortable quality country style accommodation
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QBCC: 700205
Olsens Produce
13 Lyons Street, Warwick QLD P. 07 4661 2455 E. olsensproduce@westnet.com.au
TEAM TRADE WASTE PTY LTD Specialising in Service, Maintenance and Repair of all brands of domestic
Electrical Services
sewerage, treatment plants.
Providing friendly reliable service to Toowoomba and surrounds Call now for an obligation free quote
04088 04066
Phone 5465 7777 or 0407 777 632
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Solar Energy Services
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The experts in Solar
• French Pastries baked daily • Plenty of room for walkers etc. • Seniors menu and discount
FRENCH PASTRIES FROM OUR OVEN FROM $1.85
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• We are opposite Rivers
We can provide all your powe power and electrical requirements either commercial or domestic. Overhead & Underground Power ‘From the Pole to the Power Point’
Phone 4638 3411
Save $50 off per Kw When you mention this ad
07 5426 7548 polefoundations.com
461 Ruthven Street Toowoomba
Seniors Special
Licence No. 80903
Home Maintenance
Awnings & Blinds
Electrical License # QLD: 72258 | NSW: 227562C
FEZZY’S PEST CONTROL & MAINTENANCE
BOOK YOUR FREE QUOTE TODAY!
• Qualified, Licenced and Insured
• Termite Inspections & Termite Management
• General Pest Control
• Lawn Care
• rodent Treatment
• Small Maintenance jobs
122 Jellicoe St Toowoomba
07 4639 2535
sales@completeblindsandawnings.com.au
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NDIS Provider & proud to assist our community Servicing Ipswich, Lockyer Valley and Toowoomba, surrounding areas
Mention this ad to receive a special offer.
Contact Office: 0422 471 270 Email: fezzywezzy@hotmail.com ABN: 28 044 991 994 | QBCC 1268163
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Painting & Decorating Services
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We don’t have problem pests We have Pest Solutions!
Treat your home to a new look! Special Packages available for Seniors
1300 18 20 50
www.saegroup.com.au Watering & Irrigation
MITCHELL MONCRIEFF
WE CLEAN
PAINTING 0432 053 660 ABN 62275096175 LIC. 270912C
- All Jobs Considered - Free Quotes -
www.pristinewater.com.au
WATER TANKS
WATER FILTERS - Supply & Service 6652154aa
• Homemade Healthy menu
• Animal supplements and medications • Agronomic and nutritional services • Fencing supplies • Horse rugs, dog coats and much more...
Septic / Sewerage Services
For all your lawn care needs
Call Kath’s Cleaning 0427 307271
Phone: 4696 1235 | Fax: 4696 1335
Suppliers of: • All rural needs • Pet Food • Stock feed • Hay and Chaff • Seed, chemical and fertilizer
All aspects of landscaping including Retaining walls • Sandstone • Block • Timber • Paving • Garden Creation
Green Envy Lawn & Landscape
MORE THAN JUST CLEANING SERVICES FOR THE ELDERLY
B L & BARLEY BULL BA INN N
Landscape and Paving
Mobile: 0417 709 846
Cleaning
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(07) 4613 6453
Popeys
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Rural Services
LANDSCAPE and PAVING
Unit 5/36 Deakin street, Brendale QLD 4500 6655830aa
Shop 18, The Ridge Shopping World Kearney’s Spring QLD 4350
pineseed.com.au
Landscape & Garden Services
General Servicing and maintenance Brakes and Bearing • Modifications Insurance Repair – RACQ - Suncorp group – Ken Tame – QBE and more AL-KO Esc • Purple line product installeer Suspension Work Rollout Awning – Kakadu Annexes Air conditioning No Job is too Small 0r to Big Member CTIA
Mon to Sun 10 am to 10 pm Open normal hours during XMAS & NY 7 days a week
1800 598 611
Ph: Craig: 0401 502 679
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CARAvAN CARAv RAvA vAN SERvICE & REpAIRS
When You Find it’s Time to Sell... Visit www.finda.com.au or phone 1300 136 181.
10% Discount for Seniors
Call Brad: 0429 554 496 brad@pristinewater.net.au
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B& B
A.B.N. 57 129 661 150
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Phone Lee 0401 581 145
CONSTRUCTIONS PTY LTD
All Your Metal Roofing Craig McInnes Requirements QBCC ACT LIC 1131889 Repairs & Maintenance Commercial & Domestic - All Areas
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WE WILL COME TO YOU
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Lawn Mowing Waterblasting Driveways/Patios Fully Insured
www.bullandbarleyinn.com.au
QBCC 47747
• Licenced Water Proofer
4634 2333
What can Jeff and his staff solve?? Anything!!
