Above the President Kevin Dore presented David Finlay with an Honorary Life Membership of the Gracemere Men's Shed on behalf of all the members.
Over the past 10 years or more David dedicated a lot of his time into auditing the financials for our shed, he also had a lot to do to make us legal with the office of Fair Trading and the ANCN. David also spent a lot of time to bring our shed's constitution up to date. Hours and hours of work has been done behind the scenes and all of our shed members thank David very much for the effort he has put in over the years.

Presentation to Sarah Mitchel- Anyon

Today we had the pleasure of presenting Sarah with a bouquet of flowers after a short speech by our President Kevin Dore. Kevin thanked her along with the Stanwell Corporation for all the valuable assistance they have given our shed since it was first opened in 2014 at 101 Ian Besch Drive Gracemere. Sarah bought along Brett a third year apprentice to show him first hand how our Men's Shed was set up and operated.

During the morning tea break Sarah and Brett outlined their rolls at Stanwell that was interesting to our members. Also during the morning Sarah passed onto us some very worthwhile tips to help us proceed now and to continue with our safety programs well into the future. We are sincerely grateful for these wise words that help us to expand and attract new members.

Above we have the president of the Gracemere Men's Shed Kevin Dore accepting a very generous donation from David Forward President of the Sons of the Southern Cross, a group of Harley Davidson enthusiasts. David had two members of the Rocky Chapter with him who arrived today the 27th July 2023 on three very different model Harley Davidsons, each bike was in immaculate condition. We gave them a tour of our shed and they were impressed with the type of work we can do and the projects we undertake from time to time.

Above is the new access to our Gracemere Men's Shed for the general public to visit plus it is to make easy access for those who are wheelchair bound. This pathway was made possible by the generous donation from the Sons of the Southern Cross Rocky Chapter Inc. Motor Cycle Club. We thank them very much for this. Thanks has to go to Col who organized the project plus Graham who help with the majority of the work plus Peter and Chris who gave some help but mostly moral support. Overall a great outcome, well done to everyone involved.

The Wholesale Paint Group have been exceptionally good in giving us all the help we needed to be able to stain and lacquer our projects once we completed them. With their knowledge and perserverance we have gained so much that has greatly improved the way in which we now finish our projects to a much higher standard that is acceptable to all.

Work has been done in the shed building a new book case to house all the various books we have collected over the past 10 years. Three shed members lead by Chris helped greatly to achieve the desired outcome. Thanks to Ted and Ron for the help they gave during the construction. The 18mm ply came from the Stanwell Corporation and the pine to make up the timber edge strips came from Dyno Noble at Bajool and we thank these companies for their generosity as it helps us greatly at our Men's Shed. The bulk of the shelving was sprayed with 5 coats of clear lacquer before the units were installed in the room then the timber edging was glued and tacked in place, trimmed, sanded then all the edging was hand painted with the clear lacquer to finally complete the project.

The new office desk above allows for two people to sit side by side when working on important documentation that is required from time to time. The old curved desk was only good for one person to use. Chris made this desk using 18mm ply recycled from the Stanwell Corporation after they completed a shut down for maintenance. The finish was done using a 60% Lacquer to highlight the timber grain.

BBBBBB

Barns

Gracemere's Australia Day 26th January 2023

The members of the Gracemere Men's Shed were invited to manage the Australia Day Sausage sizzle at the Touch of Paradice Park Gracemere from 9:00am to Midday. Rockhampton Regional Division 4 Councillor Ellen Smith inspecting our set up prior to us serving 200 sausages and drinks for the morning. We are proud to be asked each year to do this for the R.R.C. and our community. Thanks to R.R.C. for putting on this free event and the ladies who supplied the light entertainment.

An old Time Rocking Chair Repaired

Heading 1

Our shed was recently asked if we could make up a new seat and totally restore this old time rocking chair back to somewhat like it was when it was manufactured many years ago.

The cane chair was bought into our shed to have it restored to what it would have looked like when new. Full credit to Col a member of the shed who has done an excellent job on this project. Thanks also to Kevin who sprayed the clear lacquer to finish the project to such a high standard.

Mango BBQ Top with steel legs

The BBQ table legs were made by members of the shed using 75x75 box steel frame and the top was installed by the owners who had the mango slab and they finished it with a clear coating to highlight the grain in the timber.

Donation Boxes, Christmas Trees

The above left donation boxes made for the Rotary Club of Rockhampton Fitzroy and on the right we made up 25 Christmas Trees for the Royal Flying Doctor Service based in Rockhampton.

The above replica stubby was turned up by Peter at our shed for a member of the public who lives in Gracemere. He was very impressed with the end result.

Stanwell Corporation Visit Gracemere Men's Shed

Above on the left from left to right Kevin (President GMS) Jessica and Paige getting a first hand look at the operation of the new drum sander that was made possible by a grant from the Stanwell Corporation.
on the right from left to right was Howard(GMS) Alan(SC) Kevin(GMS)
Paige (SC) and Chris(GMS). Our Gracemere Men's Shed sincerely thank the Stanwell Corporation for all the help they have given us since the shed was founded at the end of 2013.

