VE NEWS
MULGR
Edition 33, October 2012
Joshua’s road to Rio A Community Lifeline By Wendy Maddocks
Gordonvale has produced many sporting champions over the years but no one more courageous than our very own Joshua Lush. Joshua is an Athlete with Disabilities with an intellectual impairment who struggles with the concepts of everyday living and school. Joshua has found a passion for athletics and over the last 2 years has represented his school at State and National level. Joshua’s main events are the 100m, 200m, long jump, shot put, discus and the 800m. Joshua also competes at little athletics for Cairns. As an Athlete with a Disability a lot of his competitions are held in Brisbane or Melbourne. Joshua has recently received an invitation to the 2012 Athlete with Disabilities Junior Championships
(Road to Rio) to be held in Canberra in November. This is where Joshua gets to start his dream of one day representing his country at the Olympics in 2016. Last year Joshua travelled to Darwin for the national athletics titles where he achieved 8 gold and 2 silver medals, this was in addition to his 5 gold and 1 silver at State level and the setting of 5 Athletes with Disabilities state records in the under 14 age group which was 2 years above his age. Joshua has been marked for International duties in the next few years. In April this year Joshua returned from the Brisbane Athlete with Disabilities State Games where he won 4 gold and 1 silver in his events as an U16, 4 years above his age group. But the big news for Joshua was his selection as 1 of 4 Qld track and field athletes to compete in Special Olympics National Games in Newcastle in December. Joshua also made the QLD team for Primary School Cross Country, unfortunately because of cost to get him to Adelaide Joshua could not go to the Nationals. Last year the cost for Joshua to travel to the respective athletics carnivals was in excess of $18,000. Joshua’s goal is to represent Australia at the 2016 Olympic games in Rio. Mulgrave News has long been a supporter and follower of Joshua’s achievements. We are putting a plea out there to the residents of Gordonvale to help Joshua achieve his dream of competing in the Olympic Games in Rio in 2016. The Mulgrave Mill, Ashlee Jones homes and the Mulgrave News have all been sponsors of Joshua and we are looking for other small businesses and residents of Gordonvale to help him along. Any donations can be sent to Joshua Lush c/o Mulgrave News. PO Box 544, Gordonvale Qld 4865. Good luck with achieving your dreams Joshua.
Contact John for a quote Ph: 07 4056 3712 Mob: 0412 772 585 E: pearcepainters@bigpond.com BSA 52012
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For approximately nine years, the Gordonvale Lifeline Op Shop has been a browsing destination for the community. It is staffed by twelve friendly volunteers who thank the local community for their generosity and support and greatly appreciate receiving the donations of clothing which is laundered beforehand. I recently headed for Lifeline in anticipation of an enjoyable cruise around the shelves and almost dived for cover as three boxes of spoons, knives and forks I had previously been rummaging through, crashed to the floor. The noise was loud enough to shatter shopfront windows up and down Norman Street. And all I wanted was one little knife! Thinking I was responsible for the mess, I apologized and looked around for an escape route but then had to quickly sit down because my ears were ringing so badly I felt dizzy, due to the amplified noise clanging through the two hearing aids I was wearing. The manageress, Anne MacMahon, assuring me that no damage had been done, set about picking up the gleaming piles of cutlery and it was then that the real culprit was discovered. The cutlery box shelf was not securely attached to its supports and so any movement of the boxes practically ensured the shelf would topple over. Lack of funds puts minor repairs and maintenance on the bottom of the list and the staff have to make-do with a number of unstable shelves and cupboards. Wouldn’t it be a nice if a community minded local tradesman or handy man donated his time to undertake these repairs for this service which gives so much to our community? Not forgetting the relief this would provide a hard of hearing senior citizen who has promised never to go near the crockery shelves.