1. automotive and vehicles
2. boats and watercraft

 PORT PARHAM SPORTS & SOCIAL CLUB
OCTOBER 2014 NEWSLETTER Ph: (08) 85 292 211 Fax: (08) 85455 Email: ptpssc@bigpond.com PO Box 184 DULIN SA 5501 Remember that on Saturday nights you could win $50 just by having a meal, two
Club patrons have already won.
We had two lovely young ladies celebrate a milestone birthday on the 13th
September with a host of their families and friends. They all had a wonderful
time and I’m sure the ladies will remember the night for years to come.
The Committee would like to thank Maxine Symes and Margaret Jenkins who
both generously donate mystery prizes for the raffles.
A beautiful sunset photo taken by a local.
1 Mrs Georgie Dobson and Mrs Raelene Horgan are after information and photo’s
of the original Progress Association and the early development of the now Port
Parham Sports and Social Club, as they are trying to write a history book. If
anyone has any information or photo’s especially of the old barn and the events
on the beach front could you please contact Georgie on 85 292 519 or Raelene
on 85 292 190 or post them to PO Box 184 Dublin Sa 5501 or email to
ptpssc@bigpond.com.
I would like to remind people that bookings are essential for any function night
held at the Club. A perfect example of not booking was at the Country and
Western night when people were disappointed when they could not get a seat in
the main hall.
We are going to try something different during the summer months by having a
BBQ once a month on a Saturday night. We had one for patrons on the night of
the wedding and although we only had a few people they thoroughly enjoyed it
and said they would like to have another one.
COMING EVENTS
25TH September
QUIZ NIGHT
1ST November
HALLOWEEN
DJ SHANE
NORMAL MENU
11TH November
REMEMBERANCE DAY
4TH November
MELBOURNE CUP
DUBLIN @ DISTRICTS SENIOR
CITIZENS
21ST & 24TH November
MAGIC MOMENTS CONCERT
2 COURSE MEAL $20
6TH December
XMAS DINNER
BORIS LIKES TO BOOGIE
2 COURSE MEAL $20
7TH December
CHILDREN’S XMAS PARTY
RETURN OF MR WOBBLES/FACE
PAINTING FATHER CHRISTMAS
2 MAGIC MOMENTS
DANCE GROUP
ANNUAL CONCERT
WHEN
FRIDAY 21ST NOVEMBER
AND
SATURDAY 22ND NOVEMBER
WHERE
PORT PARHAM SPORTS & SOCIAL
CLUB
An evening of variety, we have a great line up for this years
shows, special guests include Singers, Dancer and Musicians,
also some new acts to entertain you.
Bookings will be essential so get in early and phone the Club on 85 292 211
No entry fee so come along and enjoy one of Port Parhams Biggest Nights.
Look forward to entertaining you
Leslee Forst
3 The Hawaiian Night was a resounding success. The Parham Singers did a
wonderful job shaking their booties and playing the ukulele which got the crowd
tapping their toes and waving their hands in the air, and Glen Linke played a
couple of songs. A big thank you to Dave Franklin who was in charge of the
music. Thank you also to all the kitchen staff who served an excellent meal.
Thank you everyone who helped Di with sweets for the night and Rob Priest for
donating the fish. The singing also got the crowd joining in, overall with the two
course meal and the entertainment everyone enjoyed themselves.
The Port Parham Singers
Brenda & Rollie, Sheila, Deanna, Lola, Dianne, Jim, Rebecca, Raelene, Georgie, Carolyn, Val 4 The Wedding on the 27th September went off without a hitch. The bride looked
radiant, the groom was smiling and the wedding attendants looked lovely.
The hall was decorated to theme the bride wanted and many of the guest
complimented the staff on the excellent meal and service. Some of the guest
were quite surprised that the Club could put on such an event.
The Happy Couple
5 CITIZEN
OF THE YEAR
Do you know someone who makes your community a better place?
The Citizen of the Year Awards are proudly presented by the Australia Day Council of South
Australia, sponsored by San Remo, and administered by the District Council of Mallala.
