Archived Activities

The Shed is proud to have been involved in many projects since its inception in 2012.

Helping Our Community

While SAMS is not a service club we are still happy to pitch in and help our community when the opportunity arises. For several years now SAMS members have assisted the Samford Riding for the Disabled team by bagging horse poo. A very hot morning recently did not stop the boys doing their bit. Apart from the poo bagging the boys engaged in a conversation about nicknames that had everybody laughing proving that work can be fun.

2018 Christmas Function

Yet again the members and their partners enjoyed a wonderful Christmas lunch at the shed. Our MC, Les, got things off to fun start and following a brief address by the Chairman it was time to start on the feast. As usual we were treated to an excellent spread and marvelous repartee. Photos from the day can be found in the Gallery.

(Allan, George, Peter and Digby eyeing off the feast)

Timber Counter Completed

SAMS external entertainment area (affectionately referred to as Jim's Helipad) has been enhanced by the addition of a timber counter. The somewhat long process has resulted in an excellent example of the craftsmanship of our woodworkers. While this photo does not do justice to the finished product. All who have seen it have expressed their admiration of the team and their work.

(Fraser, Norm,Robert,John and Charles testing out the counter)

(Photo by John D)

Bravery Boxes

Recently the Woodies were contacted by Tanya Allan. Tanya is a member of the Bravery Box Team who support children undergoing treatment at the Children's Hospital Oncology Unit. The Woodies were asked to make boxes to house toys and games for the children.

Rosie Manning from Bunnings Hardware Keperra came on board and provided MDF board, paint and castors which the Woodies used to construct the Bravery Boxes.

Hopefully these with give the children many hours of fun.

Bravery Boxes

At rear L-R: John Tanya Allan,Jeff,Rosie Manning and Phil. Sitting in front are Ruari and Lara, those brave patients.

Charity Night Winner

At the recent Samford Community Charity Night an auction was held half of the proceeds of which went to the participating group. SAMS auction item was another astounding creation by Geoff Mallett. This time it was an excavator and the winning bidder was John Keel. We hope that it brings many years of pleasure to John.

(John Keel with his new excavator)

Bunnings Birdbox Activity

On Tuesday 27 August a group of SAMS members helped a group of Guides and Brownies in a Fathers Day activity at Bunnings Keperra store.SAMS was invited by Bunnings to help with the activity by pre-cutting timber to make 30 birdboxes and to help the Guides assemble them.

A couple of weeks before the event, Bunnings delivered the pine boards to make the boxes. Using the plan supplied, over two lengthy sessions Woodies members cut all the pieces to size and made a sample birdbox.
Not surprisingly, the woodies experts came up with some improvements on the original design! So the second session was to re-cut most of the pieces then pre-drill all pieces to make it easier for the Guides to nail the pieces together. Finally, the 30 kits were ready and delivered to Bunnings.
On the night of the activity at Bunnings, 24 Guides and Brownies came along with many fathers and the guide leaders. Helping all with assembly were 8 SAMS members.
In a very busy and noisy 45 minutes or so, the SAMS members advised and helped the girls successfully make their birdbox for their Father’s Day present. The girls them painted their birdboxes and seemed proud of their efforts. We all shared supper.
Bunnings was very appreciative of SAMS involvement and given a generous voucher which Chairman Jeff promptly spent on paint for the new internal wall in our shed!
Thanks to SAMS helpers on the evening Fraser M, Peter M, Peter M, Gary F, Jeff R, Richard C and Graham M.

(Peter with two very happy Brownies)

(Text and photos by Dearsie. More photos can be seen in the Gallery))

Helping a Mate

Recently the wife of one of our members had an issue that SAMS members were able to help solve. She needed a cover made to protect an outside washing machine and dryer. Since her husband and long-time SAMS member was suffering serious health issues he was not able to do the work himself so a combined effort from the Steelies and Woodies was called for. Hopefully the cover will make life a little easier in trying times.

Irene Washer Cover

Ramp for Andrew 2015

It is nice when you are able to help out another person and more so when that person contributes so much to the community. Bev Lofgren is a volunteer with the Samford RDA group where her son, Andrew, rides. Andrew was having difficulty getting his wheelchair into the house without bumping into Bev's car. SAMS Woodies came to the rescue with a purpose-built ramp. A relatively easy task for our talented Woodies but one that was greatly appreciated by Bev and Andrew.

