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contents:
in the beginning
01 20031126 The Bald Brothers (ABC local radio)
02 20031126 Messenger (local newspaper)
03 20031202 The Sunday Mail (unrelated article)
4th December 2003
The Blackwood Times, December 2003
page 2 (click to enlarge)
That's fishy! They're back
The gnomes are back - right through Blackwood and even into Coromandel Valley
After a long hibernation, Blackwood's gnomes broke out on the weekend of November 15-16, and 40 or more were gracing shop awnings, signs, even on top of the railway signals at the Glenalta crossing on Main Road.
The gnomes' return coincides with the end of the school year for senior students, but there couldn't be any connection, could there?
Primes Paints, which has had a 'free gnome giveaway' promotion running for some months, said the gnomes were not theirs, as their gnomes would not indulge in any mis-behaviour or vandalism.
"They are completely different types of gnomes," a spokesperson assured The Blackwood Times.
Rumour has it that the gnomes are planning another spectacular event before Christmas.
But please don't try gnome spotting when you are driving around the Blackwood roundabout.
It's bad enough as it is!
I was somewhat puzzled by the The Blackwood Times' assertion that "Primes Paints, which has had a 'free gnome giveaway' promotion running for some months, said the gnomes were not theirs, as their gnomes would not indulge in any mis-behaviour or vandalism."
Why would a local business that considers gnoming an act of vandalism then want to appear to show support by having a 'give a gnome a home' promotion? gnoming.net has been informed by Tony of Primes Paints that:
We were misquoted! What we said was that the Gnomes on the building weren't ours - ours being 'stay at home' gnomes, not taken to roaming the streets at night
3rd December 2003
Hills & Valley Messenger, 3rd December 2003
page 3 (click to enlarge)
Gnomes back on the range
The mysterious Gnome Rangers are back with a new website which lists the location of its gnomes.
The site claims responsibility for the 88 gnomes that have suddenly reappeared high up on the street signs and buildings throughout Blackwood, Coromandel Valley and Hawthorndene.
The group says it will record the status of each one - including a "casualty list" of those taken down.
I would like to point out that the intention of
this web site is to be a journal of events, not a claim of responsibility
for them
Since BGR2003, I
have been receiving information from those responsible and from members of
the public
Thanks for publishing the address of this site, though - I'm sure The Gnome
Rangers look forward to hearing from members of the public
2nd December 2003
I have been informed that in the
30th November 2003 edition of the Sunday Mail, an article was published on
page 9 claiming that "Garden gnomes can cost you dearly when selling your
house"
Sunday Mail, 30th November 2003
Gnome hits sale of home
By Elissa Doherty and Andrea Moss
You may think he looks great nestled among the hydrangeas, but your garden gnome is probably shaving about $3000 off the value of your property.
Presentation professionals say the kitsch factor associated with gnomes can have a big impact on what people are prepared to pay for homes. Home-garden presentation and design expert Sue Kloeden said garden gnomes - and anything "personalised" - were high on her list of no-nos.
Leaving the toilet seat up, bright flowered curtains, and furniture, brown lawns, dead pots in plants and too many pots in gardens also were tacky.
"Too much of anything is not appealing - less is more," Ms Kloeden said.
Building rubble, damaged flyscreens or security doors, religious memorabilia, urns containing loved ones' ashes, and "collector fanatics' collections" also make property designers' hitlists.
"It would add money to the home, my word it would" she said.
"The garden is neat and really lovely, with garden gnomes all around it makes the front of the place look nice."
Home presenter Marie Stacey awarded brickbats to clutter, too much furniture, too many statues out front, fading paint and general disrepair, food and coffee smells and anything "risqué" such as handcuffs.
"You go around Campbelltown and there are big statues in the front gardens, it just doesn't appeal - street appeal is probably the most important thing," she said.
And bachelors were among the worst offenders for devaluing a home, such as the blokes who disassemble motorbikes inside.
A British survey has backed up the views of these experts.
