Sometimes I wonder why dedicated people like Ken and Val Chadwick keep on keeping on.

They go back a long way in the musical history of the Sunshine Coast, these two.

Both of them played in the Nambour Theatrical Society orchestra conducted by Vic McFadden … Ken on clarinet and sax, Val on violin and oboe, way back in 1951.

Since 1996, the Sunshine Coast Concert Band, which Ken conducts and Val publicises, has brought musical enjoyment to countless Sunshine Coasters, including yours truly, and in the process it has raised some $200,000 for all sorts of good causes.

This band’s talented musos don’t just love to perform. They also love to share the magic of music with those who can’t shell out too often, or at all, for a night at QPAC, or even a high-ticket performance on the Sunshine Coast, and they put every cent of the door takings into the charities they help.

Last Saturday, for example, a $10-a-head concert with brilliant young Vietnamese pianist Van-Anh Nguyen as guest artist resulted in a $5000 boost for Heart Reach Australia’s children’s sponsorship programs in Vietnam and Sri Lanka.

The band gets no financial help other than the $2000 grant it has been receiving from the former Caloundra City Council for use of the Kawana hall for practice … and is obviously hoping our new super council will continue this. Come on, Bob, cough up.

Val tells me the SCCB is now facing a big financial hurdle … office bearers insurance. Apparently it could be up for more than $2000, on top of the bill of $700 or so for its music, instruments etc.

Yet the band plays on, dismayed but undaunted. The next performance will be at the Coolum Civic Centre tomorrow at 2pm, with a lively program including just a touch of the classics, a bit of Dixie jazz and a nostalgic tribute to the great Artie Shaw, with proceeds going to the Coolum High school chaplaincy.

Why am I happy to beat the drum for these big-hearted musos? Because, to pinch a line from the cosmetics ad, they’re worth it.

Petrol pump pain
We've long been lectured and hectored about the need to use public transport for the good of the environment, but in just a few weeks, petrol pump pain has worked wonders.

It’s ironic, isn’t it that with billions of dollars worth of road works just completed, underway or planned to make using our cars easier, commuters in droves are going on line … the railway line, that is.

Nothing like a jab into the hip pocket nerve to make us change our ways.

And another thing
You know when you’re not just over the hill, but well down the other side, when a front-of-house person tells you the concession price before you’ve even asked.

Until now, I’ve taken some comfort from people’s surprise when they learn my age, and I’ve never felt the need to act it.

Now, perhaps, I should, but I can’t find the instruction manual, so on reflection, I’ll just settle for doing what seems like a good idea at the time.

rich.29@bigpond.net.au