# THE REDGUM HOLLOW GAZETTE ### Serving the District Since 1954 — Edition 11 — Monday to Thursday #### *Published when ready. Marge Holloway, Editor, Proprietor, Typesetter, and Occasional Delivery Driver.* --- **WEATHER:** Hot. Dry. The creek is thinking about it and deciding against. --- ## LEVEL 4: WE ARE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER (SOME MORE LAMINATED THAN OTHERS) Level 4 water restrictions are now in force across the district, and if you somehow missed the council notice on the hall, the council notice on the store, and Lorraine Apps' personally laminated guide affixed to the ice-cream freezer at eye level and slightly crooked, then this newspaper will not be able to help you either. The restrictions are, by general agreement, necessary. Whether they are sufficient is the quieter conversation. The beer garden hose at the Royal is off — Macca made that call Tuesday, publicly, correctly, and without being asked. This editor notes the *without being asked* and considers it worth recording. On the question of whether the festival will proceed, Deb Forsythe has already filed an exemption application with council — a move reported at the CWA emergency sub-meeting and received, by all accounts, with warm approval. This paper said last edition that Deb moved fast when she had to. The evidence mounts. Application submitted, council notified, festival not yet dead. Deb is being praised for acting quickly, which she deserves, and which she will remember, which she also deserves. --- ## THE HENDERSON BORE IS NOW, APPARENTLY, OFFICIAL Shelley Poidevin's ute sat at the Henderson place Wednesday morning for the better part of two hours. Clipboard confirmed. Visit confirmed. The Henderson bore — which this paper has been circling since Ray Connelly arrived — has now entered the semi-official record, which is to say: Shelley has been, Shelley has measured, and whatever comes next comes with documentation. The town's reading of this situation is, characteristically, compressed to its most useful shape: *Ray's got the water situation sorted.* Whether this reflects Ray's water situation, the district's water situation, or something nobody has thought to ask about yet is left as an exercise for the reader. What this editor notes is that a man who arrived in town fewer than three months ago, paid cash, receives correspondence from a family law firm in Cairns, and says very little to almost everyone, has nevertheless — quietly, practically — contributed something to the public record during the worst water crisis in four years. Bruce Petrie at the stock and station reports Ray asked about the saleyards water setup Monday. *Practical man, that,* says Bruce, with the authority of someone who spoke to him for four minutes. Ray Connelly remains, on balance, unknowable. This paper is beginning to suspect that is intentional. --- ## SALEYARDS QUIET; LES WHITFORD TAKES HIS CATTLE HOME Monday's auction ran light. Fewer trucks, fewer producers, fewer bids that went anywhere worth mentioning. The biosecurity levy is being named as the reason. Les Whitford loaded his cattle back up and took them home. Several people discussed this at the servo and the pub and reached no conclusions that will be printed here, as they reached none that were printable. --- ## AROUND THE DISTRICT - The child's shoe on the Henderson fence post is back. Toe pointing inward now. Nobody moved it, apparently. - Tash's sourdough card at the store reads *local produce* as of this week. Lorraine added it. Tash has not said anything about this publicly, which, in this town, is its own statement. - Alan Reeves spoke to Steve-o at the servo Thursday morning. Content unknown. Duration: long enough to be noticed. - Fuel prices remain uncomfortable. --- ## LETTERS TO THE EDITOR **From Lorraine Apps, Redgum Hollow Store:** *Marge, just to clarify: the laminated guide is for everyone's benefit and was done on my own time. Also, the card change for Tash's bread was simply accurate. She sources local. It should say so. — L. Apps* **From a Reader Who Signs Herself "Concerned Festival-Goer":** *We should all be thanking Deb. She was on the phone before the ink was dry. That's the kind of person you want running a bicentenary. Just saying.* **From Les Whitford, Whitford Station:** *Marge. The levy is the problem. Always was. — L.W.* --- *Next edition when events demand it.* *Marge Holloway, Editor.*