HMS 2508 February 2021 Article

Heroes of the Bench.

Remember that industrial arts teacher with his ‘special dark pencil’* all those years ago? Perhaps the landscape artist who somehow sprinkled glorious morning light onto dull canvas. Or the old codger over the fence, always tinkering with something, the sound of his handsaw a rhythmic addition to the cricket on his old valve radio.

There’s often someone in our lives who is good at something, that person that gazes at a crossword or a sudoku then casually leans over and fills it in, the bloke who listens to a running engine and diagnoses noisy tappets, the one who transforms a skein of fabric into a marvel of fashion, or the teen that goes tap tap tap on the keyboard…and the blue screen of death is banished.

At the Men’s Shed there is every possibility you will meet one of these heroes of the bench. Then again, you may meet a bloke who’s trying to persuade two pieces of timber to stay together, another man puzzling over a recalcitrant lawn mower, or a poor sod whose chair is still just a bit, well, wobbly.

But you know the good, no, the great thing? They’re not doing it alone. Together, shoulder to shoulder, helping, teaching, learning; it all comes together. Always. And not just the timber, the fabric, the motor. Together, shoulder to shoulder, men getting themselves back together, from loneliness, despair, sickness, booze – life!

Your Men’s Shed, open again, COVID-19-safe and full of laughter and meaningful stuff.

For news and information visit our website,

helensburghmensshed.org.au   or   info@helensburghmensshed.org.au

199A Parkes Street Helensburgh

9-3 Monday and Tuesday

Michael Croft 0413401522         Ron Balderston 0410564752

*’special dark pencil’ – a black biro. Thanks, Mr. Dixon.