# THE REDGUM HOLLOW GAZETTE **Edition 16 — Monday to Thursday** *Est. whenever it needed to be. Marge Holloway, Editor, Proprietor, Typesetter, and Sole Survivor.* *Weather: Still nothing. The sky has the look of a man who owes you money and knows it.* --- ## SALEYARDS PIECE PROMPTS REFLECTION ACROSS THE DISTRICT Thursday's structural survey of saleyards governance — this column's most carefully worded piece in recent memory, and I don't say that lightly — has generated what I will charitably call *animated arithmetic* at both the co-op and the cafe. No names were printed. None are required. When a man drives through the main street four times in a fortnight without stopping, parks nowhere, buys nothing, and speaks to no one, the town will draw its own lines between the dots. Les Whitford is entitled to drive wherever he likes. The road is public. So is the conversation about it. I observe only that the piece stands as written. Further observation is ongoing. --- ## MARGARET MITCHELL ORDERS TEA AND OLIVE LOAF On Wednesday morning, Margaret Mitchell — known to this district for longer than most properties have held their current title — walked into the new cafe on Henderson Street, sat down, ordered tea and olive loaf, and remained for twenty minutes. She reportedly said to the proprietor: *"You're the girl who makes the bread."* This is reported without embellishment because it requires none. Those who know Margaret Mitchell will understand that she does not enter establishments on a whim. Those who know the current circulatory status of certain parking arrangements on Merton Street — and the CWA ring moves faster than weather, which is saying something given the weather has barely moved in months — will note the timing with whatever expression seems appropriate to them personally. The olive loaf, by all accounts, was excellent. Still available Tuesdays and Fridays at the store. --- ## HENDERSON BOUNDARY ROPE: NOW DOUBLED A small item, perhaps. On Wednesday, driving the east Henderson road — routine observation, I drive a great deal — I noted the rope on the boundary post has been reinforced. Two pieces now, wound together. Sturdy work. Prevailing theory around the district is that Ray Connelly found additional rope in the clearing and put it to use. This is presented as a mundane explanation and may well be. I do not find it mundane. A man who pays cash for a property, receives correspondence from Whitmore & Associates Family Law of Cairns, hands a letter *across* Lorraine Apps's counter rather than through the slot — which she confirmed and said nothing further about, which is itself worth noting — and who now doubles his boundary markers is, in my professional assessment, a man who is making things clearer. Whether for his own benefit or someone else's is a question I have placed in the drawer marked *Patience.* Clarrie Burton has said nothing. I give Clarrie's silences the same weight I give other men's declarations. --- ## LETTERS TO THE EDITOR **From: Bev Ackermann, Coolibah Drive** Marge, I thought your saleyards piece was very thorough and said exactly what needed saying without anyone being able to say it said it. That is an art. The CWA will be discussing it at the next meeting though Glenys thinks it's too subtle. I think it's just right. — Bev A. **From: A Reader Who Prefers Not To Be Named (Merton Street precinct)** The ute is a Hilux, white, and it's been there twice now at a perfectly reasonable hour of the evening. Some of us have lived here for twenty years and would appreciate if people kept their networks to themselves. The bread is very good. **From: Norm Falconer, the pub** Bingo's off for six weeks. PA system gone. Was the only quiet night of the week. — Norm --- ## AROUND THE DISTRICT Festival stall registrations up two since Thursday. Deb Forsythe's momentum continues. The woman organises like something is at stake. Fuel prices at the servo up again. Nobody's happy. Nobody's surprised. Bowling club bingo cancelled six weeks, PA back-ordered from Sydney. The silence on Friday nights will be noticeable. Still no rain. The creek is a suggestion. *— M. Holloway, Ed.*