Chamber members braved the elements to gather at The Aerie. Jackets were peeled off and cheeks were glowing, not sure if it was from the cosiness of the room or the delicious mulled wine, celebrating X'mas in July!
Celebrating X’mas in July with guest speaker Cr Amanda Hay
The July Member Event was held at The Aerie. Celebrating X’mas in July with mulled wine and X’mas attire was on the agenda with approximately 20 guests in attendance. The event was enhanced by Cr Amanda Hay’s presence, who contributed significantly with her insightful discussion. Her comprehensive discourse covered a wide range of topics. She expressed satisfaction with the cultural shift in SRRC under Mayor Sharp’s leadership, noting the gradual filling of vacant positions.
Concerns about the lack of adequate waste disposal facilities, particularly recycling bins, as well as the frequency of recycling collections were raised. The consensus was that the increase in the community’s recycling efforts sometimes leads to recyclables being disposed of in general waste due to lack of space. Cr Hay said that she would support additional bins being placed in public places where they were needed.
The matter of excessive speed and noise from certain motorcycles on Main Western Rd was also raised, with the suggestion of installing cameras to deter such behavior. At a previous Chamber meeting, QPS had attended and presented the surveillance system used at Logan, something that could be beneficial for the Mountain. Additionally, the topic of tourism and public facilities was raised leading to Cr Hay giving an update on the SRRC property on Gallery Walk, the development of the car park and refurbishment of the amenities. The development application of 30 Kidd St as a retirement facility with 166 Units together with the road usage and off-street parking was also discussed.
Finally, the ‘X’mas in July’ video was presented to the attendees, serving as an uplifting reminder to continue spreading the event by sharing the video on Facebook (see below).
The next member event will be on the 21st of August at the Grand Chameleon. It will be another Business Education Event featuring presentations on Cybersecurity, Social Media Management, and Business Estate Planning.
All business owners are invited to a THINK FACTORY for X'MAS IN JULY @ THE AERIE on Monday 13th May, 5:30 pm. Bring your creativity and ideas!
All business owners! You are invited to join us at the fabulous Aerie this Monday, the 13th of May, at 5:30pm – for a “X’mas in July” Think Factory. We’re excited to hear your amazing ideas and strategies for making the event a booming success. Don’t hesitate to wear your festive hat and let your creativity run wild.
Here are a few suggestions to get the Christmas decorations tinkering –
How about serving mulled wine at our local restaurants and bnbs?
Crafting special X’mas menus to spread the festive cheer.
Encouraging our hospitality team members to don X’mas attire.
Lighting up the Mountain with decorations and twinkling lights.
Hanging stockings on chimneys to create an authentic holiday atmosphere.
Using pine cone table decorations for a rustic touch.
Thinking up unique ways your business can contribute to this joyous occasion. Looking forward to your vibrant participation!
What are your Christmas opening hours? Let us know ASAP and the hours will be posted on the Chamber and Visitor Information Centre websites.
Christmas Opening Hours for Businesses
It is less than 6 weeks to Christmas on the Mountain! Businesses should by now have decided on their opening hours and which days they will be closed over the Christmas period. One of our brilliant volunteers from the Visitor Information Centre suggested that we keep a list of restaurants and cafes, including their trading hours, as we have already had our first enquiry about a reservation for Christmas from a visitor. Consequently, to assist all businesses over the Christmas period, business owners are invited to complete the survey below and your Christmas information will be collated at the VIC and posted on the Visit Tamborine Mountain and Chamber of Commerce websites. This is an area of inadequate communication for visitors to the Mountain. Hopefully this initiative will go some way to improving opening hours communication for our visitors over this period.
Christmas Member Event
This year the Chamber Christmas party will be held at Cedar Creek Lodges on Thursday 14th December; tickets will be available soon.
All business owners are welcome to join the Chamber and attend this exciting event and, until the start of the new year, membership fees have been waived. Contact the secretary for more information.
A massive thank you to this year’s committee - the massive amount of work you put can be seen in the results with another fantastice festival! Come join us for a Business Networking Melbourne Cup Breakfast at Franquette French Bakery
Hopefully everyone had a fabulous weekend at the Tamborine Mountain Scarecrow Festival with an excellent display of Scarecrows and Artwork. Events such as this do not simply come together, there is an enormous amount of preparation and organization needed and hours of volunteer work. A massive thank you to this year’s committee – Sandra McDonald, Pam Lambert, Lissy Patzelt and Gaye Dell, together with Lily Parker and Addison Moorkens from Tamborine Mountain College. Whilst it is generally acknowledged that formal volunteering in Australia has been gradually declining in recent years, this team defied that concept. A special mention to Sandra for organizing the Colouring and Poetry Competition. It’s great to see this style of art and culture being supported and embraced by our community. The age diversity of the committee also needs a special mention, from 16 – 80+, it was wonderful to see skills being shared and complemented, from Google Sheets to pen & paper, there is always something to be gained.
