On a picture-perfect winter’s day in the Northern Rivers town of Kyogle, Kenworth and DAF dealer Brown and Hurley held the first of a series of celebration events that will unfold at its dealerships across northern New South Wales and Queensland over the coming weeks.
The event attracted a throng of visitors and an army of loyal Kenworth owners who had spent many hours shining their machines in order to proudly display them on the day.
A highlight of the day was the official launch of a very special book – The Brown and Hurley Story – detailing the history of the company over its 75-year duration to date.
With the first 60 years having been written by the late Jack Hurley OAM, who along with best mate Alan Brown started the company in 1946, the last 15 years have been documented by one of Jack’s sons, Jim Hurley, who has a distinct passion for the history of the company and the Kyogle district where he was born and raised.
“Back in 1946 I thought someone who was 75 was a very old man, now I’m approaching 80 I’ve changed my tune – that’s a very young man,” joked Hurley.
He mentioned that the book was on sale for $25 and that all the money made on book sales at the day’s event was being donated to the Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter.
Also speaking at the event was the federal member for Page, Kevin Hogan MP, who described the Brown and Hurley company as an amazing and wonderful Australian success story.
“Brown and Hurley delivers almost 27 per cent or close to one of every three Kenworth trucks sold in Australia,” said Hogan.
Hogan also made mention that he had been privileged to attend the recent handover of the 70,000th Australian-built Kenworth to Jim Hurley at the PACCAR production facility in Melbourne.
Also present was Peter Wickham, co-founder of Wickham Freightlines – another staunch supporter of the Kenworth brand.
The multi-talented Wickham has quite the singing voice too, having recorded a CD featuring country songs he’d written detailing his life and the farming and trucking business he and late brother Angus founded at Killarney in south-east Queensland.
At $10 each, Wickham sold a boxful of the CDs on the day, donating the proceeds to Jessica Bordin (nee Millard), a young mother and the daughter of a Brown and Hurley employee, who is battling leukaemia.
There was also an auction of various trucking related items that raised a considerable sum of money for Bordin’s most worthy cause.