British TV series The Million Pound Property Experiment questioned almost 8000 home owners and brought into the harsh light of day the "design crimes" that lower a home's value. As well as jolly garden gnomes, the show found ugly carpets, dead plants, stone cladding, grubby light switches, gloomy lighting and luridly coloured walls could devalue a British home by anything from $1000 to $20,000
"Too much of anything is not appealing - less is
more" claims Sue Kloeden What nonsense! Rubbish like this is
being
reported
all
over
the
place but full credit goes to the Sunday Mail for presenting the
other side of the story I'd wager your home
is perfectly charming, Marie Gnomes totally rock!
26th November 2003
On Wednesday the 26th of November, the Hills & Valley Messenger revealed to the wider community what many observant local residents already knew - The Blackwood Gnomes were back:
Hills & Valley Messenger, 26th November 2003
cover (click to enlarge)
page 2 (click to enlarge)
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
"He turned up unannounced this morning with his little red hat and little brown pants"
Coromandel Valley Vetinary Clinic manager Bronwyn Thomas on the appearance of small garden gnomes on top of the clinic's sign last week.
page 3 (click to enlarge)
Return of the gnomes
Statues launch mini invasion
By Kara Phillips
The gnomes are back - perched atop buildings throughout Blackwood and Coromandel Valley.
Garden gnomes mysteriously appeared high up on street signs and buildings for the first time in January.
In February an anonymous group calling itself "Gnome Rangers" issues a statement on a specially created website, accepting responsibility for the sudden appearance of the gnomes.
Belair Hotel manager Linda Noack had a laugh when she found one of the gnomes had reappeared on her bottle shop roof last week.
"Yes, they're back," she said.
"I'm happy with them - they were put there without disturbing anything or anyone, there's no graffiti.
"I really think it's quite novel, quite cute."
Coromandel Valley Vetinary Clinic manager Bronwyn Thomas said the gnomes, which were originally found only in Blackwood, had "come down a bit further to visit."
"He turned up unannounced this morning with his little red hat and little brown pants," she said last Tuesday (November 18).
Many of the gnomes were taken down last March, fuelled by suggestions they had been stolen from home gardens.
But a statement on the website shortly afterwards said "all gnomes were obtained legally, receipts can be provided if you can catch us."
"Out gnoming (sic) endeavours are performed in the spirit of fun and we are thankful that most members of the community can appreciate this," the website said.
The Hills & Valley Messenger attempted to visit the website last week, but it no longer exists.
On the same morning, the mystery of the Blackwood Gnomes was slowly unravelled by ABC Radio's "Bald Brothers" - John Kenneally, Tony McCarthy and Tim Noonan. The events are provided here in MP3 format:
20031126 - ABC 891, The Bald Brothers.mp3
(9 minutes, 7 seconds - 1,204KB)
The guests:
special cameo appearance:
JOHN KENNEALLY:
OK, 26 past 7, Tim Noonan is up on the gnome trail up at Blackwood. G'day Tim
TIM NOONAN:
Yes, really almost a Gnome Ranger myself here today guys, I'm just off Main Road here. I've just driven past the Belair Hotel in to the main street of Blackwood here. I'm flinging a copy of the Hills & Valley Messenger across the bonnet of the big red car and I'm looking on to page 3 there and it does say the return of the gnomes are here, and uh... Margaret? A resident up here, you've seen the... The Return Of The Gnomes?
MARGARET:
Yes, quite a number of gnomes. More; far more than last year.
TIM NOONAN:
And the idea is they're little garden gnomes
MARGARET:
Yes.
TIM NOONAN:
That appear on the rooves of.. houses?
MARGARET:
Well... Fairly high positions.
TIM NOONAN:
... OK
MARGARET:
Very high... Yep and this time, this year they were in, some of them are in twos and threes. Rather than just single gnomes!
(MARGARET chuckles at the thought)
TIM NOONAN:
Aren't they gorgeous?
MARGARET (ignoring TIM):
And they're right down to Coromandel Valley too, there was one at the Vet down there.
TIM:
Oh, first time - because they were here earlier in the year?
