THE BYRON SHIRE ECHO Page 20 Advertising & news enquiries: Mullumbimby 02 6684 1777 Byron Bay 02 6685 5222 Fax 02 6684 1719 [email protected] [email protected] Available early Tuesday at: http://www.echo.net.au @Xahf VOLUME 22 #19 TUESDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2007 22,300 copies every week THE FUTURE IS HERE &Venues Petria Thomas Hailstorm sweeps the Shire joins Hall of Fame Mullumbimby swimming star Petria Thomas has been inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame (www.sahof.org.au). Among her fellow inductees this year were cricketer Steve Waugh, wheelchair racer Louise Sauvage, rower Mike McKay, and skater Steven Brad- bury. Golfer Greg Norman was inducted as this year’s Legend. Petria, 32, was inducted into the Australian Institute of Sport Swim- ming Hall of Fame in 1996. A winner of 15 national titles, Petria’s came to international prominence in 1994 when she won a bronze medal in the 200m butterfl y at the World Championships. Robin Wolf, dwarfed by hail holes in his protective netting, sits beneath his nectarine trees stripped of fruit. Story & photo Lou Beaumont ine crop, vegetables and netting to vehicles and house windows. door solar lamps were smashed, In the same year Petria won two With Lismore bearing the brunt of the hail. Ed and Wendy Szlezak, also of some of them into many little gold medals in the 100m butterfl y last week’s severe hailstorm, Byron Mr Wolf told The Echo, ‘I Tyagarah, got impressive footage pieces as if shot with a shotgun and 4x100 m freestyle in the Com- Shire escaped relatively unscathed. thought I’d only ever read about of the storm which saw hail fall and many of our trees were monwealth games in Canada. At The State Emergency Service this in the local paper happening continuously for nine minutes. stripped of leaves 80% plus. We the Atlanta Olympoics in 1996 she (SES) received 540 calls for assist- to someone else. We lost most of Mr Szlezak told The Echo, ‘All were amazed to see mum and dad took the silver medal behind her ance as a result of the storms, with our crop we were about to harvest. our family cars were heavily dam- magpie attending to their little main rival, fellow Australian Susie only 18 of those from the Byron The worst part is that our entire aged, our house tin roof is dented one or ones in the nest in a tree O’Neill. Shire. protective net was demolished. it’ll badly all over and the skylight next to our house. You could hear Despite recurring shoulder However, there were plenty of take a lot of nectarine profi ts to smashed, causing hail and water the young magpie/s in their nest. injury, Petria went on to take two people affected by Wednesday’s replace that.’ to come into our kitchen. There We have no idea how they could gold medals at the 1998 Common- hail that didn’t request emergency At a conservative estimate of were leaks throughout the house have survived such an intense wealth Games in Kuala Lumpur assistance. Tyagarah, Ewingsdale $30,000-$50,000 to replace the due to the cyclonic winds that hailstorm of such duration.’ and in 2000 won bronze in the and Bangalow were among the nets, and nil income from harvest were driving the hail almost side- Not all wildlife was so lucky 200m butterfly, silver in the areas worst affected, with large this year, Mr Wolf is continuing to ways at times. After the storm, we however, with WIRES recording 4x100m medley, and silver in the hailstones up to 9cm in diameter assess the damage, considering found many hail pieces were close wildlife fatalities in Lismore and 4x200m freestyle at the Sydney causing alarm for some and big rebuilding feasibility and looking to the size of tennis balls. many animals currently recovering Olympics. repair bills and income loss for into a loan to get back on his ‘After the giant hail storm, we in their care. When O’Neill retired in 2000, others. feet. could see another storm coming SES Deputy Regional Control- the gold medals flooded in for Robin Wolf, grower of stonefruit Other Byron Shire residents from the southwest. Another wave ler for the Clarence/Nambucca Petria – three at the 2001 World and organic vegetables in Tyaga- were stunned by the sudden onset of hail fell heavily though the hail Region, Dave Mackey, was in the Championships in Japan, fi ve at rah, lost the majority of his nectar- of the hail and the damage to was smaller this time. Our out- continued on page 2 continued on page 2 2 October 16, 2007 Byron Shire Echo www.echo.net.au Local News Apple@Lightforce Seabird champion dies suddenly Its STORM SEASON... One of the last things Lance Are you Surge Protected? Ferris did before he died Don’t Wait till it’s too Late! was save a loggerhead turtle. The 60 year old wildlife Protect