Sunshine Valley Men’s Shed opens its doors for garage sale and a rare look inside

Sunshine Valley Men’s Shed members at the 279 Blackall Range Road facility. 

by Cameron Outridge

The Sunshine Valley Men’s Shed will throw open its doors on Saturday, October 17, for its twice-yearly garage sale, inviting the community to grab a bargain and meet the members behind one of the hinterland’s quieter success stories.

The sale runs from 7am to 2pm at 279 Blackall Range Road, West Woombye, with bargains “too many to list” drawn from donated tools, furniture, electrical goods, plants and homegrown produce.

A visit to the five-acre property ahead of the sale revealed a shed that’s grown into far more than a workshop. Alongside the usual trestle tables of tools and bric-a-brac, members run a thriving vegetable garden, orchard and beehives, with excess produce donated to the Salvation Army and sold from a roadside honesty box — vegetables only, after jams and honey kept disappearing.

“We’ve got the five acres,” said Sunshine Valley Mens’ Shed President Blair Meyers, pointing to raised garden beds built to allow mobility-impaired members to keep gardening. A grant-funded scooter lets one member move around and weed from a seated position. The shed also runs a gardening program for Woombye State School, where grade three students plant and later harvest their own vegetables.

Inside the main shed, two wood lathes are kept busy turning bowls, walking sticks and furniture legs, much of it under the guidance of 91-year-old Ivan, who trained fellow members to operate and maintain the machinery himself.  Tommy, 85, does much of the fine wood turning. 

Tucked in another corner of the tractor shed sits a powered, floating scale model of the German battleship Bismarck, handmade from wood and fibreglass. Once rigged to actually shoot flames, the practice had to stop because it  scared the local wildlife — it still takes to the water with the model boat club.

New member Greg has recently introduced dragon fruit to the orchard, drawing on almost two decades of growing experience, while the shed’s fancy ride-on mower and raised beds owe their existence to grants, including federal funding and support from Energex.

But the visit also surfaced a club challenge. Of the shed’s 54 members, only around 30 attend regularly,  short of the 50 needed to properly run the property. “Every men’s shed these days has an ageing problem,” one member said.

Even so, the mood on-site was one of pride and purpose. “It’s everything,” said one member, when asked what the shed meant to its community of retirees. “It offers not just a place to build, grow and fix things, but genuine companionship in later life.”

Funds raised from October’s garage sale will go towards the shed’s ongoing upkeep and a long-held ambition: a new machinery shed to free up much-needed space.

Locals are encouraged to come along, browse the bargains, and meet the members who keep Sunshine Valley Men’s Shed running.