MARGARET:
Yes they were, yes. And then they disappeared and we thought they'd probably been stolen. But then we were told that they hadn't been stolen and that it was.. a definite.. plan
TIM:
Now the web site I understand is not available any more,
MARGARET:
Oh.
TIM:
have you tried it?
MARGARET:
No, I haven't tried it
TIM:
It says in the article
MARGARET:
Mmm
TIM:
That the web site's not there any more
MARGARET:
Mmm
TIM:
So whatever they're doing, they're doing quietly this time...
MARGARET:
Yes...
TIM:
But they assure as that the ones; the gnomes that they're putting on roofs...
(The sound of a stonking great removalists van is heard)
TIM:
As Belair Furniture Removals makes a BIG incision in to Chapman Street... Is there someone moving out of Chapman Street?
MARGARET:
I don't know?
TIM:
I'll have to keep an eye on that one!
MARGARET:
Hmm...
TIM:
Belair Removals, OK... Umm, but anyway, the gnomes are on the move.
MARGARET:
Oh, definitely. 'Cause they're gone!
TIM:
So they're completely gone, so if anyone does see them, perhaps they've moved in to another part of the hills? Perhaps they could give us a call and let us know.
MARGARET:
Mmm
TIM:
Are you.. normally up this early?
MARGARET:
Umm... I'm normally up playing golf this early, yes.
TIM:
Playing golf?
MARGARET:
Playing golf, yes.
TIM:
That'd be beautiful today, wouldn't it... you.. you can't play on a Wednesday?
MARGARET:
Nope, "Men's Day."
TIM:
Men's Day?
(Tim and Margaret laugh)
TIM:
OK... How often do you play?
MARGARET:
Four days a week.
TIM:
Four days a week? OK. Is it easier to find your golf ball than it is to find a gnome up in the hills?
MARGARET:
Well, it is today, yes.
TIM:
Yes... Alright, you hit 'em long and straight. Margaret's renowned for that at the Belair Club. So there you go, we're on the track, guys. If anybody can help us out we'd be more than happy but I have looked at the.. the places where there are photographs in the paper where it says they are on the roof of The Belair.. umm.. Hotel - I've driven past there - no. Uhh, I've looked at the .. umm .. what was it, the vetinary office there in uhh.. Blackwood - no, doesn't seem to be there, so they do seem to be on the move. Can anybody help?
JOHN KENNEALLY:
Well you've seen the movie "Amelie", haven't you tim?
TIM:
I have, yes that's right she takes her father's little gnome and sends it around the world and then the photographs come back
JOHN KENNEALLY:
They have a mind of their own.
TIM: Perhaps we're really just part of a plot of some bizarre French movie?
(JOHN laughs)
TIM:
Wouldn't Blackwood be a great backdrop for a French movie? I've always thought that as I've driven through here.
TONY McCARTHY:
Tim stay on the line, we've got Sue - good morning, Sue.
SUE:
Good morning! Yeah.. I have a bit of a tip-off, I understand that uhh.. one of the paint places in Blackwood gives away gnomes with every sale...
TONY McCARTHY:
... Tim? Is that... Is that... does that help?
TIM (to MARGARET):
You're not a painter?
MARGAERT:
No.
TIM:
No?
MARGARET:
No.
TIM:
No, we might have to ask the person who's moving out down the road, they might have been painting their house.
(MARGARET laughs)
TIM (To BALD BROTHERS):
NO, we don't know about that! Sorry guys.
TONY McCARTHY:
Where are you at the moment?
TIM:
We're in .. Chapman Street, I mean just off Main Road - the traffic that you can hear in the background there is people going on Main Road in Blackwood
TONY McCARTHY:
All right.
TIM:
So, you know, right on the shopping centre.
TONY McCARTHY:
All right, well there's a paint shop right near where you are, Tim, you might want to head up there and see if you can find another bunch of gnomes - you never know your luck!
TIM:
OK, we're on your home ground here, Tony?
