Volunteers who have been a part of the museum since it opened helped cut the 15th Birthday cake … Kevin Heritage, Yvonne Hurt, Ruth Mason, Eileen Iszlaub, John Seymour, Norma Iszlaub, Beryl Seymour and Margaret Heritage

November 29, 2016

The South Burnett Timber Industry Museum in Wondai marked its 15th birthday on Saturday with a special open day which featured wood crafting demonstrations both large and small.

Along the verandah, a number of more delicate crafts were being explained, including pyrography and scroll saw work.

In the yard, Shane Christensen was busily carving a log with a chainsaw to create a sculpture which the museum plans to raffle.

And in the Woodcrafters Workshop, lathes were busily spinning while woodworkers carefully wielded chisels.

The Museum is owned by the South Burnett Regional Council but relies on a team of keen volunteers to keep everything ticking over.

Team leader Stacy Perrett said former Wondai Mayor Percy Iszlaub and CEO Alan Keates played an integral role in getting the museum off the ground.

She said the project began when an abandoned wagon was found in a paddock; this was restored and now forms the centrepiece of the diorama inside the museum.

More than 200,000 visitors have passed through the doors since the museum was opened by then-Primary Industries Minister Henry Palaszczuk in 2001.

Stacy said $500,000 worth of locally crafted woodworks had also been sold in that time.

Mayor Keith Campbell presented a small gift and certificates to the eight volunteers who have been at the museum since it opened.

Former Wondai mayor Percy Iszlaub reflected on the way the community had got behind the project and helped to build a million-dollar business “from virtually nothing at all”.

A busy time in the Woodcrafters Workshop … Des Muller, right, from Wondai, turning a furniture leg
Alf Stockhill, from Wondai, working on a camphor laurel bowl
Eileen Iszlaub, left, with Gil and Michelle Smith
Bob Baldwin, Charlestown, with Cr Ros Heit
Former Wondai Shire councillor Kathy Duff, centre, with former Wondai Mayor Percy Iszlaub, left, and former Wondai CEO Alan Keates
Chainsaw sculptor Shane Christensen works on a carving of an owl and a snake
Maureen Bowden, from Wondai, was using a scroll saw to cut out an intricate design
Club member Lea Carter, from Durong, with one of the pieces of jewellery she has made
South Burnett Mayor Keith Campbell and SBRC Tourism Officer Julie Foley received an unusual present from former Wondai Mayor Percy Iszlaub for the Timber Museum … a Winchester rifle. The deactivated rifle is destined to join the diorama of the timbergetters’ camp inside the museum

 

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