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”.
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