your Equipment - Get Serious carer and co-founder of Protection with Powersmart Boards! Australian Seabird Rescue Powersmart 100 Surge / Filter-18Ka $59. $45. was widely known as simply Powersmart 200 Surge / Filter-36Ka $99. Powersmart 300 Surge / Filter-18Ka $149. ‘The Pelican Man’. Since his fi rst involvement in sea bird rescue in the early Live near the beach or the bush? nineties, Lance has been in Anywhere is a good place for an instrumental in saving over Uninterruptable Power Supply! Safe shut down when power goes out 1000 pelicans in the North- Network surge protection too! ern Rivers area. 4 Sizes in stock for any system! He was a constant pres- 350VA $99 • 600VA $129 A UPS can add years of ence in schools and clubs in 750VA $179 • 1000VA $299 life to your equipment the region in his efforts to On Sale This Week! NEW SAMSUNG 225BW 22” LCD Screens! raise awareness about our responsibility in preserving STOP SQUINTING! Samsung’s native fauna, especially sea Newest 22” W I D E screen LCD life. Technology is here! $799 $598! In 2004 Lance saw one of View 2 A4’s side by side-perfect Lance Ferris releasing a rehabilitated Hawskbill Turtle. Photo Wren McLean for Audio / Video editing too! his dreams become a reality when a wildlife sanctuary deteriorated and he died and threatened species. habitat on our local beaches. Lightforce is Byron Shire’s ONLY Apple Warranty Centre was purchased at North early Sunday morning, his ‘Lance has inspired me Earlier this year Lance and I m-th 10-6 • fri 10-5 • sat 10-1 www.lightforce.com.au Creek on the outskirts of long time partner Marny and countless others to no informed Byron residents of 1/10 Brigantine St. Byron Bay 6685 8796 Ballina, which became ASR’s Bonner at his side. end. May we all be proactive the necessity to keep dogs rescue and rehabilitation Details of a public memo- and follow in his footsteps to out of the Arakwal National CREATIVE LIGHTING SOLUTIONS facility, incorporating an rial service will be released protect and relieve suffering Park, specifi cally North Tal- educational centre at which later this week. of wild animals from the low Beach. hundreds of school students, Said ASR volunteer Wren effects of human overpopu- ‘Even the scent of dogs community groups, and Mclean, ‘Lance is an unsung lation and development. will displace nesting seabirds overseas visitors, benefi ted wildlife hero of our times ‘Lance has fought and such as the vulnerable Pied from Lance’s knowledge. A and it has been a privilege won so many battles for Oyster Catcher. Despite this, sea turtle hospital was also to work beside a person of marine birds and turtles on a daily basis, people are erected on the site. such selfl ess devotion. Lance including the ban of mass still letting their dogs run Mr Ferris suffered a stroke lived and breathed marine releases of helium balloons free in one of the few sanc- on Saturday morning and wildlife with full knowledge in NSW (which are often tuaries for these birds. In was taken to Lismore Base of the desperate situation ingested by wildlife) and the Lance’s name, please Hospital, but his condition for many of these unique struggle to protect nesting refrain!’ the start of the storm sea- Hailstorm son. However, he did say Petria Thomas Entertaining damage that the duration of the From front page elders From front page overlying trough in the the 2002 Commonwealth Juke Box Joy is organising a Northern Rivers assisting north of NSW and the dif- Games, three at the Pan forum on elders’ entertain- with the Lismore/Byron ference between the heat in Pacifi c Games in the same ment at the Byron Bay Serv- Shire cleanup. the north and the cooler year. ices Club on Wednesday Architectural & landscape He said, ‘When I was temperatures in the south Petria’s personal courage October 24 from 9am to 12 lighting specialists was greater than normal. Free onsite consultancy service viewing the area from the air was evident when she again noon. Unit 5, 21-23 Tasman Way, Byron Arts & it didn’t look too bad but came back from a year off in Juke Box Joy wishes to Ind Est Enter via Wollongbar St from ground level the extent Corrections 2003 after a shoulder recon- encourage local musicians Monday - Friday 9am - 5pm of the damage was obvious. struction. The elusive Olym- to perform for our elders by www.creativelightingsolutions.com.au The hail was almost hori- The benefi cary of the Bol- pic gold became hers at Ath- providing a booking site for zontal hence more window lywood night reported last ens in 2004 when she won volunteers and accredited damage and dents in the week was the Rainforest the 100m butterfl y and was performers and by schedul- Phone 6680 7007 sides of cars and houses than Information Centre (www.