Jeff Hannaford is a Community Chartered Accountant and Trouble Shooter who has been in business since 1978 when he opened up his first office in Inglewood. His business has now grown with another 2 offices in Texas and Millmerran. Jeff supports the AOOB Organisation because they are involved in charity and charity begins at home.
Alex the hAndymAn • General property maintenance and services
Complete the Lifestyle You Deserve
With a nickname of “Hairy” Contact Jeff Hannaford who is a community minded Chartered Accountant and doubles as a Trouble Shooter.
Plumbing Services
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Cabinet Making
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Accountants / Bookkeeping / Tax
26 Seniors Toowoomba & Darling Downs
seniorsnews.com.au Monday, March 12, 2018
Reviews It will change your view of Alzheimer’s WENDY Mitchell’s book Somebody I Used to Know is compelling reading for anyone with any level of interest in the insidious disease. Wendy’s account of her journey from being diagnosed with early onset dementia at age 58 through the slow process of brain decline is detailed and insightful. While it’s not an easy subject to read about, Wendy has done a superb job at sharing the actions she has taken to outwit Alzheimer’s and the experience of the slow memory decline. Independent, gutsy, fit, efficient, a mother of two girls with a successful career in non-clinical
nursing and a job that entailed a huge amount of responsibility juggling staff rosters for hundreds of nurses, Wendy’s realisation that all was not well with her health has led her on a journey through developing strategies to
cope, thrive and for as long as possible, survive. The UK mother first worked with her daughters to ensure they both had an understanding of the disease and then practically dealt with the legal details of enduring guardianship and caring roles. There are moments of great sadness within the story, but also snapshots of the cheeky side to her warm character. “I live for the moment. I don’t plan any more. I just enjoy each day as it come,” Wendy says. Published by Bloomsbury, it’s available at bookshops and online. RRP $35.
The Passengers AUSTRALIAN-born war bride Sarah and her granddaughter Hannah are on a cruise from San Diego to Sydney. Sarah has not returned to her birthplace since 1946 when she left on the ‘bride ship’, the USS Mariposa, to start life with her new American serviceman husband after the war. Hannah is the same
age Sarah was on her maiden voyage, and she listens avidly to her grandmother’s life story, seeing her for the first time as a woman and a person with a past. The Passengers is about the journeys we undertake in the name of love. Published by Allen & Unwin, available in book stores. RRP $29.99
The Pearler’s Wife FROM the high seas to the deep seabed, from the latticed verandahs of Buccaneer Bay to the gambling dens in Asia Place, The Pearler’s Wife is a stunning debut, inspired by a small yet pivotal moment in Australian history. A distant land. A dangerous husband. A forbidden love. It is 1912, and Maisie Porter stands on the deck
of the SS Oceanic as England fades from view. Her destination is Buccaneer Bay in Australia’s far northwest. Her purpose – marriage to her cousin Maitland, a wealthy pearling magnate and a man she has never met. Published by Penguin Random, Roxane Dhand’s The Pearler’s Wife is in bookshops. RRP $32.99.