The Awards reward and recognise individuals and organisations that have made a
noteworthy contribution during the current year, and/or give an outstanding service over a
number of years, to a local community over and above normal employment duties.
Outstanding contribution and community service includes areas such as; education, health,
fundraising, charitable and voluntary services, business, sport, arts, the environment, or any
other area that contributes to the advancement and well being of a community.
Categories:
Citizen of the Year Award:
To be eligible, the person must be an Australian Citizen. Selection criteria include the
contribution to the community, scope of impact the individuals contribution has on the local
government area.
Young Citizen of the Year Award:
To be eligible, the person must be an Australian Citizen under 30 years of age on January 26,
2014. Selection criteria include the contribution to the community, scope of impact the
individuals contribution has on the local government area.
Community Event of the Year Award:
This is presented to the person/group who has staged the most outstanding community event
during the past year.
Community Project of the Year Award:
This is presented to the person/group who has undertaken a significant project during the
past year that has benefited the community.
Community Group of the Year Award:
This is presented to the group who have made a significant or beneficial contribution to the
community during the past year.
Nominations.
Nominate someone who makes a real difference in your community and give them the
opportunity to be rewarded and recognised for their important contribution.
Nominations are open from the 1st of October until Friday 21st November. Go to the
website www.mallala.sa.gov.au and download or print a nomination form.
6 Remembrance Day
Tuesday NOVEMBER 11th 2014
10.40am
At the Remembrance Flag Pole
PORT PARHAM SPORTS AND SOCIAL CLUB
Pastor Linc Rayner officiating.
REMEMBER THE
FALLEN!
Letter to the Editor
7 Problems if Noah built an ark this century
Dear Sir
It is the year 2001 and Noah lives in Australia.
The Lord says to him, “In one year I am going to make it rain and cover the whole
earth with water until it is destroyed. But I want you to save the righteous people and
two of every living thing on earth. Therefore, I am commanding you to build an ark.”
In a flash of lightning God delivered plans and specifications for an ark.
Fearful and trembling, Noah took the plans and agreed to build it.
“Remember,” the Lord said, ”You must complete the ark and bring everything on
board in one year.
Exactly one year later, a fierce storm cloud covered the earth and all the seas of the
earth went berserk.
The Lord saw Noah sitting in his front yard and weeping. “Noah” he said, “Where is
the ark”.
“Lord please forgive me,” cried Noah, “I did my best, but there were big problems.”
“First I had to get a permit for construction and your plans did not comply with the
codes. I had to hire an engineering firm and redraw the plans. Then I got into a fight
with the WorkCover inspector over whether or not the ark needed a fire sprinkler
system and flotation devices.
“Then my neighbour objected, claiming I was violating zoning ordinances by building
the ark in the area to protect the wombats.
“I finally convinced the Natural Resources Department That I needed the wood
tosave the wombats, however, the wildlife service won’t let us catch any wombats.
So, no wombats.”
“When I started rounding up the other animals, I was sued by an animal rights group.
They objected to me taking only two of each animal.”
“Just when I got the suit dismissed the EPA notified me that I could not complete
the ark with filing an Environmental Impact Statements on your proposed flood.
They didn’t take too kindly to the idea that they had no jurisidiction over the
conduct of the creator of the universe.”
8 “Then the State Rivers demanded a map of the proposed new flood plan. I sent
them the globe”.
“Right now, I am trying to resolve a complaint filed with the Equal Employment
Opportunity Commissioner that I am practising discrimination by not taking
godless unbelieving people aboard.
“The Australian Taxation Office has seized my assets claiming that I am building
the ark in preparation to flee the country to avoid paying taxes.
“Finally, the National Council of Churches got the courts to issue on injunction
against further construction, saying that since God is flooding the earth it is a
religious event and therefore within their jurisdiction.
“My Lord, I really don’t think I can finish the ark for at least another six years.”
Noah wailed.
