Residents new to Narangba might not grasp the historical significance of May Court, Duncombe Road, and James Mac [McCullagh] Court to Narangba. Dawn Finch, who resides on a property her pioneer family has owned for generations, reflects on how the community around her has changed over the years.
In 1869, Dawn's great-great-grandparents, James and Mary McCullagh, selected land at Narangba when early settler Tom Petrie sponsored their immigration from Ireland. They grew oats, corn, and chaff as feed for the Cobb and Co. horses and established a dairy on 600 acres around Pioneer Drive. Son William's ten children attended Narangba State School after it opened in 1910.
"My grandmother May was the oldest child of William McCullagh and the first pupil enrolled at Narangba School," explains Dawn. May married Joe Duncombe, who lived on the neighbouring farm. Much later, their son, Morrie Duncombe (Dawn's father), switched to grazing cattle.
"People didn't go places," says Dawn of 1950s Narangba. "We lived our lives in the community." Groceries and supplies were home-delivered, and her mother didn't drive. As a five-year-old, Dawn rounded up cows and rode her horse along a dirt track to school.
"We took our time getting home," Dawn says, "because there were always jobs to do. If we got up to mischief, Mum and Dad knew about it before we got home. That's the sort of community Narangba was - it was family - it was safe. Everyone cared and looked after everyone else. Everyone knew everyone."
Narangba State School's jubilee celebration offers a fascinating snapshot of the 1960s community. Among the events held were potato races, a hypnotism demonstration, rooster-catching, and even an adult pillow fight. Dawn recalls weekly fundraising dances for community clubs like the tennis club, CWA, and the Progress Association in the local hall. Her father was M.C., while the mothers made refreshments.
"That's how the community got together," she says. "We were very community-oriented. It was like that until the seventies."
Narangba local Dawn Finch mirrors the same energy and commitment to community affairs and business as her pioneering ancestors.
Instead of a teaching career, Dawn landed a pioneering role as one of the state's first computer programmers. She managed payrolls for hospitals and sugar mills and estimated for the construction of the South-East Freeway, North Pine Dam, and Skyrail in Cairns. After a stint in Melbourne, Dawn returned to Narangba, "I didn't want to live anywhere else - Narangba was my home." Not one to sit still, Dawn turned her dressmaking hobby into a business, opening two retail stores.
New families arrived when the farm was subdivided into estates like Kinnaird. Dawn laments that as Narangba grew, the sense of community diminished.
"That was the best thing about Narangba. The community worked together. Everyone pitched in and contributed what they could," collaborating on projects like street beautification and tree plantings, construction of the sports fields and facilities block, plus the Spring Festival, which included art shows, cocktail evenings, and helicopter prize drops.
Those events have long gone, but the community spirit continues at Pioneer Drive. Dawn helps daughter Belinda Finch run Plot 4504, a farm-gate stall selling fresh, spray-free produce grown on the family farm.
"I have never really retired—I've always done something," says Dawn.
In another nod to her pioneer ancestors, Dawn salvaged the original homestead's front door as her own door when she built a new house. Like her family's legacy, she says the hardwood door "will last for generations."