To longevity, and good hair Ann Rickard
MY MOTHER, a few months away from the grand age of 99, took up residence in a care facility only a year ago. Until then she had lived alone in an old house. Hers is a good care facility and she is happy. Indeed, it’s so comfortable whenever I visit I sometimes have the notion to swap places with her. She will never again be too hot or too cold. Her facility is climate-controlled year-round with a perfect temperature no matter what is going on outside. This has never been the case her entire life. She was either freezing in the winter or wilting in the summer. She has a very pleasant room looking out over green lawns and leafy trees and flourishing foliage. And her bed... goodness knows what it cost. It is super high-tech and can be adjusted to what height or laid-back position she wants just by the pressing of a button. She has company now, where before she did not. Now there is always
someone around to lasso into a game of Scrabble or for a sit and chat. Along with the other residents she has people who come in weekly to entertain her. Musicians and magicians and the like. Singalongs are popular. I found myself joining in during one visit, singing so lustily to Hernando’s Hideaway all the residents stopped singing to stare at me. I like to think, in appreciation. A menu arrives each day telling her what to expect for breakfast, morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner. I have watched the afternoon tea trolley come around laden with fresh fruit, home made cakes, cookies and sandwiches. If she wants to, she can invite a guest (or two) to come in for a Ritz-like afternoon tea, where a tiered plate of cucumber sandwiches, scones, jam and cream, and cakes is served with a pot of proper, freshly brewed tea. A gold coin donation is all that is required for this festive tea party held in a light-filled communal room. Needless to say, I enjoyed the scones with their pile of cream and
NEW DO: You’re never too old to have a modern hairstyle, even as a 99 year old ‘senior’. PHOTO: PURESTOCK
jam so much I left many gold coins in appreciation. There is but one thing the mother is not quite happy about – the hairdressing situation. A hairdresser comes in
and attends to the needs of anyone who wants her services. Convenient, but the said hairdresser gives everyone the same haircut whether they be male or
female, long or short of hair, probably even bald. Mother is not happy with a generic one-size-fits-all haircut. So, on our last visit, we took mother to a
hairdresser at the local mall. Getting a frail and small near 99-year-old out of her room, into a car, into a wheelchair and then into a shopping mall and to a hairdresser is quite the project but everyone was happy. We wheeled the mother into the hairdresser, explained the situation to a young woman, said mother wanted ‘something modern’ and then wheeled her to the mirror and left her there for 30 minutes. When we returned to pick up the newly coiffed mother and pay, the young hairdresser looked at us, and said in a genuine tone: “Is she a senior? We give discounts to seniors”. I know, I can hardly believe it myself. Admittedly the mother had gone in with a dud hair cut but still...? My first response was: “No, she had her 21st birthday last week. She did a few hand stands to celebrate”. But I refrained, paid the bill and received the senior’s discount. Life is always amusing. Read more of Ann at www.annrickard.com.
Puzzles
Monday, March 12, 2018 seniorsnews.com.au
G E N E R A L K N O W L E D G E
1
2
3
4
6
ACROSS 6 What is the medical name for the big toe? (6) 7 What type of angel is usually portrayed as a winged child? (6) 10 What are lederhosen traditionally made of? (7) 11 “Good-night, good-night! Parting is such sweet sorrow” was said to which Shakespearean character? (5) 12 What is Homer Simpson’s favourite beer? (4) 13 What word is applied to a badly mannered unsophisticated Australian? (5) 16 What did Miss Muffet eat with whey? (5) 17 What Arab ship has one or two triangular sails? (4) 20 What word can be preceded by cold, lonely and purple? (5) 21 What creature is a southern African kreef? (7) 22 What sea lies between Greece and Turkey? (6) 23 What instrument was Louis Armstrong given to play when he was in the Coloured Waifs’ Home in New Orleans? (6)
5
7
8
9 10
11
12
13 14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
Toowoomba & Darling Downs
DOWN 1 Where, in 1874, did the US’s first zoo open? (12) 2 What is another name for lucerne? (7) 3 What Japanese dish has rice with seafood, vegetables etc rolled in seaweed? (5) 4 What sweet effervescent powder was formerly sold in a paper sachet with a liquorice straw? (7) 5 What painful muscular contraction affects playing athletes? (5) 8 Which band did Bob Geldof form in 1974? (8,4) 9 What creature has been the logo of the French company Lacoste since the 1930s? (9) 14 What is the monetary unit of Guatemala? (7) 15 What is mixed with linseed oil to make traditional putty? (7) 18 What surname did British singer and actor Elaine Bickerstaff adopt? (5) 19 What is a version of a printed book that can be read on a computer? (1-4)
Fill the grid so every column, every row and 3x3 box contains the digits 1 to 9.
QUICK CROSSWORD 1
2
3
4
8
5
6
7
9
5x5
ALPHAGRAMS
insert the missing letters to make ten words — five reading across the grid and five reading down.
Solve the anagrams. Each solution is a one-word anagram of the letters beside it, and the five solutions are sequential. For example, if the fiveletter solution starts with J, the six-letter solution starts with K, and so on.
L L
11 12
17
18 20
19
able bach back backhoe backs bake bakes bale bales balk balks base bash bask beach beak beck belch black blah bleach bleak bloc block blocks bloke bock bolas bole bosh cable cables lobe lobs obeah sable scab SHOCKABLE slab slob
GK CROSSWORD
Across: 1. Loose change 8. Colours 9. Rages 10. Eddy 11. Economy 12. Ban 13. Plea 15. Else 17. Dud 19. Moocher 20. Bars 23. Stall 24. Vibrate 25. Derangement. Down: 1. Lacked 2. Oiled 3. Emus 4. Hasten 5. Narrowed 6. Engross 7. Essays 12. Bachelor 14. Leopard 16. Amused 17. Driven 18. Assent 21. Agape 22. Able.
