Name: Kelly McKenna.
Suburb: Wynnum.
Where do you work? I work at Bartons Motors.
What’s your favourite local dine-in and take-away: For dine-in, it’s Manly Boathouse, and for take-away, May’s Thai at Wynnum.
Best local activity? Walking and enjoying the Wynnum Manly waterfront.
The last book you read? The Secret.
What’s the last tv show or movie you watched? A UK series, Luther, Marcella and Line of Duty.
Is there anything you’d like to see happen in the local area? Make Edith Street a mall and add more clothing shop options.
Name: Karen Bradford.
Suburb: I live in Lota and work in Wynnum.
What’s your business? A relaxed and blokey shop exclusively for fellas – Sonny Jim. It’s a bit of an emporium. I’ve collected very interesting and high-quality products from Australian brands, including leather products and fabulous clothing, shoes, belts, hats and plenty of men’s gifts.
Do you have any fun/interesting stories about your job? I’m hearing from the local ladies that their fellas have not bought clothes or accessories since DBS closed its doors. Come on fellas, spruce up your wardrobes!
What’s your favourite local dine-in and take-away? Shucks Bar in Manly is hands down my favourite. Belinda and her team give relaxed, attentive service, and the quality of food and wine pairing is fun and reliable. My partner, Klaus and I love hanging out at her bar, with a Prosecco, watching the end of the Manly Sunday marketeers packing up in the twilight.
Best local activity? Going sailing with RQYS on their Wednesday Afternoon Go Sailing Day (WAGS). You can put your inexperienced name down and go and get on a huge yacht and enjoy
our beautiful bay.
The last book you read? To be honest I have struggled to concentrate on a book for the past few years. After I read Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations in 2010 I haven’t been able to connect properly with a book since. It was that good. Quite a surprise.
The last tv show or movie you watched? I loved the series Call My Agent. It’s French, with subtitles, a bit of a cross between Friends and The Office. They put actual big name actors into hilarious situations. Sigourney’s episode was my favourite. I watched all the series three times.
Is there anything you’d like to see happen in the local area? Yes! Lots! I’ve lived locally for 15 years, and I’ve been saying Wynnum is Brisbane’s best kept secret. Let’s encourage someone to start a really good continental delicatessen, with cured meats hanging, fromage, hand-made pasta, etc. I’ve joined the local cinema, and that’s great, and I’d love to see more fantastic retailers move here. I also love the festivals that have appeared over the past few years. We are a vibrant community, we just need people to invest!
Is there a local business/community group/club you’d like to give a shout-out to? Yeah I’d like to shout out a huge hug to Robbie Porter who is attempting to improve the quality of the water in our bay by replenishing some areas with oyster reefs. Oysters were plundered over the decades from our bay and crushed to make cement. Robbie, with his loyal right-hand man, Will, drives around and collects oyster shells from local restaurants, cleans them in the sun for a year at a property he leases, then takes them out in his tinny and tips them overboard in strategic places in Moreton Bay. Robbie has full backing of marine biologists and local authorities to do this. He’s awesome don’t you think?