The festival also needs support from the Community. This year we were fortunate to have the following major sponsors:
In addition, there were over 30 businesses who donated a variety of vouchers to support the event, with the vast majority of prizes being given to local residents allowing the benefits to stay within the local community.
Start Melbourne Cup morning with breakfast at Franquette, networking and some fun. Create a hat that describes you & your business and enjoy the company of your business colleagues, scan the code for tickets.
All business owners are welcome to join the Chamber and until the start of the new year membership fees have been waived. Contact the secretary for more information.
The Scarecrow Festival is on the 27th – 29th October, only about 6 weeks away. The festival incorporates poetry, art and of course scarecrow competitions. Come and join in the fun!
Have you seen ‘Hayden’ out and about?? Hayden, our official Scarecrow mascot was seen visiting Jon Krause’s Office – State Member for Scenic Rim and Scott Buchholz’s Office – Federal Member for Wright, what is that straw stuffed plaid shirt handsome scarecrow up to? He’s out and about having his photo taken for the upcoming Tamborine Mountain Scarecrow Festival. Hayden and his chauffeur are popping in to visit sponsors over the next few weeks and posting the photos on Facebook.
The Scarecrow Festival is on the 27th – 29th October, only about 6 weeks away. The festival will incorporate a junior and senior poetry competition as well as a colouring competition. The colouring competition entry form is available in this edition. This year the festival will incorporate an Art Competition being held at Vonda Youngman over the same days. There will be three categories for the competition 13 – 15, 16 – 18 and an open age group. Winners will be chosen by ‘People’s Choice’. An excellent opportunity for our local artists to exhibit their talents. There are only a couple of conditions, the artwork must be Scarecrow themed and completed on a canvas no larger than 45 x 60cm. Registration forms are available next week.
Businesses are welcome to sponsor the festival and are encouraged to hold Scarecrow themed events and to join in the festivities by displaying their own Scarecrows. Follow us on Facebook @TMScarecrowFestival for more information.
This year the major sponsors are Eagle Heights Bakery, My Plumbing Man, Physique, the School Markets, Scenic Rim Regional Council, Tamborine Times, and of course none of it would happen without the Tamborine Mountain Business Chamber.
Why did Hayden go to Physique? Because his back was stuffed!
This workshop is designed for leaders and provides an overview of the signs and symptoms of burnout, the most common causes that lead to fatigue and evidence-based strategies to reduce the incident of burnout for employees.
The last few years have taken a toll on organisations across the country. The ripple effect of pandemic restrictions, staff shortages, hybrid working and difficulties in recruiting are likely to continue for some time. Next month the Chamber will be hosting a Business Mental Health Workshop to address business burnout. This event will be supported by Business Chamber Queensland and the Queensland Government.
Psychologist, Emma Boucher will facilitate the event. Emma lived on the Mountain for 5 years and has 25 years of experience within the domains of clinical, occupational, and organisational psychology including leadership, RTW, workplace wellbeing, and strategic planning. She is passionate about creating psychologically healthy workspaces through promotion of healthy work practices, management of psychosocial hazards, and early intervention to support those experiencing mental ill health.
Investing in creating a more mentally fit workplace is beneficial to all staff. As a result, employees are more engaged, more motivated, morale will be higher, and staff will be more willing to go above and beyond the requirements of their role. This workshop provides an overview of the signs and symptoms of burnout, the most common causes that lead to fatigue and evidence-based strategies to reduce the incident of burnout for employees. This workshop is designed for leaders of all levels to develop a greater understanding of the impact of burnout within businesses and apply practical solutions to minimise this risk.
The event is on Thursday, September 14, 5:30pm at Shambala Estate and is free for members. As the event will be catered, you are required to have a ticket, scan the QR code. If you are a business owner and would like to join the Chamber Contact the secretary… memberships have been discounted until the end of the year.
The most recent Tamborine Business Chamber networking event and planning for the next event... don't miss out!