Jack's Birthday Cake

As the years go by birthdays tend to lose their significance for many of us and so it is in the Shed. However when the birthday has a nine in front it is special. This week at our Tuesday morning fellowship the members helped Jack celebrate his 93rd with a chocolate cake and a rousing rendition of Happy Birthday. Some of the members were even in tune. As active as Jack is we are sure that there will be many more cakes to come.

2019 Committee Elected

Following our regular Tuesday morning Fellowship the 2019 AGM was chaired by Bob Millar. This resulted in the election of our new committee. SAMS new committee is:

Chairman - Jeff Redmond

Secretary - Richard Christiansen

Treasurer - Graham Smith

Executive Members - Carl Harries, Neil Krosch, Allen Marr and Jim Rowe

Immediate Past President - Des Lowe

SAMS members thank theses men for stepping up and wish them good fortune for the coming year.

(Rear l to r: Neil, Allen, Carl and Richard)

(Front l to r: Graham, Jeff, Des and Jim)

Lighting Up Christmas

SAMS members have a wide range of interests and for one member, Morton, his Christmas light display is top of the list. While it requires some time, effort and money to achieve this fabulous display the reward is the happiness it brings to so many people who see it. Any members who would like their display shown here should contact Ray. If you wish to see Morton's lights his address can be found on the Members page.

SAMS at the 2018 Show

Once again this year SAMS provided a stand at the Samford Show. This gives us an opportunity to not only display and sell some of our creations but also speak with prospective new members about the benefits of joining the SAMS clan.

All shape and sizes came to see the boys at the SAMS stand.

Photos of the members who worked at the stand (and Macka) can be seen in the Gallery.

Woodies Contribute to Medical Research Fundraising 2015

Recently the Woodies were contacted by Catherine Mason with a request to build a photo wall. Catherine is an entrant in the Lions Personality Quest and is raising money for the Lions Medical Research Foundation. "Puttin on the Ritz" is a masked ball to be held on the 17th October, 2015. The photo wall constructed by the Woodies will be used in the DIY Photo Booth at the ball.

(Catherine and the Woodies try out the photo wall)

SAMS at Birralee Child Care Centre

Some time back a staff member of Birralee Child Care Centre at Ferny Hills approached one of SAM’s members asking if SAMS would consider making playground equipment for the centre using old wooden pallets.

These consisted of a bus complete with a steering wheel, a gear stick and seats plus a raft with a mast and sail.

Pallets were sourced and SAMS neighbour the Riley Club supplied the steering wheel and gear stick. The Men of Steel set to modifying the steering wheel and gear stick and the Woodies were on hand to work on the pallets. A working bee was called and during the course of an afternoon SAMS had made the bus and raft.

Some of SAM’s members who were involved in the project were recently invited to a "thank you" morning tea at the centre. The children sang a special song, spoke about the wonderful things they have been doing with the equipment and then presented a certificate of appreciation shown in the photo. This certificate is now on display at SAMS shed.

SAM’s members have taken much pleasure from being involved in the project which was seen as being some way towards putting back into the community.

Birralee also Birralee again

SAMS 2017 Christmas Party

Almost 100 members and partners gathered to enjoy excellent food and company at the annual Christmas party. Once again we were blessed with wonderful weather.

The occasion was the first attended by our new state member and also enabled our new SAMS Story Boards to be unveiled by Max Morton and other original members of SAMS.

Photos of the day can be viewed in the Gallery

Warning - This Shed May Contain Nuts

SAMS has no shortage of interesting characters and they are universally friendly. If you want to make some new friends, have a laugh and learn new skills why not come on down. The best time is Tuesday for a cuppa at 0930 but the timings for all of our activities can be found by clicking here

(One of our more interesting members)

Golf Day Out

On Tuesday 9 May, members of SAMS golf club enjoyed a great day out at the Beerwah Golf Course

We played 9 holes in the morning in rather windy conditions then adjourned for a generous lunch at the local pub. Terry shouted everyone a round of drinks to celebrate the arrival of his first grandchild in the early hours of that morning (a boy named Wolf Edward Jewell).

9 holes followed in the afternoon and with one or two exceptions scores didn't improve much. Even a large beer consumed in the interests of smoothing out his rusty swing didn't do much for Steve 'Gibbo' Gibbens. Apparently he was just a little bit too relaxed and proceeded to rack up a rather healthy score. Oh well, there's always next week!
New recruits are welcome in the SAMS golf group. We normally play at the Keperra course on Monday afternoons. If you're interested please see the Golf section under Activities for contact details.

(Photo by Woz)

Another Mallett Masterpiece

Just another example of the talent of SAMS member Geoff Mallett. If you would like to learn new skills or develop new ones why not join the Samford Area Men's Shed?