The sky began to clear, the sun began to shine and the seas began to calm. A
rainbow arched across the sky. Noah looked up hopefully. “You mean you are
not going to destroy the earth Lord.”
“No,” said the Lord sadly, “I don’t have to, The Federal. State and Local
Government already have.”
Sent in by Hedley Scholz, Eudunda
NIGHT OWL BOWLS The club is aiming to have two teams in this years round of Night Owl Bowls at Mallala If you would like to be on a team contact Lola Western on 0428 113 049 9 10 PORT PARHAM SPORTS @ SOCIAL CLUB
QUIZ NIGHT
25TH OCTOBER
We are holding another entertaining Quiz
Night so everyone brush up on your
General Knowledge, Entertainment, Sport,
Science, History, Arts, Music, Food and
Celebrities.
There will be a prize for the winning team and
a place on the perpetual trophy plus a boobie
prize for the team that comes last.
Teams will consist of no less than 2 and no
more than 6 people, and it will only cost you
$10 per team.
So come and have a meal (which starts at
6pm until 8pm) and a drink beforehand and
join in the fun.
The Quiz kicks off at 8.oo pm
11 PORT PARHAM SPORTS AND SOCIAL CLUB
SOUVENIR PRICES
PENS
$3.00
HAT BADGES
$2.00
STUBBIE HOLDERS
$6.00
HATS (KIDS)
$5.00
(ADULTS)
$8.00
POLO SHIRTS
$35.00
PURCHASE GOODS FROM THE BAR
12 Community Bus
The District Council of Mallala provides a monthly bus service to the
Elizabeth Shopping Centre. Cost is $5.00 return trip
The bus runs on the
third Friday of each month departing the following locations:
MALLALA – Post Office
9.00am
PARHAM – Sports & Social Club
9.15am
TWO WELLS – Bakery
9.40am
Stops at Dublin, Lower Light and Lewiston may be made by appointment
Return Trip departs
ELIZABETH SHOPPING CENTRE
3.00pm
Next Bus Dates
OCT 17
NOV 21
DEC 19
Bookings are ESSENTIAL. For further information or bookings please contact
13 0458 844 827
14 Georgie Dobson and Raelene Horgan are after any information and photos of
the original Progress Association and the early development of the Port Parham
Sports and Social Club as they are trying to write a history book, if anyone has
any information on who was on the original committees and any photos you may
have of the old barn or events on the beach it would be greatly appreciated.
You can either phone Georgie on 85 292 519 or Raelene on 85 292 190 or post
the information to PO Box 184 Dublin SA 5501 or email to
ptppsc@bigpond.com.
I would like to remind people that bookings are essential when the Club is
holding functions. A perfect example of not booking was on the Country and
Western night when people just came along expecting to get a seat in the main
hall and were disappointed when it was packed to capacity.
During the summer months we are going to try something new by having a BBQ
on one Saturday night a month. We had a BBQ for the local patrons on the
night of the wedding and although there were only a few patrons they thoroughly
enjoyed themselves and suggested it should be a common occurrence, so we
are going to give it a go.
15 LOCAL TRIVIA AND HISTORY
The Evolution of the Parham Jinker
By Alvin Jenkin
Port Parham has always been a difficult place to launch boats due to the shallowness of
St Vincent’s Gulf and the long tidal movement. Tidal rise and fall is up to about 2.7
metres and the low water mark is about 800 metres from the shore. At low water, the
water depth does not exceed 500mm for another 800 or so metres. So on low water it is
possible to walk 1600 metres from shore without the water level getting far above the
knees, although the last 800 metres is a hard slog through mud.
At low water the first 800 metres of the floor of the gulf is a thin layer of sandy mud
over rock immediately in front of the Port Parham township. This feature resulted in Port
Parham becoming a Port in the early days of agriculture in the district when grain and
wool was loaded onto flat bottom ketches at low water for shipping to Port Adelaide.The
ketches would be brought in to just below the low water mark and grain
and wool would be delivered to the
ketch by horse and trolley and later by
motor lorry, and then on the next tide
the ketch would be afloat and would
sail either on to another gulf port or
back to Port Adelaide where the goods
would be transhipped to a clipper for
exporting to Europe. The photo shows
both a horse cart and a lorry and was
probably taken in the late 1920’s. The
Lorry is thought to be a REO. This
method of shipping was used from the
1860’s until 1948 when rail proved to
be the most effective means of
transport for such goods.
