CATTLE PADS

The official newsletter of The Drover's Camp Assn Inc. Camooweal

VOL # 5 Issue 3 September 2008

President's Report

Good Day All,

Well, what a wonderful Festival! Except for the weather! I'm afraid I don't have any control over the wind, dust and cold. It was great to see so many drovers return, 75 in total, 12 being over 80.

On the Saturday, at lunchtime, there were over 2000 people on the grounds. The festival this year was profitable, though merchandise didn't sell as well as previous years. We ran the food stall ourselves and it was a success. Many thanks to Joy and Greg Forbes Simpson and six of their mates from Brisbane, for running the Dinner Camp.

The stainless steel mugs were a fantastic hit. I do hope everyone was pleased with the memorabilia shed and gallery - at long last we have somewhere to house the memorabilia.

A big thank you to all who helped to get the gallery into shape. Just on the gallery, if anyone is donating photos PLEASE WRITE ON BACK OF SAME THE IDENTIITIES, as we have many photos here with no notations.

Australian Bronco Branding championships were record breaking everywhere, nominations were well and truly up. I think a great time was had by all. It was wonderful to see Peter Denahy and the Sunny Cowgirls having a go at bronco branding.

Well, folks now its time to get things moving for next year - the dates will be 21, 22 and 23 August, 2009.
Many thanks for your attendance this year and look forward to seeing you all next year.

Your in droving
Liz.

The Drover's Camp would like to thank our Bronze Spur Award judges Milton Taylor and Graham Dean. The following comments come from Milton Taylor re the competition.

The standard of poems submitted was varied, with many pieces having the potential to be improved with workshopping.

The top echelon was excellent with imaginative language and clever usage of word evident, which set them above the remainder. The results could have been different with another judge, as in the final wash-up personal preference comes into play, when all other avenues have been exhausted. With the closeness in entries, what won today could have been placed third or fourth by another judge.

The lower scoring poems were marked down principally due to basic faults such as bad punctuation, or in many cases total lack of same. Please remember when writing, the poem must be easy to read for a judge, who is merely a representative of the general readership, and if the reader has to make his own punctuation, then the poet's work has not been adequately carried out.

Some poems were written in unconventional fonts which made for hard reading and I would suggest that when submitting the entry, the writer should stick to Times New Roman, which is eminently readable and familiar as a poetry font.

Four, six, or eight line stanzas are far more readable that forty - eighty lines with no breaks. The reader needs to spell now and then as the story progresses, which the stanza form provides.

Hand written entries were also difficult to decipher in parts, and I suggest that those poems be submitted in typed form in future.

Illustrations are not desirable and excessive use of foot notes or explanatory texts are a distraction and are best kept to a minimum.

It is pleasing to see the emphasis on the "droving days" philosophy being presented, and the devotion to that lifestyle coming out in poem form is satisfying.

Judges are always looking for freshness of a subject and some recurring themes were encountered in this competition. Droughts and bushfires, etc., are well visited topics and must have a different slant to previously written work to succeed in competition.

I would urge all those poets who submitted their work to continue to enter competitions, as this is the best way for us to both preserve our heritage and continue your growth as a writer. For those who are not succeeding with their written poetry, I strongly urge you to consult fellow poets, attend workshops and join a local writers' group if one is available. Most well credentialed bushy poetry writers are very generous with their readiness to assist their fellow bards and will give advice if requested. Should you get this advice please do not regard their comments on your work as criticism; it is purely their viewpoint on how your writing can be advanced and enhanced.

My thanks for your participation and commitment to continuing storytelling in verse as a cultural heritage.

Long live Bush Poetry, eh.
Milton Taylor.

First Prize - 2008 Bronze Spur Award

I'm Sorry, Laurie!

Here I sit with husband, Laurie,
"For the millionth time, I' sorry!"
As we're waiting in the crowded x-ray ward.
See, we had a little "mix-up"
now he needs a bit of fix-up
And he blames me, but I still blame the cord.

His eye is bruised and swellin'
'cos he hit it as he fell an'
yes, it's my fault that he injured here today.
He says his nose is broken
But we haven't really spoken
since the ambo's came and carried him away.

He was shouting in the kitchen
And I saw him jerkin', twitchin',
well, I thought his odd behaviour quite bizarre.
With distressed enthusiasm
he was gripped by each cruel spasm
wailing, "ooh-ee-ooh-nah-nah yeah-ooh-ahh-ahh".

Oh, the pain! His face contorted,
and his mouth was all distorted.
He shuddered like a crazy man possessed.
Some wild, exotic tribal curse
had torn him from this universe
and forced him on a strange, spasmodic quest.

He did pelvical gyrating
like a frantic monkey mating
as he shuffled back and forth across the floor
Like a spastic, psycho chicken
arms and shoulders kept on flickin'.
I'd never seen him act this way before.

His temple holes were pulsing,
he was twitching and convulsing
as he jerked from fridge to sink, then past the drawers.
He leapt like he'd touched fire,
as he spun - I saw the wire -
ah ha, electrocution was the cause!

No time for feeling sickly.
I knew I must act quickly.
We mustn't touch, or I'd get zapped like that!
I thanked those ambo classes
as I straightened up my glasses
then whacked him with a wooden cricket bat.

Laurie cleared the kitchen table
with that voltage-bearing cable
still gripping tight to both his head and hip.
His cartwheel was dramatic
and his handstand acrobatic,
then he flopped across the sink and split his lip.

He scored a lovely shiner
and some other things quite minor -
he snapped two ribs, we think he broke his thumb,
his tooth was cracked and hurting,
from his toenail blood was spurting
and the bat had left a imprint on his bum.

