Community & Business
22 July, 2024
Re-living the memories of the ‘94 drought
An image of destroyed landscapes, dying animals, withering crops, dried up water holes, broken dreams, shattered lives. The physical and social impacts of a drought that so many had struggled though. Within the Warwick Shire, the Condamine River was exhausted, reverting to tiny ponds.
These were the conversations around the lunch table at the Leyburn Hotel last week.
All it took was a gentleman walking into the Leyburn hotel and asking “Who could I contact to help me meet some families that my dad may have helped out in those terrible years?”
A quick phone call out to Sheryle Wieden, a member of the Leyburn Historical Society, and she was on the case, with the assistance of her fellow historian member Mary Hamblin.
Mary remembered those days and some of these families, so it was she that got the phone line running hot.
“Within 24 hours we had 14 people at short notice willing to meet for lunch and say thanks to this gentlemen Rod Turner,” Sheryle said.
“His dad was Chris Turner, at the time the family was living in Western Australia.
“Chris heard of this drought and said to the family that he just had to do something.”
Sheryle said Chris’ aim was to find a few donations of personal items that may just put a smile on a few faces.
“He called it his shoebox parcel, items such as toothpaste/brush, soap, talcum powder, maybe sweets for children or even perfume for the ladies,” she said.
“His call went out to the local ABC radio announcer Bill Cutcheon to see if he could get people on board to donate and from there most would know that drought committees were formed around Queensland.
“Not just shoeboxes of goodies now, it was rainwater tanks, clothing, truckloads of water, food boxes.
“Our local Karara resident Frances Symonds was at the time the Drought Coordinator and remembers those days well.
“When Rod turned up at the Leyburn Hotel on Monday for a lunch meeting with folders of letters of thanks from the families that had received parcels or other items back in the 1994 drought Rod along with his wife Jan and cousin Cyril was overwhelmed with the numbers that had turned up to greet them and proud that his dad had put smiles on so many faces.
“These locals spoke of how they didn’t think they would get though that 1994 drought, but they all say it made them much stronger in life and even though some only got small packages it just meant so much that someone out there cared enough to just be thinking of these struggling farmers.
“Rod and his wife were only in the area for a few days as they were taking a break from Western Australia caravaning around many parts of Queensland hoping to meet others that may have been a part of his dad’s story.”
