Love Local News

For all those Gleeks out there – and anyone who’s wondering what the fuss is all about – get on down to Queens Park tonight to see Toowoomba’s first official Glee-slam!

Part of the 2011 USQ Shakespeare in the Park Festival, To Glee or Not to Glee will see secondary schools from across the Darling Downs compete for the ultimate prize of ‘Glee Champion’.

Event co-ordinator, Carley Commens has been working with the schools to bring the individual performances together into a one-night extravaganza which will be presented to the public on Wednesday 12 October.

The teams have been asked to perform a six-minute song/dance presentation based on themes drawn from A Midsummer Night’s Dream; and each of the seven entries are very exciting and different,” said Carley.

Toowoomba State High at Mt Lofty has formed a Glee choir especially for the event, with over twenty students from year eight to twelve meeting once a week in the lead up to develop choreography and rehearse their six minute performance, while their Wilsonton campus will also join-in with the spirit of Glee with a smaller choral ensemble.

The Glennie School’s choir are hoping that a tried-and-true ABBA favourite in their mash-up will score points, while Toowoomba Grammar is sure to win favours when their Grammarphones present an A-Capella performance not unlike The Warblers from Glee.

Oakey and Dalby will be adding a touch of the dramatic to their pieces, incorporating music and drama students, and the Christian Outreach College choir will bring-it with their rendition of Fireflies.”

The night will also include several special guest performances including the USQ Contemporary Singers; dancers from local hip hop and contemporary dance studio, The Grid; and an appearance by the cast of A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

The official part of the evening will see The Chronicle’s self-confessed Gleek, Merryl Miller; together with USQ Lecturer in Singing, Melissa Forbes and local choreographer and dance teacher, Alison Vallette charged with the task of judging.

Presented by the Toowoomba Chronicle, To Glee or Not to Glee will be performed on Wednesday 12 October on the Festival mainstage in Queens Park. Tickets are $5 and available at the gate on the night.

Whilst Toowoomba will turn decidedly pink on October 24th as a part of Pink Ribbon Day, the whole month will be devoted to raising awareness of breast cancer.

BreastScreen Queensland Toowoomba Service Health Promotion Officer Jessica Hobbs says that staff and the local community have combined to present a number of activities during October to spread the message that;

1 in 8 Queensland women will develop Breast Cancer in their lifetime.

A breastscreen every two years is strongly recommended for women aged 50-69 years as 70% of breast cancer occurs in this age group. However, all women over 40 with no signs or symptoms of breast cancer are eligible to participate in the free Program.

Breast Screen’s  mobile service, travels to 32 different locations every two years, from Taroom in the north, Gatton in the east, south to Mungindi, and as far west as Thargomindah.The BreastScreen Queensland Mobile is currently in Allora until it moves to the Warwick Hospital on the 10th of October (where it will stay until the end of January 2012).

BreastScreen Queensland Service is located at Toowoomba Hospital and offers FREE breast screening Monday to Friday with after hours appointments available on selected days. Phone 13 20 50 now to book your FREE BreastScreen in Queensland.To enquire about the service or to find out about local Breast Cancer Awareness Month events contact BreastScreen Queensland Health Promotion Officer Jessica on 4616 6416.

The camera does not lie: the relationship between the photograph and the work of art

A public lecture conducted by the Australian Decorative and Fine Arts Society, Toowoomba

The relationship between photography and art has long been the subject of controversy. Can photographs be works of art? How do artists use photography in conceiving and making works of art? From its first invention in the nineteenth century, artists came to use photographs  just as photographers imitated art. These issues will be explored by Dr Nicholas Watkins in a lecture he will present for the Toowoomba Group of the Australian Decorative and Fine Arts Society (ADFAS) on Tuesday, 4 October.

Nicholas Watkins is internationally regarded as an expert on the role and nature of photography in art as well as being an acknowledged authority on the work of Matisse and Bonnard. He is widely published and lectures extensively at universities, museums and art galleries. As a guest lecturer for the Australian Decorative and Fine Arts Society, Dr Watkins will be lecturing in several centres in Australia during his visit from the UK.