WORD GO ROUND
How many words of four letters or more can you make? Each letter must be used only once and all words must contain the centre letter. There is at least one nine-letter word. No words starting with a capital are allowed, no plurals ending in s unless the word is also a verb. TODAY: Good 20 Very Good 29 Excellent 35+
Solution opposite
BLACKOUT
ALPHAGRAMS: kiLLS, LAPSED, MANuRES, NEuROSiS, OutSPOkEN.
Find a finished crossword by deleting one of the two letters in each divided square.
QUICK CROSSWORD
DOUBLE CROSS
SUDOKU
5x5 E N D E D
S E
Down 1. Needed (6) 2. Lubricated (5) 3. Flightless birds (4) 4. Hurry (6) 5. Tapered (8) 6. Fascinate (7) 7. Literary works (6) 12. Unmarried man (8) 14. Spotted hunter (7) 16. Entertained (6) 17. Urged onward (6) 18. Agreement (6) 21. Wide open (5) 22. Competent (4)
Across: 6 Hallux, 7 Cherub, 10 Leather, 11 Romeo, 12 Duff, 13 Ocker, 16 Curds, 17 Dhow, 20 Heart, 21 Lobster, 22 Aegean, 23 Cornet. Down: 1 Philadelphia, 2 Alfalfa, 3 Sushi, 4 Sherbet, 5 Cramp, 8 Boomtown Rats, 9 Crocodile, 14 Quetzal, 15 Whiting, 18 Paige, 19 E-book.
523
WORD GO ROUND
B
N
SOLUTIONS
25
K C
SKiLL PLEAdS SURNAME RESiNOUS SOUP TOKEN
E
Note: more than one solution may be possible.
24
Across 1. Coins (5,6) 8. Shades (7) 9. Rants (5) 10. Whirlpool (4) 11. Frugality (7) 12. Prohibit (3) 13. Appeal (4) 15. Otherwise (4) 17. Flop (3) 19. Scrounger (7) 20. Excludes (4) 23. Play for time (5) 24. Oscillate (7) 25. Madness (11)
D R
21
22 23
I
S
R E I G N
16
N
V
15
A N O D E
14
N
L I V E R
13
R
B L A S T
10
O L
3/3
23
SUDOKU
A H
Seniors 27
E d P U O E J d M S R M S H N
A R T N O U V E A U i A J A R
F A W S i R E A U C R G H L Q
S T A N d O F F S K U N G F U
J M B A F Z U A d E B O U N K
S T O P G O C P A R A L L E L
W H E Z d N V U Y T R i Q L L
V E R B O E S T E R d A L S O
d A Y U V Z R O R O B A B O W
S T R i C K E N R P L A i N T
Z R J L U E Q E O E S L X Q Q
W i N d E R U d O W d i E S T
F C d i M N U i S A i G M U i
d A M N N E V E R Y T H i N G
R L C G V L i T C S F T i K P
BLACKOUT
Work out which squares need to be deleted to reveal a completed crossword. Solution opposite
DOUBLE CROSS
A S d R A T T A U N S N A O d E U R O Z V F d E A F A S U C K E U M A G N O J G H A L F N R U
S V S T H E A T O R R P B U i G C O N E K S E P U T O N A E R R O P A L L i A A L L i E L S O N L O T
d O E W d L i E S T
W d R i C A N M L d i N E E R N E V i E R A Y T G H i U N G
K T S T L G L
Discover Australia A Seniors News Special Feature
There’s still time for businesses to get involved. Phone 1300 880 265 to find out more!
throughout april, Seniors news network will be turning the spotlight on all things australia when it comes to travel! Our editorial team is working hard on the Discover australia lift-out to help our readers plan their next domestic getaway. We’re excited to begin sharing the results via the 118,000 print papers distributed monthly from Gosford through to Bundaberg, on our Facebook page with an active following of 24,000+, and also the Seniors News website which attracts in excess of 25,000 unique visitors every month. If you haven’t done it yet, why not check us out online at www.seniorsnews.com.au or facebook.com/seniorsnews
Our readers have told us that they travel on average
3 times every year
and that 2/3 of them
are actively planning their next domestic holiday.
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Discover Australia will publish in the April 9 edition of Seniors Gold Coast.
Living + Money + WeLLbeing + HeaLtH