Palmwoods
District News

February
1999

Page 7

Our People ...In the Post Office
Duo tackles new venture

EUDLO'S Wood family is one of the district's oldest families so it isn't surprising that one of its members should surface in the post office, one of the longest serving businesses in the area.

Gloria and Bryan Eaton took over the post office lease in May 1998 after working away from the district for many years.

Gloria's grandparents moved to the district in about 1900 and eventually bought land in Highland Road. Frederick Wood started off dairy farming, but the farm has since produced pineapples, bananas and small crops (Gloria still remembers the backache from picking strawberries). Albert (Gloria's father) took over the farm but when he suffered heart problems, the family decided to put beef cattle on the land.

Albert Wood Road leads to the current day farm, which Gloria believes has been sold off in part over the years.

Gloria and Bryan Eaton met at school in Nambour. While Gloria grew up in Eudlo and attended the Eudlo State School, Bryan's family came from Victoria to the Nambour district, where they both attended Nambour High. They both became teachers and spent many years teaching in Rockhampton and Brisbane. They have two grown sons aged 23 and 26.

They spent many holidays and weekends in Eudlo during those years. Gloria said: "When dad died we finally moved up here in 1990."

Bryan, who was working as associate director of TAFE at Mt Gravatt (and in Nambour for a short stint) commuted for a while before taking a voluntary early retirement in 1997. Gloria said they continued to run the cattle and they had renovated and extended her grandmother's old house (built ’33). The couple did some research before going into the post office, and are happy with their decision.

SOME HISTORY: GLORIA and Bryan Eaton did a bit of homework on the post office when I asked them about featuring in OUR PEOPLE this month. Here's what they came up with.

Eudlo Post Office was originally set in the local railway station, which was much larger to cater for the once strong farming community in the early days. In about 1920 or 1921 a post office and shop (combined) was built opposite the modern day general store, near where the tennis courts stand today. Another long time resident Brian Nielsen said his father helped build the shop and post office, which was run by Mary and Harry Rhodes. Another family followed them but the name was not known.

The building was burnt down during World War II when the post office was put into an annex on the current general store. Gloria recalls the local telephone exchange going into the same building in the late 1950s. Charlie March, who lived next door to the store, ran the post office for many years. In the late 1950s he extended his house to include the post office in its current site.

Ray and Anita Sorgie bought the house and post office and ran the business for more than 20 years (they also took on the Palmwoods Post Office for many years during that time) before the lease was sold to John and Janelle Jacobson in 1997 and to the Eatons in 1998.

Anyone who is interested in the local history can view several great historic photographs on the wall in the Eudlo General Store.

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