Dr Watkins’ lecture will be given in the Glennie Room, The Glennie School, Herries Street, Toowoomba on Tuesday 4 October at 6.45 pm and will be followed by supper. Members of the public are very welcome to attend. The cost is $20 for persons who are not members of ADFAS and $10 for students. For further information about this lecture and about membership of ADFAS contact the Secretary of ADFAS, Toowoomba on 07 4636 6164.

Submitted by:
Paul McNally

Mr. Graham Barron OAM Chairman of the Toowoomba Hospice Association launched the 2011 Trash Ya Hair for Hospice Care Fundraiser at Toowoomba West Bowls Club on Saturday afternoon, October 1st.

Mr Barron said We are so grateful to have the support of the local community to help launch one of our major fundraisers. Ms Donna Childs has co-ordinated the launch with Toowoomba West Bowls Club, putting on a bowls afternoon and sausage sizzle to make our launch a trashing success”

We hope this year we will raise over $2,000.00 on Saturday, then we will still need at least another $6,000.00 by the end of the month to reach our target of $8,000, I would like to encourage the community to get behind our fundraiser this month where they can colour, mousse, gel or shave their hair to raise money.”

There are some great prizes to be won for Schools, Businesses, Clubs/Community Groups or Individuals, that raise the most money.  For more information call Mark Munro on 4659 8500 weekdays (9-%) or email admin.toowoombahospice@bigpond.com

The National Australia Bank Wilsonton Brach has accepted the Trash Ya Hair Challenge from Toowoomba Hospice.

Staff from NAB branches in Toowoomba will be at the Wilsonton branch on Monday morning from 8am to get trashed and its all for a great cause…the Toowoomba Hospice!

Branch manager Ms Jenny O’Sullivan said they are very excited about supporting the Toowoomba Hospice “The Hospice is an important local charity and I have invited staff from other NAB branches in Toowoomba to come and have their hair trashed for a donation, which will be given to the Toowoomba Hospice so they can continue to provide their professional palliative care service to those who stay there.”

The NAB staff trashing will be from 8am and then from 9am the public can go to the NAB Wilsonton branch to have their hair trashed for a donation to the Hospice until 11am.

Mark R Munro
Promotions & Fundraising Manager
Toowoomba Hospice
Po Box 6463
Toowoomba West Qld 4350
Ph: 07 4659 8500

Toowoomba locals love roller derby! We’ve listened to the calls for another bout in Toowoomba and are happy to deliver ‘Violence of the Jams’ which sees the Toowoomba City Rollers’ ‘Hill Top Hit Squad’ take on ‘The Bay Rollers’ from Byron Bay.
This will be the last bout in Toowoomba for 2011 so make sure you get along to check out the hard hitting derby action. The girls from Byron Bay are coming all the way up the hill for a good, hard bout and we’re ready for them. We’ve got a lot of new blood in the squad and have been training hard in anticipation for this inter-state bout in the hopes of taking our first win on home turf.

‘Violence of the Jams’ is set to be a great night out. Not only do you get to see the girls take each other on in the main event, we also have the guys rolling out at half time for a Men’s Roller Derby (Merby) demonstration. Some of the newly formed Toowoomba City Rollers’ Merby team will be playing so keep your eye out for them, we’ve got some real talent up here on the hill! Merby is very different to traditional Roller Derby so come along and see what all the fuss is about.

When: Saturday, 1 October 2011 6:30pm
Where: Founders Pavilion, Toowoomba Showgrounds, Glenvale Road, Toowoomba.
Tickets: $10 Adults, $8 Concession/Student, $5 Children 6-12 and kids under 5 free.
Tickets are available from the following local businesses:-
− Kaboom Comics, Shop 1B Scholefield St
− Smells Like Zines Distro, 4/203 Margaret St
− The Irish Club, 80 Russell St
What: TCR vs Byron Bay plus half-time Merby demo.
FREE shuttlebus to the afterparty at the Irish Club. Paper tickets only will be available and there will be one (1) entry line for pre-paid and cash entry. First in – first served.

Submitted by:
Ellen Grinham
Toowoomba City Rollers Inc.
Email: media@toowoombacityrollers.com