TONY McCARTHY:
Well I do drive -- funny thing is I do drive through Blackwood; I shop in Blackwood, 'cause I live in Belair, but I drive in there every other day and I haven't seen a gnome yet!
TIM (to MARGARET):
You said they've only been here for three days?
MARGARET:
Yes, yes...
TONY McCARTHY:
All right, I didn't see them when they were there last time and I didn't see them this time. I guess they're too high when you're just driving through.
TIM:
I guess you could imagine just driving through without looking at the roof - you could easily miss them, couldn't you?
MARGARET:
Oh yes, you could. If you're walking you usually look up and you can see them.
TIM:
Yes.
MARGARET:
When you're walking...
TIM:
I might go have a look in the paint shop, guys, and see what I can find.
TONY McCARTHY:
Well we've got another caller and it's Chris - good morning Chris.
CHRIS:
Good morning baldies, on the way to work this morning, I did spot a couple of gnomes thinking also that they had gone, but uhh.. further up on Main Road, at.. or near Strike A Light and there was one near an advertising sign at the Belair Hotel on the top of the big... ???
TONY McCARTHY:
Tim, there you go.
TIM:
OK well thanks for that, I have just driven past Belair Hotel, I had a good look at the top of the Hotel, there, but we're looking at an advertising sign, near the hotel.
TONY McCARTHY:
Yep.
TIM:
Near the railway crossing there?
CHRIS:
Yes, right on top
TIM (disbelief):
Is that right??
CHRIS:
Yes.
TIM:
OK, well I'll head back there and have a quick look and we'll go to Strike A Light
TONY McCARTHY:
Thanks, Chris.
CHRIS:
That's OK.
TONY McCARTHY:
Yep, all right Tim - we'll get back to you.
TIM:
OK.
TONY McCARTHY:
We hope you'll have a gnome with you. And uhh.. in fact Steve called to say that the police are on their way to Blackwood to check out.. uhh .. gnomes... So uhh -- their gnomes not our gnomes. So it might get a bit crowded up there fairly shortly. Any way I'll get back to Tim some time in the next 15 minutes and keep listening; it could be to your advantage.
JOHN KENNEALLY:
26 minutes to 8. Senior Constable Anne Lambert from Police Communications - good morning, Anne.
CONSTABLE LAMBERT:
Good morning.
JOHN KENNEALLY:
Uhh now.. you're on the trail of the gnomes?
(CONSTABLE LAMBERT pauses and then laughs)
CONSTABLE LAMBERT:
I don't think we are!
(JOHN laughs)
CONSTABLE LAMBERT:
Although I noticed a few at Coromandel Valley the other day as well.
TONY McCARTHY:
Oh yeah, they're part of the whole thing.
CONSTABLE LAMBERT:
Yees.....
TONY McCARTHY:
So it hasn't reached you yet?
CONSTABLE LAMBERT:
No, no...
JOHN KENNEALLY:
It's just a bit of fun
CONSTABLE LAMBERT:
It is.
TONY McCARTHY:
Senior Constable Anne Lambert from Police Communications - and also thanks to Bill from Cherry Gardens who just rang to report there's a gnome on top of the Chicken Shop on Sheperd's Hill Road. So they're right through that area--I'm going to... oh, they'll all be gone by the time I go home. I was going to say I'll go and have a look, see if I can find and.. I'd like a gnome in my garden - maybe they'll drop one off.
You're on The Breakfast Programme with The Bald Brothers; John Kenneally and Tony McCarthy and there are
(TONY McCARTHY laughs)
TONY McCARTHY:
Gnome calls galore! Mike called to say there are gnomes on Pizza Haven at Blackwood, three on the signboard near the railway crossing and uhh... Paul from Aldinga rang to say he thinks these gnomes are mountaineering gnomes in training to climb Mt Everest for the next climbing season. And Cliff is on the line, good morning Cliff.
CLIFF:
Hello, good morning boys, how are you?
TONY McCARTHY:
Very well thank you, now you uhh... the web site we said..
CLIFF:
Yep.
TONY McCARTHY:
.. wasn't running - is running?
