When Ray Kelley was serving at Gympie West State School [July 1970 to December 1973] he applied to the State Works Department for the veranda on the school residence to be enclosed. He was very disappointed when the reply stated, “It has been approved that the veranda of the Gympie West S.S. residence be not enclosed.”He got the disappointment out of his system by sending the following letter to the Queensland Teachers’ Journal, where it was published. Rhyme was in Ray’s blood, so he wrote the letter in rhyming couplets of iambic tetrameter. A regular contributor to the QTJ was Martin Haley, to whom Ray refers. Martin’s columns were the most-read section of the Journal for many years.
Like hundreds of other official residences, the one “in connexion with” the West Kumagutsa State School has a veranda that is virtually unusable. I said so in the following letter to the Department.
Permit me, with respect, in candour to criticise our front veranda. The sun beats in when days are fair and it’s too hot to sit out there. On showery days, to trap the unwary, a deluge soaks the entire area. Because we cannot safely place furniture there, it’s wasted space.
I recommend enclosure, giving an extra room for family living. If the veranda is enclosed, the lounge doors [glass] are not exposed to either elements or view: comfort is gained and safety, too.
There is, as you will understand, a need to wall in the said veranda. I ask in candour, with respect, that this be put into effect.
This was the reply:
We have considered your request re school house, Kumagutsa West. We cannot do as you suggest.
Perhaps this shows that prose is best. On the other hand, it may show that I must enlist the aid of Martin Haley [such men never really retire] in writing my next letter.
R. Kelley
Principal
