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Anne Cole in Nepal
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Community close-up | Dec 28th 2009
If you have ever travelled in a developing country it is likely you may have felt a little like Angelina Jolie or Brad Pitt - becoming the centre of attention, surrounded by poor people you are compariatively far wealthier than, you might as well be Angelina or Brad. The desire to be generous – especially when poor village children approach you with trinkets or flowers – is intense. But when you learn that it's a begging racket and the child is 'run' by a shifty adult, you see that good intentions, in a place that you have, at best, a “Lonely Planet understanding of, can be a minefield. It's with this desire - to make an informed, positive difference to peoples' lives - that inspired one Islander, Anne Cole, after recent trips overseas, to resolve that she would put those good intentions to the most effective use.
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Community close-up | Dec 24th 2009
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Vicki Walker with some favourite books
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It's the season for celebrating achievement around Magnetic Island with locals Tony Wilson and Kay Colwell chalking up big personal milestones. And now another local with a story of proud service has retired after twenty three years of supporting reading amongst Island youngsters. Her name is Vicki Walker.
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Community close-up | Dec 22nd 2009
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Tony Wilson, 30 years an Island ferry deckie
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On Christmas Eve 1979 a 32 year old bloke by the name of Tony Wilson started work as a deckie with Hayles Magnetic Island Ferries. "The other deckie showed me what to do on the first trip to Magnetic Island and that was it, then he said, 'Take notice. You're doing the next run and I'm going home.'”
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Community close-up | Dec 22nd 2009
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Kay cuts the cake with her family
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Twenty years ago a single mother with two young boys arrived on Magnetic Island. Her name was Kay Ford (now Colewell) and this month she celebrated twenty years running a very well-known Magnetic Island business, Magnetic Touch.
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Community close-up | May 23rd 2009
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Peter le Grand with Linda Wootten
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Earlier this month a man who left an permanent and indelible legacy in the heart of the Magnetic Island community and many other parts of Australia passed away. Pierre (Peter) le Grand is remembered for many achievements and, with the assistance of his widow, Linda Wootten, Magnetic Times has put together this article for Peter which we hope other readers who knew him will add to with their comments.
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Community close-up | Apr 25th 2007
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Zanita at the Nursery office
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Following its sale last week, the Island Nursery, a landmark Magnetic Island business opened and run for over 21 years by Zanita and Gary Davies, is changing hands. This week Zanita is clearing the decks but took a break to talk with magnetictimes.com about the nursery and the other roles it has served: as a welcoming oasis for anybody who felt like a little dose of good conversation and as Zanita's informal shopfront and repository for the Magnetic Island History and Craft Centre.
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Community close-up | Mar 16th 2007
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Magoo plays Waltzing Matilda properly
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While we are in recess we continue our series of special articles published in print before we went online to become magnetictimes.com. This one from 1998 is about another unusual Island character.
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Community close-up | Mar 7th 2007
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Spotty centre with Neville and Estelle Bennet
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Continuing the story of Roy "Spotty" Spottiswood, from our original published article in 1998, we learn more about Spotty, who played a big role in the rebuilding of Magnetic following the devastation of Cyclone Althea. Later we learn about his fascinating work as Head Ranger on Magnetic which included the removal of feral pigs and the demise of over 500 feral cats.
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Community close-up | Mar 4th 2007
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Spotty centre with Neville and Estelle Bennet
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In this story from 1998 we republish the story of a builder of many Island homes in the 1950s and, later, one of Magnetic Island's most admired park Rangers, Roy "Spotty" Spottiswood. Spotty now lives in a Townsville retirement village but when this story was written he was still in his house in quiet, contented, retirement in Picnic Bay.
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Community close-up | Mar 2nd 2007
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Marlene Lawson
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In this second part to Marlene Lawson's story from 2000, we discover more about the Lawsons while gaining further glimpses of life as it was lived on Magnetic Island by a 1960s teenager and where life took Marlene from there. Marlene's story, as she told it, moved freely back, forth and around without following any strict chronological order. The freshness and forthrightness of her story telling was nonetheless vivid and enlightening.
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From the archives: Keith Bryson - The man behind the White Lady (Part 1)
As the first issue for Magnetic Times recess reading during February and March we have taken the opportunity to republish (now on the web) one of our stories from January 1999 about an amazing man - a savvy and observant pioneer of the Queensland fishing and shellfish industry with a broad and fertile vision who, most might think, was these days, no more than an eccentric, elderly hermit who yells at people when they come too close to his tropical beach paradise [ read more ] |
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A man and his toad races
With three atlases, an encyclopaedia and an 800 page tome full of basketball statistics for close company, one of Magnetic Island and north Queensland's most iconic figures, at least when it comes to outdoor family holiday fun, just passed a personal mile stone [ read more ] |
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Vale Peg Kearns
It was only a last year that we published an 80th birthday story about long-time Island identity Peg Kearns [ read more ] |
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"...like sparrows flew through me"
He calls her "mum", she knows how to make a proper cup of tea, they aren't afraid of a having a little blue in front of strangers nor making up just as fast, and they fell in love on Magnetic Island over fifty years ago [ read more ] |
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Glider and the HOG
Can you imagine being a hot-blooded 32 year old bloke with a sharp mind, a passion for big Harley motor cycles and the hairy, leather-clad lifestyle of the open road, but trapped by a disability that rendered you mute and only just able to move a couple of fingers to tell the world "yes" or "no" about your needs and interests [ read more ] |
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Vale: Paddy Boyd 1921 - 2003
Sadly, today would have been his 82nd birthday but one of Magnetic Island's most colourful and charming characters, Paddy Boyd, didn't quite make it [ read more ] |
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