An Old Horse Gets a Makeover

The Men of Steel recently refurbished a metal walking horse for local Samford Valley resident Mike Ormiston.

The horse was Mike's when he was a young fella.

Mike has a granddaughter that turns 1 this month and is going to present it to her on her birthday.

The horse has an interesting internal mechanism that allows the rider to walk the horse along whilst they are sitting on its back.

This is achieved by pressing on each of the stirrups one after the other.

(Before and after photos of the horse)

(Very interesting walking mechanism)

The Whole Production Line

Who says that men can't multi-task? Here are Jim and John doing two things at once. Talking and shovelling the same stuff at the same time. One thing you can say about the Poo Patrollers is that they have a sense of humour. They also have the satisfaction of knowing that they are doing their bit to help those less fortunate.

RDA horse Lady keeping up her end of the production line

Health and Wellbeing Expo

On the 25th of February our friends at Samford Chemmart once again hosted the Samford Health and Wellbeing Expo in which SAMS were pleased to participate.

The Expo is held to enable the community to learn of the various businesses and organizations that contribute to health and wellbeing in the Samford area.

SAMS stall was one of 65 in the Expo which also included the Holt Bolt obstacle course. It was manned by Les Bateman, Doug Gordon, Ostap Kurlak and John Sater who spread the word relating to men's health and the benefits of SAMS membership.

(Les, John, Ostap and Doug [hiding])

SAMS Members Visit Cuba

Recently two shedders went to Cuba to play in the Copa de Amistad which is a veterans rugby carnival. John Barry and Ray Campbell were part of the BEX team made up of players from three Brisbane rugby teams. Other teams came from the USA, Chile, Israel, the ACT and of course Cuba. There were two competitions, a competitive comp and a social comp. The BEX team with an average age of over 60 played in the social competition. Our Cuban hosts deemed the carnival a huge success and the visitors had a wonderful time both on and off the field. Both John and Ray are keen to return to Cuba with their partners such was the impact of this exciting country.

(The BEX boy and the lads from Alaska)

(Ray front row 6th from left & John front row 2nd from right)

Maleny Wood Show Excursion

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(Photo by Stu)

Sams Woodies + a few others had a very enjoyable day on Saturday the 29^th April visiting the Maleny Wood Show thanks to coach captain Doug Gordon. Stu Carseldine provided the photo of all the team before they boarded the bus. Doug kindly arranged the bus and with his skilful navigating all on board had a very scenic tour of the Blackall Range before descending on the Wood Show. On the trip home we were fortunate enough to have JB guide us through parts of the picturesque Brisbane Valley.

Gauging by the chatter on the trip home everyone had a very enjoyable day and are even more enthused than ever to continue their wood craft techniques.

Thanks once again Doug.

Bringing Medical Supplies to the Outback

In August SAMS was approached by Wayne Letherem from the Rotary Club of Currumbin Cooolangatta Tweed through the Rotary Club of Samford with a request to build a crate to transport an ultrasound to Alice Springs. Wayne runs the Medical Repurposing Network which supports clinics in remote areas with medical equipment.

A team of SAMS members led by Gary F built a crate sturdy enough to protect the Ultrasound on its long journey. The men were pleased and somewhat relieved to hear that the Toshiba XG500 Aplio ultrasound has been delivered safely to Ampilatwatja Medical Centre (322 km northeast of Alice Springs).

MRN00038 Outback AU Ultrasound Ampilatwatja Delivered

The happy team at Ampilatwatja

Foundation Day 2018

Recently SAMS and guests gathered to celebrate the anniversary of the foundation of the Samford Area Mens Shed. Photos of the day can be seen in the Gallery.

Maleny Wood Show Excursion

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(Photo by Stu)

Gauging by the chatter on the trip home everyone had a very enjoyable day and are even more enthused than ever to continue their wood craft techniques.

Thanks once again Doug.

Walking Group Steps Out in Style

Friday morning saw the initial meeting of SAMS new walking group. The brainchild of John L the group gets together to enjoy fresh air, a brisk walk and the company of a good bunch of blokes. Followed by a coffee and a chat it is the perfect start to the day. Members interested in participating should speak with John or simply turn up at the shed at 7:45 on Friday morning.

The Walking Group (minus late-comers)

Woodies Timber Donation

A donation of 6 metre lengths of hardwood was recently made to SAMS. This required some heavy lifting in order to take delivery. Fortunately the strong, young men of the Woodies were up to the task.

Woodies Timber Donation