Interactive sculpture sessions with locally-renowned sculptor Rick Pettit (entry #1)

The R&R is proud to announce that we have attained the services of locally renowned sculptor Rick Pettit.

Rick will sculpt two, 4 metre-high Totem poles out of a single, hundred-year-old Turpentine wharf beam.

The Totems will commemorate the opening of the new retail shed, scheduled for December 2009 and when completed will be located at the main pedestrian entrance of the new retail shed.

Mr Pettit is generously donating his time to create the two unique carvings, which will represent the ethos of recycling through the time-honoured use of rebirth symbology.

Rick will create his masterpieces on site at the R&R and as a result, community members are encouraged to visit us at the Centre over the next few months to witness the emergence of what we anticipate will be extraordinary works of art.

NB: Due to the external location of the designated sculpting area, the sessions will be held during suitable weather conditions.

New computer repair facility approved

The application for new facilities to repair second-hand Personal Computers (PCs) has been approved by Port Stephens Council. Work has commenced, with the ground preparation already underway (shown below).


We have a number of qualified volunteers who specialise in PC maintenance, and due to their sterling efforts we have outgrown the present location where maintenance works are carried out.


At the moment, PCs are repaired in a very noisy workshop area which is obviously not the preferred environment to concentrate on delicate repairs. So as a result, a decision was taken by the Board of Directors to develop a stand-alone facility, specifically dedicated to the repair of PCs.

Businesses, organisations or individuals may be in the process of upgrading office equipment; or they may have items such as old PCs, Fax machines or Photocopiers gathering dust in a store room.

Everyone is encouraged to donate their obsolete equipment for the purpose of extending its lifespan.

Donated hardware is serviced by trained technicians and is channelled back into the community via our onsite store.

For peace of mind; great care is taken to ensure that the hard-drive of every recycled PC is cleared of sensitive data. We guarantee privacy via the procedural installation of a ‘hard-drive eraser’; which permanently removes private files and data.

Our donor's support of this initiative provides a much-needed alternative option for members of the community, unable to afford costly retail prices.

So if you have a PC with an operating system no earlier than Windows 98...we'd be interested in hearing from you.

Don't throw it out... We'll take it!

Competition time: PROJECT PHOENIX 2009

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To commemorate the launch of the new shed, which is scheduled for an early December 2009 opening, the R&R is putting up AU$200 in prize money for the general public to enter our Sculpture and 3D signage competition "PROJECT PHOENIX".

There are two main categories to the competition:

• SCULPTURE: Interesting designs in sculpture to embellish the gardens of the centre.
  
• SIGNAGE: 3D internal and external signage which will be hung from the walls and ceilings to identify various areas throughout the facility.

Participants entering the 3D signage competition may choose to create a three-dimensional sign from the following sub-categories:

• Furniture
• Computers
• Toys
• Books
• Garden Equipment
• Collectables
• Plants
• Electrical and lighting
• Pictures and frames
• Suitcases and handbags
• Audio Visual
• Toys and games
• Sporting
• Clothing
• Bric-a-Brac
• Kitchenware
• Telecoms
• Fishing
• Vacuum cleaners
• Tools
• Bits-n-Bobs
• Seasonal
• Building materials

The new shed would be a shell without the human-touch, so we encourage all artists; amatuer or professional, young or old, near or far, "good" or "bad" to get their entries in for consideration.

The competition winner will be determined by a panel of judges and no correspondence will be entered into.

1st Prize AU$200

Participants must submit all artworks by 30th October 2009

Street address: 360 Soldiers Point Road, Salamander Bay, 2317
Mail address: PO Box 425, Salamander Bay, 2317
Email address: salamander.recycle@gmail.com

Unsuccessful entrants will have the option of donating their piece to the R&R for the purpose of displaying their art to the general public.

NB: These entrants will maintain full ownership of the donated artefacts and the pieces can be removed as and when required by the rightful owner.

Hello, good morning and welcome...

The Centre is about to go into a redevelopment and construct a brand-new, 500sqm retail shed; the structure will replace a number of old lean-tos, out-houses and sheds (pictured above) deemed surplus to requirements which, as a result, have been carefully dismantled to make way for the imminent arrival (of course, we'll reuse the material from these obsolete buildings elsewhere).

The new facility will give us the opportunity to expand our retail offer and provide us with sufficient covered space, for the foreseeable future.

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We'll be able to store perishable goods such as sofas and other bulky items of furniture which historically have been exposed to the elements and unfortunatley ruined and sent to landfill (which obviously defeats the purpose of recycling).