Our last Chamber Member Networking Events was held at The Monkey Tree Bar & Restaurant, with a solid turnout and an enjoyable, informative evening. The guest speaker was Paul Garcia from the Business Chamber Queensland. A great opportunity for members to get an update on recent changes to industrial relations laws and be privy to survey and reporting insights garnering a greater understanding of the challenges of the workplace. Krystle Divertie from AstroWave notified members of the QLD HR grants available for small businesses, contact the Chamber if you want to know more. At the event were a few new members, Mark Cantlon, host and owner operator of The Monkey Tree Bar & Restaurant, Scott Howison & Susie Kitchener from The Grand Chameleon on the corner of Long and Curtis Roads, and Shane Walker, manager of Escarpment Retreat & Day Spa. Great to see new businesses joining the Chamber.
Our next Chamber event will be a breakfast on August 9th from 7:00 am to 8:30 am at Inspire Me Naturally. Start your day with a refocused mindset from our host at Inspire Me Naturally, breakfast by Franquette, and the latest news on Mountain Water. A joint briefing to the Chamber on the work done by QUT in partnership with the Queensland Government investigating groundwater at Tamborine Mountain. A topic sure to inspire some riveting conversation. A Chamber meeting not to be missed!
Read on to find out what is happening in the Tamborine Mountain Chamber of Commerce...another event, SRRC councillor, and new advertising parterships...
Last Wednesday Chamber Members gathered at Tamborine Mountain Distillery. The evening was an opportunity for networking with a bonus sumptuous selection of food by Ness and Nells Nook, from their Grazing Boxes, together with a dram of TMD’s award-winning apricot brandy and a Yuzucello, a natural hybrid of wild mandarin and Ichang lemon, a perfect combination!
It was a well-attended evening with our local Council Amanda Hay giving members an update of her first 60 days in Council. Cr Hay has hit the ground running! Cr Hay’s attendance and collaboration is extremely appreciated by all Chamber members.
There was also a group discussion regarding the proposed name change from Tamborine Mountain Chamber of Commerce & Industry to Business Chamber Tamborine Mountain, aligning the Chamber to the newly renamed Business Chamber Queensland from the previous Chamber of Commerce and Industry Queensland. The proposal was well accepted and members present were keen to change to the new name. The change process will take a little while, stay posted!
Rebel Media will now be working alongside the Tamborine Mountain Chamber of Commerce and Industry. As a part of the sponsorship the Chamber will be advertising through both Rebel and The Breeze. The Rebel team even created a tagline for Tamborine Mountain, ‘Rebel Rocks Tamborine Mountain’, it definitely has appeal!
It was an informative evening for all in attendance. If you are a business owner and would like to join the Chamber contact the secretary.
Scarecrow Festival Art Competition
The Tamborine Mountain Scarecrow Festival will once again be taking place on the last weekend in October from Friday 27th to Sunday 29th 2023.
This year in addition to the extra-straw-din-ary fun of the festival there will also be an art competition. Artists of all ages are invited to grab a canvas and get creative with their ‘scarecrow’ themed creation. Entries will be displayed at Community Sponsors’ venues along with exposure on social media. The Scarecrow Festival is only about 4 months away so now’s the time to get creative. There will be prizes and giveaways for all sections of the festival. The art competition will have three sections, under 15 years old, 16 to 18 years old and an open age group. To register for the art competition, go to www.tamborinemountainscarecrowfestival.com.au or scan the code. If you would like to know more contact the secretary.
There will be more information to follow, watch this space.
The Scarecrow Festival is proudly sponsored and supported by the TM Chamber of Commerce & Industry.
Check out the video and 2-day itenerary to visit and have fun on Tamborine Mountain.
The Chamber has supported and sponsored the completion and submission of an entry for Tamborine Mountain in the Queensland Top Tourism Town Award. If the entry achieves a score of 75% from the judges, Tamborine Mountain will once again be a finalist in the awards. However, there is then a second part to the judging where the entries are put to a public vote! The public voting will only be open from Monday 8th May to Wednesday 24th May and we will need your help to win the public vote. If you would like to have a look at the entry, go to the home page of the Visit Tamborine Mountain website, https://visittamborinemountain.com.au/ or scan the qrcode below.
The video travels the Mountain over two days. Beginning with Verandah House to Tamborine Mountain Coffee Plantation to the Organic Farm on the roadside, past Robert Sowter Park Lookout and the paragliders and onto Gallery Walk for a bite at Franquette, a visit to e360, and then onto Witches Falls Winery and the Glow Worms at Cedar Creek Estate before finishing the evening at Cedar Creek Lodges.
Day 2 starts with a morning visit to Tamborine Mountain Distillery and an afternoon of entertainment at Cauldron Distillery. The landscapes and rainforests are simply stunning. It’s amazing how much can be packed into a 2-minute video, and yes there is so much more to see on the Mountain!
Congratulations to Shae and Russ Raven and a special than you to Judi Minnikin for realising this achievement.
