Pittsworth and District Men’s Shed members called at Narrandera this week as part of their adventure down the mighty Murray River. For the past year they have been building a raft, affectionately known as “Shed down the Murray,” and have been towing it 1,100 kilometres down the Newell Highway to Narrandera.
A further 200 kilometres south lies Yarrawonga Victoria, where it will be launched into the Murray River bound for Swan Hill, 600 kilometres downstream.
Toowoomba company Wagners donated composite-fibre beams to build the raft and it sits atop oodles of empty 55-gallon, blue barrels.
The raft was successfully tested for “seaworthiness” at Warwick’s Lake Leslie with team leader and skipper Merv Hinneberg at the controls.
Merv spent his youth “dangling a line” in the Murray and it was his nostalgia that brought about the idea.
Along the way the men will be raising funds for prostate cancer awareness and care through charities “It’s a Bloke Thing” and Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia, with a target of $200,000.
Their journey will see them stopping at Goondiwindi, Moree, Coonabarabran, Dubbo, West Wyalong, Narrandera, Morundah, Yarrawonga, Tocumwal, Barmah, Echuca, Torrumbarry and Koondrook, before reaching Swan Hill.
This is a ‘boys own’ adventure and they’re hoping they’ll be joined along the way by the spirits of Banjo Patterson, Henry Lawson, Mark Twain and Huckleberry Finn!
Merv said he “was overwhelmed by the support received from other men’s sheds, Rotary Clubs, Council Mayors and state parliamentarians along the route who have arranged receptions, lunches, dinners and extraordinary donations.”
“To show we Queenslanders care, we’re collecting a litre bottle of water from each of the Macintyre, Mehi, Castlereagh, Macquarie, Lachlan and Murrumbidgee Rivers and depositing their contents into the Murray to counter criticism Queensland/ NSW is holding back water from the system!” he quipped.
The Pittsworth and District Men’s Shed Inc started from humble beginnings in 2013 with eight members which has now grown to over sixty.
They were encouraged by TRC councillors and staff to operate out of one shed (bay one) in the Pioneer Village and their numbers were used to bolster the visitor numbers to the village.
They later gained use of bay two and then bay three with the Men’s Shed upgrading the electrical framework in these two sheds.
The group now has approval to install a dust extraction system in Bay three with an additional cost of some $18,000.
In 2018 they completed the construction of the new shed and since completion have purchased new modern equipment with grant funding of $17,000 and a local donation of $10,000. This means they now have a two hundred-thousand-dollar investment in the Pioneer Village.
Since their inception they have maintained the sheds and the cottage, which the group has unconditional usage on a month-to-month basis.
In 2020 we purchased equipment from KBH Enterprises, a sheltered workshop in Toowoomba. Part of that purchase was equipment and material to manufacturing survey pegs and stakes, concreters formwork pegs and garden stakes.
Development of this cottage industry ensures financial security for the shed into the future.
To help the men in their quest people can donate to Pittsworth and District Men’s Shed, Heritage Bank, BSB 638 070, account 1332 5485.
This article appeared in the Narrandera Argus, 3 August 2023.