The ambo's rescued Laurie.
"For the millionth time, I'm sorry!"
We're still waiting in the crowded x-ray ward.
It wasn't electricity
that caused him all that pain, you see....
that "cable" was his stupid i-pod cord!

By Kym Eitel Limestone

ART Competition & Exhibition Results

Section 1. Droving

Sponsored by The Drovers Camp Assn Inc.
Bringing in the Strays - Gail Thomas 1st
Drovers Quart Pot - Ron Hope 2nd
Drovers Truck - Stumpy Adams 3rd

Section 2. Australian Landscape

Sponsored by Norrie Drilling Services Pty Ltd.
Last Light Winton - Graham Smith 1st
The Bend - Stumpy Adams 2nd
Taking in the View - Gail Thomas 3rd

Section 3. Aboriginal Art

Sponsored by Dugalunji Aboriginal Corporation.
Rainbow Serpent - Alf Ahkit 1st
Patricia Williams - Unnamed 2nd
Womens Bushtucker - Brownyn Smith 3rd

Section 4. Australian Relic

Sponsored by The Drovers Camp Assn Inc.
Moonlight Flat - Stumpy Adams 1st
Mustering Old Style - Stumpy Adams 2nd

Section 5. Junior to year 12

Joe - Zoe Miller 1st
Best Yet - Zoe Miller 2nd

Bronze Statue Raffle

Sponsored by John Forbes.
Won by A. Robinson of Cardwell, Qld.

20 lt Rum Raffle.

Sponsored by The Post Office Hotel.
Won by N. Andrews of Mount Isa, Qld.

AVAILABLE NOW!!!

2008 DROVER'S FESTIAL DVD - TWO DISC PACK

FEATURING - Street Parade, Bronco Branding, Mail Race and Walk up performances. Selection of Neville Anderson, Peter Denahy and Sunny Cowgirls songs performed at the festival and much more!!!!! $25 per pack + $5.00 postage. Please place orders with Liz Flood on 07 47482022 or post cheque/postal money order with name and address to The Drover's Camp, P.O. Box 21, Camooweal 4828 Qld.

AVAILABLE NOW!!!

2008 Australian Bronco Branding Championships at the Drover's Camp.
Watch all the action at the Competition and Presentations for 2008.
$25 per pack + $5.00 postage. Please place orders with Liz Flood on 07 47482022 or post cheque/postal money order with name and address to The Drover's Camp, P.O. Box 21, Camooweal 4828 Qld.

PHOTOGRAPHY COMPETITION

Section 1 - Cute country Kids

1st Hard day at Work by Shelly Hawkins
2nd by Nola Gallagher
3rd by Nina Mayne

Section 2 - Australian scenic

1st Sunset at Avon Downs, NT by Cameron Higgins
2nd Grasshoppers at Sunset by Shelly Hawkins
3rd by Thelma Powell

Section 3 - Portrait

1st Welcome to a New Day by Lyn Makkai
2nd Ray and Stumpy by Stumpy Adams
3rd By Nina Mayne

Section 4 - Droving Historical

1st by Shirley MacNamara
2nd by Shirley MacNamara

3rd by Nola Gallagher

Section 5 - Black and White

1st The Good Old Days by Louize Lyle
2nd The Land by Will Gibson
3rd by Nina Mayne

Section 6 - Animals

1st Green Frogs by Thelma Powell
2nd Cute as a Button by Shelly Hawkins
3rd Frogmouth by Kelly Simpson

Judges Awards Sponsored by Shirley MacNamara

Up, Up and Away by Lyn Makkai

Australian Bronco Branding Championship Results
Camooweal Drovers Camp Festival, Camooweal, Qld.
23rd and 24th August 2008

Australian Championship Singles - Sponsored by Myuma

1st Contractors
2nd Old Herbs Team
3rd Survivors
4th Mackas Team
5th Niftos Team
6th Territory

Australian Championship Doubles - Sponsored by North West Crane Hire and Nastam Grazing

1st Adria/ Pandie
2nd Windorah
3rd Contractors
4th Roxborough
5th Red Rock

6th Outback Outlaws

Australian Championship Novice - Sponsored by Pin Built Construction and RJM Auto Electrical

1st Stop and Watch
2nd Ranko's Team
3rd Just Like Fishing
4th Birdsville Young Guns

Clargie Saltmere Beginner Branding - Sponsored by Mount Isa Produce Agency

1st Down South
2nd AMP’s Team
3rd The Apple Isle
4th Just Like Fishing

Best Presented Team - Sponsored by Carmel Williams

Geriatrics

Best Bronco Horse - Sponsored by Myuma. Trophy donated by Barry Doonan

"Flicka"

Best Catch - Trophy donated by Prouds

Godon King

Best Brander - Trophy donated by Prouds

Lawrence Monize

2008 Australian Bronco Branding Championship Singles Winners
Contractors Team (L to R) Tricia Bischel, Peter Kleinschmidt, Carolyn Doyle & Mick Bischel

2008 Australian Bronco Branding Championship Doubles Winners
Adria-Pandie Team (L to R) Lester Cain, Michael Emms, Ken Griffith, Don Rayment & David Morten

2008 Australian Bronco Branding Championship Novice Winners (Peter Clauson Memorial Perpetual Trophy)
Stop & Watch Team (L to R) Mick Bischel, Fred Hill, Don Rayment & Alan Rankine

2008 Australian Bronco Branding Championships held at the Drovers Camp Festival at Camooweal