CLIFF:
It is running yes, uhh - gnoming.net
TONY McCARTHY:
gnoming.net?
CLIFF:
So you can keep up with the gnoming.
TONY McCARTHY:
Are you a gnomester, or uhh.. ?
CLIFF:
Oh, no, I know nothing about it actually.
TONY McCARTHY (disbelief)
Ehh...
CLIFF:
But there is one on the siren at the fire station at Eden Hills and there's still one looking down from the Shell service station in Blackwood as well.
TONY McCARTHY:
All right, well it's obviously somebody's idea of fun or it's a publicity campaign for something umm... and we'll find out more I guess as we go along, uhh.. John is also there, good morning John.
JOHN MESSER:
Good morning. Yeah, I'm from Blackwood Sound Centre and we actually uhh have, or have had up to four gnomes on our roof but I just wanted to let you know that there's someone obviously with a mean, miserable streak, 'cause just as much as someone's having fun putting them up - someone else is having fun either smashing them or taking them down
TONY McCARTHY:
Oh really? That's a pity.
JOHN MESSER:
Yeah each time we've had some on our roof (and I quite enjoy having them there) they've been either destroyed or removed. So there is someone, as I said, with a miserable streak trying to destroy the fun.
TONY McCARTHY:
Yeah.. do they go up when you're not there - obviously when you're there?...
JOHN MESSER:
Yes obviously overnight at some stage. At one stage I was a bit disappointed frankly that they'd gone so I went and put a couple up myself...
(TONY McCARTHY laughs)
JOHN MESSER:
... to replace them, but they were gone within a few days.
TONY McCARTHY:
Yeah
JOHN MESSER:
Again, in fact they weren't gone they were just smashed with a hammer.
TONY McCARTHY:
Oh well that's very sad. Thank you for the call, John - and we'll go briefly to Tim Noonan before we go to a man who loves his gnome, which is Matthew. Ahh, good morning Tim.
TIM NOONAN:
Uh yes hello guys, I'm standing here right next to Glenalta Railway Station and where the railway line crosses Main Road and indeed as Margaret or as the caller said before; Next to the Belair Hotel on the advertising there are three gnomes.
TONY McCARTHY:
Three?
TIM NOONAN:
Yep, three of them. I don't know how they got up there; they are little ones but people coming by this way and there is a number of them uhh will see them there above the Real Estate Advertising; three of them, they seem to be identical - definitely not moving at the moment. And I'm just trying to work out how they did get them up there! It would have been quite a feat, so uhh.. I dunno, I guess you're either gnome positive or gnome negative and that there is an example of someone who's gnome positive in the background - good morning, Sir.
JOHN KENNEALLY:
And how is the traffic, Tim?
TIM:
Uhh well the traffic, let's see, Regency Road, Sefton Park we've got a two-car there which apparently is causing some problems; still on the uptrack there the uhh truck is causing some problems on the freeway, uhh I understand it's off the road, but it is still there. We're heading to a maximum of 30 today, a beautiful day for gnome spotting but we do have some showers on the way later in the week
TONY McCARTHY:
Thank you Tim.
TIM:
Cheers,
TONY McCARTHY:
You can bring the gnome back if you like? 'Cause I know somebody who would just absolutely love it and that's Matthew Abraham - good morning,
MATTHEW:
Isn't there a pun there? There's no...
TONY McCARTHY:
No.
MATTHEW:
..something like gnome?
TONY McCARTHY:
No. No place like gnome? Yes...
(MATTHEW laughs)
MATTHEW:
That's it!
TONY McCARTHY:
I know, uhh we had a couple of gnomes sent in to this programme for whatever reason a while back and one of them had.. was it a.. sort of.. axe, stuck in its back?
MATTHEW:
I've got them at home, yes..
TONY McCARTHY:
Your eyes lit up when you saw it.
MATTHEW:
..with a fork stuck it its bottom. They're "Twisted Gnomes."
TONY McCARTHY:
Well... Gnomes are everywhere...
Aren't they just ;-)