Gone Fishing ...

Several days ago I mentioned a good friend our ours - Dolly Jerome. Dolly is pretty nifty with her weaving techniques and as promised I thought I would show you her Catfish - it hangs up here in the shop and is a constant source of entertainment for the kids when their mum's are occupied printing their photos.

Threading the needle ....

Mullumbimby Textile & Fibre Artist Pat Skene has recently introduced me to the art of fabric manipulation - there is a jacket in the making - but time is what I need to get it finished - which I might add is a very precious commodity around here - stay tuned on that subject - the jacket that is not time! Machine Embroidery, Patchwork & Quilting, Felting, Beading, Hand Embroidery and Fabric Painting just to name a few 'things' that she does!!! TenterGrafiX has has heard quite a few 'oohs' and 'corrs' coming from the Gallery end of the shop where we have some of her work on display.

Hello Dolly .......

For a few months now we have had the pleasure of displaying fibre work by local artist Dolly Jerome. Dolly, an avid collector of all 'things' nature collects local grasses found along the banks of Tenterfield Creek and its tributaries. Either in a class situation or just kicking back at home she sets about making traditional fibre containers. The fibres used range from Palm fronds, Lamandra, Raffia, Gumnuts and Bullrush. Remind me to show you her Catfish .......

Variety Concert

Tenterfield had the privilege of enjoying a variety concert last night par excellence!
With locals still picking up the pieces from the January floods it was second nature for Berryl Dean & Chris Markham to put their heads together and put up a plan for an evening of entertainment.
The Rotary Club of Tenterfield, an ever-ready band of troopers, got themselves involved, as did many other unsung heroes behind the scenes. The upshot, a very enjoyable evening of entertainment.

Chris Markham, Barry Patterson, Lorraine Rhodes-Roberts and Jan Ross were accompanied by the very capable Grant Ovenden on Grand Piano, to give us songs like ‘Ordinary Miracles’, ‘Don’t put your daughter on the stage Mrs Worthington’, ‘Will you still love me tomorrow’ and ‘I dreamed a dream’. Local Acapella group Pitching Tents gave us four traditional songs in the round, while up and coming local, Sara Eriksson complete with her guitar, sang two beautiful songs that she had written.
Local favourite Cameron Bolton complete with trusty guitar (highly decorated with stickers gathered from a recent overseas trip) belted out cover versions of Diesel and Paul Kelly – go Cameron!
If you thought the evening was purely song – you couldn’t have been more mistaken – John McMahon and Erica Cossins put on their dancing shoes and brought us Cha Cha, Rumba and Rock’n’Roll whilst Stacey Hayne offered a beautiful ballet display followed in the second half by a contemporary piece.
Local Bush Poet Tony Kelly brought the house down with his stories especially when most of the audience had a fair idea (or thought they did) on who he was talking about!
Peter & Michael 2/3 of Welders Dog http://www.weldersdog.com/ (David had to work) sang their self penned songs ‘Troubadour’ and ‘Eureka’ accompanied by mandola and lagerphone. Now there’s a group to watch out for. Georgie Chorley drove all the way from Armidale to join her friends on stage singing a haunting ‘I think it’s going to rain today’ and the more up tempo ‘The wind cries Mary’ whilst accompanying herself on the Grand Piano.
Finally, back on old stomping ground (namely the School of Arts stage where he first performed at age 4) …. Gary Shearston! http://www.garyshearston.com/. Along with his son Luke, who plays drums on his fathers latest CD ‘Renegade’ Gary gave us ‘Dingo’ and ‘Tenterfield’.
For those that missed out – don’t worry there are tickets still available for the Matinee performance this Saturday afternoon. But hurry – they won’t last once the word is out!!!
Just for good measure a huge group of business houses have put up a bucket load of goodies all of which will be auctioned off on the Saturday evening at The Tavern.
Money raised from these events will go to Flood Relief in the local Tenterfield Shire district.

TENTERFIELD FLOOD APPEALS

So you thought it was all over ... not so!

Still a lot of clearing up to do with no end in sight for some. Tenterfield however, is a tough little back block - if there is a way of doing something we will find it!

In January a group of 'Old Fellas' - I mean nice blokes ... got together in The Royal Hotel and had a fundraiser - brilliant time - good music and excellent company - raised a little bit of money to go in the kitty.

Well stay tuned .... there's another event tonight in the Tenterfield School of Arts ... Sponsored by the Rotary Club of Tenterfield - A Variety Concert - tell you all about it tomorrow!

