White Pages Covers Program

Local melon farmer Murray Sturgess to star on Roma White Pages® cover

August 11, 2011

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Chinchilla resident, Murray Sturgess has been selected to appear on the cover of this year’s Roma Yellow Pages^® and White Pages^® book which will be distributed to Dalby, Roma, Chinchilla, Charleville, Miles Districts and surrounding towns from 26 February 2011.

Each year, Sensis, the publisher of the Yellow Pages^® and White Pages^®, recognises the contribution of local residents in the community by featuring them on the cover of its books.

The theme for this year’s covers, Australians Creating a Better Future, recognises people throughout Australia who have made a positive contribution to their community through projects or initiatives that help to make a better future for Australia. These projects have contributed environmentally, economically and/or socially to the local community and will benefit the next generation of Australians.

Murray’s selection recognises the contribution he has made to minimising the direct impact his farm has on the environment, through the implementation of a watering system.

When Murray decided to diversify the traditional family grain and cattle farm 15 years ago, to include watermelons, he recognised that there would be increased demand on the property’s water supply. This led him to develop a system that would allow him to collect, access and distribute water from his own storage facilities.

By incorporating a highly efficient water catchment and irrigation system into his enterprise, Murray no longer uses the local creek water.

In order to maintain Chinchilla’s reputation as producers of high quality watermelons, Murray shares his knowledge willingly with the wider melon-growing community.

“Having been affected by drought for so many years, accessing enough water was a problem for many farmers.

The water catchment and irrigation system we have implemented on-farm, allows us to catch excess water and direct it into our storage facilities, where it is used to efficiently irrigate our melon crops through trickle irrigation,” said Murray.

Away from the farm, Murray volunteers with local Landcare groups and the biennial Chinchilla Melon Festival, where he coordinated the grower donation of up to 15 tonnes of melons at the 2009 event that attracted over 10,000 visitors.

Did you know? The last three local people to appear on the Roma Yellow Pages^® and White Pages^® cover were:

2010/11: Charleville residents Brian and Nerida Egan appeared on the cover of the Yellow Pages® and White Pages® under the theme Courageous Australians. After overcoming the tragedy of losing their own farm, Brian and Nerida established an organisation to fight farm poverty and lift spirits of those severely affected by the drought.

2009/10: Roma resident Susan Klein featured on the Yellow Pages^® and White Pages^® cover under the theme Creative Australians: Inspiring our Communities. Susan was selected for writing the program ‘Art for Relaxation’ for abused women, using art to help build their self confidence and socialisation skills.

2008/09: Jock and Mina Douglas from Roma were selected as the cover heroes for the Celebrating Australian Flavour cover theme, recognised as pioneers of the desert lime industry where they have also incorporated the fruit into a number of food products which are now distributed internationally.