Recreational fishing in the Gulf St Vincent was mainly by dragnet up until the 1950s,
with a few courageous souls sailing or rowing small cutters into deeper waters. Drag net
fishing was shore based, usually done in the middle of the night, with the short straw
being given the deep end to drag. Professional fishing was by ketches or cutters out of
Port Adelaide accompanied by a couple of row boats. The Swain family were well
known for their 2 masted ketch towing two row boats. The row boats were used to haul
the drag net from the ketch in a circle from whence the catch was loaded on the ketch.
This method persisted up until the 1980s when professional fishermen first used power
boats.
In the 1950s the people of Australia were overcoming the post war austerity, and small
powered pleasure boats became more plentiful. These typically had small inboard
motors of various types and numbers of cylinders, a favourite being Ford 10. These
16 boats were heavier than the cutters and row boats that were around the place, and
launching such boats at Port Parham with its long flat of shallow water became an issue.
Disused farm tractors were used at first to launch such boats, but difficulties were
encountered with the long exposure to salt water over the shallow access. At other
locations where there is steep drop off into the water, tractors proved to be ideal as the
boat trailer could be backed into the water and the tractor would suffer minimal
immersion (Farm Beach near Coffin Bay on Eyre Peninsula is the classic example, so
named because of the large number of tractors located there).
Various interesting techniques were developed for launching power boats. Dave Magery
from Mallala was a very keen fisherman who had a property at Port Parham, and he used
a 1920s Chev car with virtually no bodywork, wooden spoke wheels, and the chassis
jacked about 400mm up from the axles. He probably used this for 10 years or more until
his untimely death when his boat exploded at sea. Tom Whimpress was an electrician by
trade and he toyed with self launching boats with 3 wheels and the front wheel driven by
an electric motor. Bob Collins developed a boat trailer with the jockey wheel driven by a
geared down Villiers motor on a pedestal.
The first serious attempt to build what is now known as the Parham Jinker was by Brian
Algar of Mallala. He purchased a 1928 Oldsmobile from Dean Reid who was then
apprenticed to Harry Curnow, the Mallala General Motors Dealer. In about 1958 he used
this as the basis of high machine with the Oldsmobile motor and chassis about 2 metres
above ground level with chain drive from the rear axle to another axle at ground level. I
have strong memories of this device being parked at the rear of Algar’s shack in Prime
Street, Port Parham, but I have been unable to find any photos, nor anyone who actually
saw it being used. I suspect that there was some point of failure, and Brian did not
persist in its development.
The first successful attempt to build a suitable device was by Bob Collins of Collins
Garage at Dublin in about 1963. He used a Vanguard chassis and power train with an
angle iron structure to provide height. The Vanguard back axle was turned 90 degrees
and drove another Vanguard axle at ground level. The front axle was from a 1920s
Dodge with the hubs modified to take Vanguard wheels.
This vehicle was taken to Len Webb’s premises at Port Parham, and was used by many
people wishing to launch boats. It was affectionately known as the “Bobmobile” after its
constructor. Bob would often get calls asking if the Bobmobile was available.
The Bobmobile still exists in almost its original state, although it is not functional. It has
been donated to the community by its last owner, Peter Mattner, and has been retrieved
from its resting place at Lyndoch.Plans are in hand to display it near the Port Parham
Sports and Social Club on the entry to Port Parham.
17 The Bobmobile as found at Lyndoch and on its return to Port Parham,
After some time the prime users of the Bobmobile
decided to build one their own. This second unit,
built by Lenny Reed and Moe Canala, was powered
by a Holden FJ grey motor, and also still exists in
somewhat modified form , although again it is non
functional. It is hoped to house this in the display
also.
