By Eleanor Wilson
Akoonah Park Men’s Shed (APMS) celebrated a successful 2022 on Thursday 8 December, with a Christmas in the park lunch.
Dark skies teased light showers throughout the morning, but, to the delight of 160-plus attendees, the sun came out in time for Christmas lunch.
Berwick business Fine Dining Concepts took care of catering for a crowd of hungry guests, with an array of Christmas ham, turkey, salads and a sausage sizzle for all to enjoy.
Local crooner Brian Metcalf serenaded the crowd with a series of old school hits, before a moment of silence was given as the shed paid its respect to park pioneer Jack Rae, who had passed away that same morning aged 94.
“He was wonderful to this shed, we wouldn’t have anything without Jack and John Byron,” APMS committee member Lindsay Harding said of Mr Rae and Mr Byron, who was the shed’s inaugural president.
Current Men’s Shed president Maurice ‘Maury’ Hall said the year had been successful for the shed’s 160 members.
“The shed has had a fairly productive year, we’ve had a few successful projects in the community and more members have come back after Covid, so there’s been a very good air of happiness around the shed,” he said.
“We’ve made the best of what we’ve had to deal with this year, at times it hasn’t been easy…we’re probably glad to see the end of this year.”
Turning his attention to the year ahead, Mr Hall said getting the shed “running like clockwork” will be the priority for 2023.
“We haven’t recovered from Covid yet. The shed is a bit of a mess, we have a bit of mess to clear out to hopefully get the shed running like it used to.
“[Next year] I’d like to have somebody on the door every day. We’ve got a few things in the pipeline but that would be the main thing.”
