The Thirteen 'R's

Submitted by Paul Blanksby on

The Helensburgh Men’s Shed motto is ‘Serving the 2508 Community.’ Sometimes we serve
just a little bit further.
One of our member’s, John ‘Carver’ Bucknell, now resides at Frank Vickery Village at
Sylvania. His Coffee and Chat Club asked the Men’s Shed if we could create a Tumbling
Tower game for them, with special numbering to keep score (not that the Chat Club members
are competitive or anything…)
We love to help out wherever we can, and with timber kindly donated by Patrick from

Volunteers are the BEST

Submitted by Paul Blanksby on

Bronzed aussies. Big blokes with red and yellow caps, standing tall whilst they thread
rope through calloused hands out to sea, where one of their mates is swimming towards a
bather in distress.
Bit like the blokes at your Men’s Shed. Australian society, church’s, volunteers and
governments offer many lifelines to people in distress, and so do Men’s Sheds. Help with a
family crisis, to get something done, a lawn mowed or a meal made; perhaps as simple and
profound as a cuppa and a chat, shoulder to shoulder through lives lived together.

The Telephone Table

Submitted by Paul Blanksby on

Here at the Men’s Shed we are happy to meet so many people from around our
community, and even happier when they bring in a treasured item for us to repair, restore or
resurrect. Sue brought in a little ‘op shop’ find from years ago for us to remove layers of
good old Mission Brown and reveal its simple beauty underneath.
She called it ‘the Telephone Table.’ Because hidden at the bottom of the drawer were
lots of names and phone numbers, scrawled in pencil, biro or fountain pen, covering decades
of this little table’s life.

What we do

Submitted by Paul Blanksby on

Your Men’s Shed has been honoured to help many of the local charities and
organisations in 2508. From RSL Perpetual Awards to a SLSC rescue reel, the Glowworm
Tunnel Station replica sign and Fords Bakery oven, the Shed has helped keep our history
alive.
So we were very happy to work with the Helensburgh and Stanwell Park Country
Women’s Association to protect and prepare for display the 1950’s ‘Stanwell Park &
Coalcliff CWA’ metal sign. President Carol Pugh was very pleased with the results, and the

Got the Wobbles?

Submitted by Paul Blanksby on

A recent commission for one of our lovely coffee shops got us thinking. We were ‘removing
the wobble’ from some of the tables and we thought, hey, sometimes we get the wobbles.
My wife and I are quite active, walking or swimming and exercising at Alison’s Fluro Fun N
Fitness. Other friends enjoy time at the Burgh Healthy Hub, surf, bike ride, dance or garden.
Maybe they are enjoying learning to use the fitness equipment in Charles Harper Park, with a
coffee and muffin at Tradies afterwards (a Council health initiative running for six weeks

The Man from Baradine

Submitted by Paul Blanksby on

Rod is no ordinary bloke. If you can’t fix it with Sikaflex, or get it moving again with
Aerogard, well, it’s pretty far gone. From building houses, droving a mob outback, bore
sinking in the desert (capiwirra! – good water!) and racing a Mini Cooper at the speedway,
this bloke’s been there, done that.
And what’s even better, in the past he taught his skills, and now he shares them at the
Burgh Men’s Shed.
But it’s not just the big-ticket items he IXL’s at (and he loves his jam sangers too).

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