HE’S one of the founding fathers of Queensland television, but since making his mark in media, John Penglis has pursued a multitude of business interests on Tamborine Mountain.
Despite being almost 92 years of age, he shows no signs of slowing down.
John’s secretary of 33 years, Carol, said, “Everything he touches works, because he’s fastidious and meticulous and generous to a fault, never saying no to anybody.”
Early Life
John grew up on a farm in Raceview growing vegetables for the Americans at the Amberley Airbase.
He recalled life on the farm with two Italian prisoners of war and his interactions with nearby Indigenous neighbours.
For six years he served in the Royal Australian Navy, settling back with his parents at Victoria Point at the age of 24 and becoming organiser of the Redlands Strawberry Festival.
This led to working as a freelance journalist for the Redlands News and the beginning of his love affair with the media.
He appeared to be following members of his mother’s family – Sir Joynton Smith, who published Smiths Weekly newspaper in Sydney and his other uncle Vic Smith who published the Guide newspaper in Melbourne.
The publicity he received from the Strawberry Festival in the Sunday Truth newspaper led him to meeting the General Manager, Jim McKay from Channel 9 Brisbane when he was appointed the Publicity Manager of the Station.
John’s motto is: “Always remember nobody is a self-made person, someone always opens the door of opportunity, and the only decision is whether you decide to step through the door, or stay where you are.
“That’s exactly what happened to me, I was offered the opportunity to take the job with Chanel 9 or stay where I was.”
For three years he worked with Chanel 9 doing script writing and voice overs for commercials and publicity for the station’s programs.
After meeting with the General Manager of Chanel 10 Toowoomba he took over running regional stations advertising for the next 30 years as each of the various stations commenced transmission around the state.
John often stepped in to do interviews.
“I loved it,” he said of his 33 years in television.
In 1992 he retired from television but not work, remaining active on a vast number of Boards including Director of Brisbane City Heart Business Association, President of the Advertising Institute of Australia and the Queensland Public Relations Institute of Australia. John was also a member of the Premier Peter Beattie’s Commemorative Events and Celebrations Committee for its entire existence.
He was also Chairman of the Queensland Australia Day Council, re-starting the Australia Day Parades in Brisbane, insisting on three flag bearers carrying the Australian flag as well as the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags.
In 1985 he bought a disused rhubarb farm on Tamborine Mountain and built a two-acre lake – his penance for shooting wild duck in his youth.
Now they are his pets and are fed regularly.
This was to become Cedar Creek Estate Vineyard and Winery – a wedding venue, wine cellar and the famous Glow Worm Caves.
“I’d been coming here since the late 60s” John recalled.
“I brought my wife up from the Gold Coast where I retired from television to look for a property in 1994, then she agreed to move to the mountain.”
He eventually built a house beside the lake in 1999 and in 2000 opened Cedar Creek Estate Vineyard and Winery.
When asked what prompted him to start a winery he replied: “I knew how to drink it.
“In the days of television, we’d book a table, and it was part of business to drink wine.”
In 2003 he began building the Glow Worm Caves after learning they were being lost from the mountain, opening them in 2005.
He sold seven acres of the property to Coca Cola for water extraction and three years ago he sold the other part of the property, leasing back the winery and cellar door businesses.
When asked if he’ll ever retire, he smiles and shrugs. “I just want to be around for a while. I just like working.”
John has a passion for philanthropy, believing that “you should always give back to life a little of what you take”.
In the early 2000s he held Opera on the Mountain raising funds for Care Flight, Queensland Ambulance, the Rural Fire Services and the SES.
In 2007 he donated 10 per cent on all gross monthly sales of shiraz to the Queensland Institute of Medical Research. For many years he has donated one dollar per bottle to the School of Glycomic’s at Griffith University from all Chocolate Port sales.
John is passionate about protecting Cedar Creek and ensuring it remains a wildlife habitat, particularly for platypus, filling it with water from the bore during dry times.
Having watched developments on the mountain over the years, he feels it has changed significantly, and becoming more popular as a tourist destination.