TENTERFIELD SHOW - 2011

TenterGrafiX has been involved with the Photography section of the Tenterfield Show for the last 6 years. Each and every one of those years has seen a gradual clime in entries. It doesn’t seem to matter if you have a throw-away or a camera with all the bells and whistles - the standard of the photographs has become and remains extremely high. Not bad for a small country town!!

Despite the cancellation of the Stud Cattle, Shearing, Utes and Motorbike events – because of something called A FLOOD .... The Show will go on!

According to the President the show this year will be no different. Two bars, entertainment featuring a range of local acts and showcasing the talent our area has. However, a few programme changes have been made:

* The six-bar jump, to be held late Friday afternoon in front of the Grandstand with big prize money, should be exciting both for jumping enthusiasts and everyone else in the crowd.
* The Tenterfield Fire Brigade demonstrations should also provide a lot of excitement and interest.
* The Prime Cattle Auction is back with The President’s Trophy Young Auctioneers Competition. This will be held Friday 5.30pm at the cattle yards on the Western side of the Showground.
* Dressage has been moved to Saturday at the Miles Street Arena, allowing horse exhibitors to have a go at the event.
* Motor bikes will be held on the Sunday at the Pelham Street bike track, with a BBQ and raffle.
* The new alpaca animal and product expo should interest many show-goers.

All the usual Show attractions are back - dog trials, show hacks, Rodeo on Friday and Saturday nights, plus fireworks Friday, demolition derby Saturday and Campdraft Sunday – all adding to an action packed show for the whole family.

The 134th Show will be on 4, 5 and 6 February at the Tenterfield Showgrounds, Tenterfield.

If you would like further details regarding the show, please visit the Show's website, http://www.tenterfieldshow.org.au/.

Want to see some 'HAPPY SNAPS' ??? Why not visit our Gallery with the following link:

http://www.tentergrafix.com.au/events.html

Please Note:

All the photographs are for sale with the profits going back to the Show Society.

• 6x4 - $4.00
• 5x7 - $9.00
• 8x10 - $12.00
• 8x12 - $15.00
  
  
  

2011 TENTERFIELD FLOODS - The Aftermath

Tenterfield became isolated on Tuesday 10.1.2011 and with further rainfall expected the same night things were not looking good for the town or the Shire.

The New England and Bruxner Highways; Douglas, Scott, Manners, High and Naas Streets; Rouse St North; Mt Lindsay, Washpool Creek, Geyers, Old Ballendean, Sunnyside Loop, Sunnyside Platform, Mt McKenzie, Gunyah, Pyes Creek, Plains Station & Hootens Roads and Harrigans Lane were all closed!

Molesworth Street became the Highway - it being the only access available to get from one side of town to the other ... that was until a fire truck became stuck in a rather large hole on the bridge!

Several houses in town were evacuated as were a number of rural properties.

With heavy rains having fallen in late 2010 and again, earlier this month, the Tenterfield Shire (all 728,890 hectares of it) had been declared a natural disaster area.

Well there's no arguing that point now. (we live a the southern end of town and between 4 and 11th January we had 388mm).

Stories keep coming in: farm machinery moved to higher ground whilst flood water creep in behind you. A race back down the hill to retrieve important papers from the house. Historical effects collected by family members over the centuries gone or just out in the paddock covered in silt. Hay salvaged from sheds. Extensive damage to Vineyards. Commercial crops under water - some salvaged, others not - roads washed away so precious crops couldn't be taken to market anyway.

As the waters kept rising we kept watching for major damage - the folk on the west side could not believe what was happening - Bluff, Deepwater, Mole and Duraresq Rivers all joining forces - 5m or more - rising well above the 1976 records.

No power (poles dragged into the river and taken away who knows where), no landlines or mobile phones - so no means of communication with the outside world. Bruxner Highway at Mingoola gone. Power lines and fencing looking like spaghetti lying over the paddock and roads - Bitumen tossed by the wayside complete with their double white lines for company.

Now, some 21 days later, residents are still walking around shaking their heads. We hear of food, water and fuel supplies still being airlifted to Wangrah Wilderness Lodge down the Bluff River and to other isolated properties around Mingoola where a 2klm stretch of trees were ripped out by a wall of water.

We might have bright blue skies, hot sunny days and all looks passable.

Well take a closer look - rubbish still hangs off fences, scattered sheds - flattened, lying in places far from their origins. Smiling faces hide the weariness and unknown costs. Roads, bridges - damaged beyond belief - not enough resources to get it fixed straight away. The landscape - changed with a click of your finger. It will be many, many years before this area heals completely from the wounds inflicted by nature.

More Photos can be seen in our Gallery: http://www.tentergrafix.com.au/events.html