A community shed for everyone

True to form for the Wheatbelt town, the shed reflects a strong sense of community and a determination to not just survive, but thrive.

Which is why, although technically a men’s shed, the Mukinbudin branch is open to everyone within the community.

That’s right – take a peek behind the welding helmets and you may be surprised to see the faces of women, as the welding courses tend to be quite popular with the local ladies.

The building was originally known as the Mukinbudin 1950s Working Farm Shed and was developed more than 10 years ago by a group of retired farmers who were looking for some social interaction and who shared a passion for restoring old farm machinery.

They would restore old tractors and other pieces of machinery – using some of them to put in a crop each year, cut hay and harvest – not the quickest process, but they loved it and it was quite a sight to behold.

The shed is in the centre of town and the 120 hectares of land used for cropping is leased from CBH for a minimal fee.

As part of the generous lease agreement, the group had to address salinity on the land – which took the form of planting 4500 seedlings using a 1965 Chamberlain Super 90 tractor in 2009.

According to current president Jeff Seaby the original founders of the 1950s Working Farm Shed had a strong bond in their shared interest for old farm machinery.

That included Jeff’s father-in-law Gil Williams and other community stalwarts such as Laurie Jones, John Smith, Roy Jones and Bill Crook.

“Some of the skills these old guys have are just invaluable and what they have achieved with old machinery is quite amazing,” Jeff said.

“In order to keep the shed going for the long-term, we’re actually calling it a community shed, so we’ve had a strong push to get women involved as well.

“We hold welding courses, ceramics, woodwork, first-aid and regular morning teas – a lot of different things to keep the shed going and keep people interested.

“We also figure that while there may be retired farmers looking for that social interaction, there may be women around needing the same thing.”

In 2009 Mukinbudin held the first WA Men’s Shed conference in an effort to draw more people to the town’s annual Spring Festival.

Jeff said it was largely facilitated by local Ann Brandis who worked at the local shire at the time and was instrumental to the formation of the WA Men’s Shed Association, solidifying the importance of the town’s men’s shed within the town and the State.

He said founding member Bill Crook was the current secretary and as well as winning the 2016 Mukinbudin Citizen of the Year, was also quite the character and subsequently, a bit of a tourist attraction.

He said Bill made an effort to head down and open the shed every day, just in case tourists or anyone else popped in for a visit.

“Everyone remembers Bill, I’ve had people comment that they’ve been driving through town and called in to the shed and loved having a chat with Bill,” Jeff said.

While these days the focus isn’t as much on machinery restoration as it was, the shed still has its signature Tuesday – “make it, fix it, build it” day, where a retired mechanical engineer is on hand to assist in any projects.

They hold a range of different courses throughout the year and there is also the annual senior’s dinner, which is a major event on the community calendar and features dinner and entertainment.

“We want to make sure we keep people interested, which is why we hold different courses and encourage everyone to come along,” Jeff said.

“It’s just natural that member numbers fluctuate over the years, but we’ve got great facilities and it’s very well-equipped, which is why it’s so important that it’s a community shed – to ensure it remains a part of the community for many years down the track.”