Stanwell Corporation

Above Left is our Thicknesser and the Jointer connected to an overhead dust extraction system. On the right is the suction pipes with automatic gates that turn on when a machine is being operated and bottom center is the cyclone vacuum unit set up and all this is thanks to the Stanwell Corporation Grants.

The members of the Gracemere Men's Shed would like to acknowledge the donation of money the Stanwell Corporation made to our shed as we were coming out of lockdown to the Covid-19. This generous donation made it possible for us to purchase all the extra sanitizing material that was required to keep our shed running safely during these trying times and is ongoing until further notice.
Thanks to the Management and staff of the Stanwell Corporation for making this possible.

Above is a one third model replica of the Gracemere RSL's Cenotaph that is going to be used at the Warraburra State School to commemorate ANZAC day celebrations. This unit has been painted white to complete the project. Thanks to Dennis who constructed the unit plus Howard for doing the painting and Allan who made the wreath on his 3 D printer, well done all round by members of the Gracemere Men's Shed.

Above is a Ceremonial Flag Stand made for the Gracemere RSL Club.
It was done by Dennis, Howard and Kevin. When Tony from the RSL Club called in to see finished product he was very pleased with the workmanship that went into it. To get the desired finish it was stained and finished with a clear lacquer.

The above is the completed solid timber dinning room table and legs that was totally striped back to bare wood before Kevin could stain and lacquered it with three coats to bring it up to the high level of finish required. The legs will be installed at delivery.

Above is an imitation gate made from a shipping pallet for Mavericks Rockhampton.

Rob had the fittings and with help from Cliff they made up these gold weighing scales using solid red cedar. In the centre they made up a small draw to hold the weights.

Above is a set of bangle holders and on the left is a babies clothes rack made for Mavericks based in Allenstown Rockhampton plus we have several other items under construction for them. The bottom two are necklace stands that will be stained in a dark colour to highlight the items that will be on display. We have stained the necklace stands and the babies cloths rack plus we made up 10 more triangle bracelet
stands plus coned ring holders.

Above are the units put to good use at Mavericks Allenstown Rockhampton. We have just completed making these 5 sunglass stands that will be delivered after we have spray stained them. With the sunglasses stands all stained in a maple finish we only have one small business type stand to complete the original order.

The four above are jewellery stands for holding business type cards to display small jewellery type items.These were finished using a maple stain.

Above is a Jack and Jill seat that we made up for a lady who wanted it made out of hardwood as it is to be used outdoors and to protect it from the weather we oiled it. This unit looks very good once it was oiled as it bought the grain in the timber out.

We made this Jack and Jill seat out of pine timber as it is to be used under cover. When Tony collected it for his daughter he said she would decide how and what to finish it with. Tony was very impressed when he saw it for the first time. Thanks to Dennis who did the bulk of the work at the Gracemere Men's Shed.

This scale model rail road system was in kit form and Tom and Peter "S" put their hands up to take on the project. It took them many hours of work getting all the details correct. They had to get the track right then build the tunnel and rail station. Even the ballast on the tracks looks real. Top job Tom and Peter. Sadly shortly after this photo was taken Tom passed away.

Above is the train set being test run to make sure all the tracks are working and all the points work as they are supposed to do and it all worked to perfection once finished. The boys delivered this to the owner who was overjoyed with the end result when he saw it for the first time.

Above is a cat climbing setup to help amuse a couple of cats in a back yard in Rockhampton. It is a plan and build as I (Chris Bailey) went along and it seems to be turning out OK so far and we used some indoor/outdoor carpet on the ramps and the top of the two boxes on the bottom. After this it was painted brown and we delivered it by the middle of January. I took on doing this project between doing other things in the shed.

On the left is an Astronomy Chair that Alan and Ron made up from plans a gentleman bought into our shed and they did and excellent job. Centre is four Buddy Seats made up for the Rotary Club of Rockhampton Fitzroy, the steel legs were cut and welded by Lorne and Peter and the timber machined by Col, Chris and Peter then assembled before being oiled ready for the Rotary Club to install them into local schools. On the right is a number of frames made up for Lysaght Rockhampton to display the older style of roofing iron and the different logos on some of them, thanks to Peter for making these up.

Col and Chris made up this foot stool for Col's sister-in-law who lives in Laidley. After the base was made and clear lacquered Col took it into Allenstown Upholstery Service who did a first class job doing the upholstery.

This Yard Glass Display Stand was made by Cliff. These Yard Glasses are far and few between these days.

2022 End of Year Dinner at Gracemere Bowls Club.

Our Members and their Partners enjoyed a great night at the Gracemere Bowls Club on the

02 December to celebrate a fantastic year at our Men's Shed.

Top marks to the Gracemere Bowls Club and to the caterer Gloria Mather for their efforts on

the night.

President Kevin Dore welcomed Members and Partners and wished everyone an enjoyable evening.
Kevin also congratulated our eldest member Lawrie Lucke on celebrating his 91st birthday.
Our thanks go to two local Gracemere businesses who donated prizes for our evening's raffle, with the Lawrie Street Butcher donating a $50.00 meat tray and Gossips Coffee and Chat in the Gracemere Shopping Centre donating a $25.00 voucher. Colin Proudley and Colin Matthews were the lucky winners.
We also conducted a members draw with both Chris Bailey and Ken Lawrence winning $50.00 vouchers.