Community winner

THE Palmwoods community can take a big pat on the back after winning the best community float section of the Nambour Sugar Festival Parade last month.

The entry organised by the Palmwoods Progress Association in co-operation with the Palmwoods State School, was a tribute to the 75th anniversary of the Palmwoods Memorial Hall.

It featured a realistic scale model of the hall built by local residents Jim and Lyndal Cushing and Ray Knight and with various community groups taking up the heritage theme, fitted with the parade focus on the

centenary of the Nambour Sugar Mill.

Two large semi-trailers, kindly made available by David Turner of Turner’s Transport and Keith Roberts of Keith Roberts Earthmoving, were led by the Palmwoods State School band.

Most Palmwoods community groups were represented in the display. The Palmwoods Bowls Club celebrated with a giant papier mache bowl, the Palmwoods Singers appeared in heritage costume and the Blue Hawaiians dance band paid tribute to the success of the hall dances.

Attending the hall model were Palmwoods Sundale resident Noel Muspratt and his wife, Cr Geoff Littler and his wife Trish, and other long-term residents.

Sugar Festival Committee President Peter Wellington has declared the Sugar Festival a Ôhuge’ success, and thanked residents for their support and co-operation.

"The Saturday was a day that the hinterland could walk tall and proud," he said. "It was pleasing to see Palmwoods so well represented and the winning float reflected the amount of effort and commitment Palmwoods residents put in to making the festival a success."

Mr Wellington said thousands of people lined Nambour’s Currie Street to watch the parade.

"I can’t remember a parade as big as this," he said. "It was just so popular."

Planning is already underway for the 1998 festival, with the committee calling for community input on an appropriate festival theme.

"We have already had a preliminary meeting, and we have decided not to change the recipe too much," Mr Wellington said.

"The only thing we are looking to do differently is to increase the number of activities taking place in the week leading up to the grand parade on the Saturday.