Meals on Wheels - Townsville

Townsville's first meals on wheels were delivered to an elderly couple, aged 86 and 84, when the service began operating in mid-September, 1964. Townsville Daily Bulletin photographer Alex Trotter captured this image of the first meals being loaded into a car, ready for delivery.

First meals on wheels being loaded, ready for delivery. From left to right are: Mrs W. Johnson (driver's assistant), Mrs R.W. Gerard and Mrs E.G. Besser (cooks), Mrs A.V. Greske (driver's assistant), Mrs C. Hotz and Mrs N. McKillop (drivers, holding food containers), Mrs K. Stephens (vice-chairman of the committee), Mr D. Thompson (supervisor), and the Rev. K. Stephens (convenor of the committee).
Photo: Alex Trotter, held by City Libraries Townsville.

On the 15th September, 1964, the Townsville Daily Bulletin ran a small report with the photo, that read:

"The service has been started by the St. Andrew's Meals on Wheels Committee, operating under the auspices of the Presbyterian Church.

The three course meals are cooked by voluntary workers at a central kitchen, located at the Presbyterian Church Hall in Warburton Street, North Ward. Each meal consists of soup, meat and three vegetables, and dessert.

The meals are then transported in private cars to elderly or sick people who are unable to prepare meals for themselves. A nominal charge of 2 /- is made for each meal.

Applications must be made for the meals, and each applicant must forward a medical certificate, which also serves as a guide for preparation of meals for persons on diets. Applicants are interviewed by a member of the committee, Mrs Underwood, a trained nurse.

The service is available to all needy people, irrespective of colour or creed.

Meals will be delivered to such people in any part of Townsville. The inaugural meals on Monday went to people in Garbutt, North Ward, Melton Hill and Railway Estate.

For a start, meals are being delivered three days a week - Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Later, as the organisation is developed, the service will extend to five days a week.

The food is carried in special vacuum containers, each holding five meals. At present the committee has two containers, and has another on order. This will enable it to serve up to 15 meals a day."

According to the City Libraries Townsville catalogue, the back of this photograph contains a notation that reads: "Day Meals on Wheels reached 100 meals a day". The photo is not dated.
Source: City Libraries Townsville

If you know the people in this photograph, please leave the details in the comments section below!

Cyclone Althea's Legacies

Cyclone Althea stole Christmas from the residents of Townsville in 1971 when it hammered the city on Christmas Eve with gusts of wind up to 200 km/h.

Boats washed ashore on Palmer Street during Cyclone Althea, 1971.

Source: Townsville City Libraries    

In the immediate aftermath of the cyclone, Townsville residents complained they had received inadequate warnings and information while cyclone Althea was bearing down on the city.

The manager of radio station 4TO, Mr Oost, told the Townsville Daily Bulletin in April 1972, that confusion and panic was caused by various radio news services broadcasting conflicting and sometimes out of date reports on the movement of the cyclone.

Mr Oost said that a Brisbane radio station had broadcast superseded reports of the cyclone’s position, and that those broadcasts had then been relayed to Townsville.

“At 10am, when the cyclone was actually over Townsville, one report said the cyclone was expected to cross the coast at noon, causing horror to many people who thought worse was yet to come,” the Bulletin noted.

“The wording of some early reports by the Weather Bureau had also confused people, and had given them a false sense of security,” Mr Oost said.

House at Yarrawonga damaged by Cyclone Althea, 1971.
Source: Townsville City Libraries.

He cited one report that gave the cyclone’s position as 500 miles north-east of Mackay, but neglected to even mention Townsville, with the result that some people thought that meant Townsville would escape the danger.

At that time, the Weather Bureau only had access to two satellite images per day – a far cry from the satellite technology at its disposal today. In response to the criticism the Bureau resolved to strengthen its cyclone warning chain. Automatic weather stations would be erected on Creel and Zodiac Reefs, between Mackay and Rockhampton and at other locations along the coast, while another was being considered for Holmes Reef, east of Cairns.

But the Commonwealth Director of Meteorology, Dr W.J. Gibbs, was adamant that there would be no move to establish a cyclone warning centre outside of Brisbane.

“The bureau has limited staff, and if we put a cyclone warning centre in each major city along the coast, we would have to duplicate staff,” Dr Gibbs told the Bulletin.

“We would need 30 or 40 people to run each centre, including some highly trained meteorologists, and we see no advantage in having one in Townsville,” he said.

“We believe that the warnings were available in Townsville from Brisbane just as often as they would have been given from a centre in Townsville.”

“The fact is that the people of Townsville did get 20 hours warning that they were going to get destructive winds.”

House and car damaged by Cyclone Althea, 1971.
Source: Townsville City Libraries.

Along with an inadequate system of weather updates, Cyclone Althea also uncovered serious deficiencies in building construction in Townsville.

Mr R.N. Bonnett, Federal Member for Herbert, told the Bulletin in late December 1971 that he thought “stricter supervision of construction” might have resulted in less damage to homes.

“Some of the houses I visited, which had lost their roofs and suffered wall damage, disclosed the fact that there had been a definite skimping in the usage of building materials, such as roofing nails and screws, anchor bolts, and reinforcement rods,” Mr Bonnett said.

But a report commissioned by the State Government into the effects of the cyclone attributed severe damage in Townsville generally to inadequate design, rather than poor workmanship. The report recommended the immediate amendment of building by-laws and appropriate specifications to meet structural requirements in cyclone-prone areas.

Houses damaged by Cyclone Althea, 1971.
Source: Townsville City Libraries.