Over time several more such devices have been
built, no two the same, until now there are over 100
at Port Parham, and probably a further 20 at Webb
Beach. One has made an appearance at Port
Germein.
They have been known variously as “high risers”, “Parham Giraffes” etc but the
common term today is the “Parham Jinker”, recognising the similarity in appearance to
the timber jinkers used in the Port Adelaide area in the 1960s and 70s (today these
jinkers would be called straddle cranes).
Most today are built on angle iron and I beam structures, are powered by Holden or Ford
straight 6 motors coupled to automatic gearboxes driving Datsun 1600/180B
differentials at the top to various axles at the bottom. Front ends (steering, suspension,
wheels) are typically from pre Commodore Holdens are getting difficult to source. These
front ends have a life expectancy of about 3 years in the salt water. A variety of options
for braking are used, from none, to levers operating blocks of wood against the rear
wheels, to brake drums and disks on the tailshaft or the axle side of the top differential
The “Jenkin Jinka” differs somewhat from the
norm in that it has a Datsun 200B motor and
manual gearbox (recovered from a car that went
under 6 tides after being bogged off shore) driving
a Datsun 1600 top diff with a brake hub on top.
Over its 15 year life it has had 3 rear axles, Toyota
HiAce, Mitsubishi L300, and current Ford Falcon
XE. The front end is from a TC Cortina which was
dumped in the salt lakes at the rear of Port Parham,
and surprisingly, has lasted the full 15 years, but is
18 in need of replacement if you can find one for me.
The unique colour scheme comes from our family
having a fine time with paint brushes one Easter.
Other unique launching machines have arisen over the years. They include a stripped
self propelled header and currently an orchard tractor “on stilts”, built in Romania, is in
use.
A rather interesting amphibious launching vehicle was developed in about 1988 at
Thompsons Beach by one of the earliest residents of the development. Mirou was an
electrician with an inventive bent. His vehicle consisted of two pontoons filled with
nitrogen with a boat trailer bed in between to take a boat. The pontoons were placed on a
set of axles at each end. The wheels on the rear set driven by a Datsun 200B motor
mounted on the front and were equipped with paddles to provide propulsion in the water.
The front wheels on the front axle were steerable and gave direction both on land and in
water. Unfortunately he had the
steering mechanism such that you turned left to
go right. The device worked and was quite
suitable for launching at Thompsons Beach
where there is little hard standing to take a
Jinker. As often occurs with developing a new
idea, several modifications were required to
make it workable, including a fibreglass
flotation tank under the motor to prevent the
front end from sinking. . I am told that photos
exist of it in use, but they have not yet surfaced.
Mirou subsequently returned to Croatia, his homeland, and sold the device and
construction rights to Rod Newell of Port Parham. He never used it and it was sold on a
couple of times to end up with Barry Evans on the Esplanade. The pontoons ultimately
corroded and the device was scrapped.
Another device of interest made one appearance at Port Parham about 15 years ago. A
large cabin cruiser appeared offshore and proceeded to come ashore under its own
power. It had 3 wheels built into the hull driven by hydraulic motors and was driven
under its own power onto a trailer built with 3 rails similar to a motorcycle trailer and
was taken away. To my knowledge this was its only appearance at Port Parham.
An interesting fact is that the launching vehicles are supposed to be registered as Special
Purpose Vehicles under the Road Traffic Act. This is similar to tractors and fork lifts etc
and provides cover for third party personal injury. Restrictions apply: they are not
permitted to exceed 25kph, nor are they permitted to carry passengers. They do not have
to be inspected by Regency Park but the rego must be referred through them with a
description, photographs, location of proposed use, and specification that they will be
used as a “boat retrieval vehicle”.
My thanks to Bob Collins, Len Reed, Dean Reid, Raelene Horgan and Rod Newell who
provided information for this article, and the thanks of the community go to Peter
Mattner for donating the Bobmobile and Greg Robinson for donating Jinker No 2 to be
displayed
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