THE 2017 Dowerin GWN7 Machinery Field Days last week was all about looking to the future and in particular showcasing new machinery, but for many an orange vintage tractor stole the show.
Mid-morning Wednesday the 9G Chamberlain tractor pulled up to the Elders stand as part of an epic cross-country journey to raise money and awareness for the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia and the Breast Cancer Network of Australia .
A crew of up to 10 people, including two from the United Kingdom and two from New Zealand, had travelled more than 14,000 kilometres in 56 days, leaving Northam on July 7 and finishing there on the weekend as part of the Australian National Ballooning Championships.
The journey mirrored the famous Mobilgas Round Australia that was held in 1957 where a Chamberlain tractor, affectionately known as Tail-End Charlie was a support vehicle.
Since then a number of tours have been completed with the replica Tail-End Charlie that everyone saw last week.
One of the event organisers was Wundowie man Ron Bywaters who was involved in the original challenge as a 22-year-old.
The 82-year-old was in a reflective mood at Dowerin.
“I think we achieved basically what we set out to do – meet as many people as we could in the outback and around this wonderful country of ours,” Mr Bywaters said.
“And we tried to convince them to look after their own health a bit and have a regular medical check.”
The crew stopped at regional communities along the way to spread the message and rattle the fundraising tin.
“There were groups who knew we were coming and made arrangements to find us, including cancer support groups,” Mr Bywaters said.
“They are the people we wanted to see as well – their stories are so important and sometimes they make you cry and they are sad, but early detection is the key to the whole thing.”
Last week Mr Bywaters said they had raised about $15,000 and said they expected more contributions in coming weeks, and had received great corporate support from companies like Elders.
Elders west zone general manager James Cornish was one of the first to greet the Tail End Charlie crew when they arrived at the Field Days.
Mr Cornish said the company didn’t baulk at offering its support.
“It’s such an important and relevant cause,” Mr Cornish said.
“So many of our clients and staff across rural and regional Australia have been affected or touched by one of these terrible diseases.”
Mr Cornish said Elders was keen to help raise awareness, saying the earlier any cancer was detected, the better chances of survival.
“But the other thing that really resonated with Elders was the effort and the passion and the commitment of the group,” Mr Cornish said.
He said they were proud to support the crew who was prepared to jump in an old tractor and drive around regional and rural Australia to raise awareness and help people in those communities.
“It’s been a great partnership and a great experience.
“At Elders we pride ourselves on going above and beyond for our clients – they’re the lifeline of our business so it’s always our focus to support them and their communities in any way we can.”
The tractor didn’t miss a beat on the trip and Mr Bywaters scoffed at questioning on how the ‘old girl’ went, saying it was a Chamberlain, so it was never going to let the crew down.
As for why drive across the country in an old tractor when there were modern alternatives, he said there was no choice.
“This attracts people like bees to a honey pot,” he said.
“They all want to know more because most people either had one of these tractors, have still got one or their grandad had one, so they are interested.
“Even the kids are interested and that is good because there are some generations who haven’t seen this type of tractor.
“Most of us have sort of grown up with this type or tractor and this one in particular, so it is a part of our lives.
“And the history is most important – it was made in Western Australia and is part of our history.”