Guests start to gather.
As the sun slowly started to disappear in the Queensland Outback sky, 150 people gathered at the Australian Stockmen’s Hall of Fame, Cattlemen’s Bar and Grill for a night of remembering and paying tribute to those who worked the land we call home. It was also a time to hear the voices of those who continue in the rich traditions of working the land and the next generations who will carry on the traditions and legacy of those men and women, rich with knowledge of country and place.
The Stockmen brought together a diverse mix of old and new, human and animal, city and country in a great evening of food, beer and conversation.
Throughout the day, the Cattlemen’s Bar and Grill was filled with cattle, sheep, working dogs, yarning areas, installations and settings depicting the wonderful outback.
Rob Lawson, Poet.
The night began with a reading of Mary Mackellar’s ‘My Country’ read by local poet Rob Lawson. Entering with Rob on horseback was Tony MacWhinney from the Australian Agricultural College.
Tony MacWhinney
Neale Stuart was our entertaining host and, throughout the night, kept the discussion lively and engaging. Ready to share a story or two, he was always at the ready with microphone in hand!
Tony Jackson and his working dogs!
Tony Jackson and his working dogs put on a great display, showing what it really takes to be a good dog on the land! They first rounded up the ducks into their tunnel and finally into their cage then moved onto bigger things! While there were initial sharp breaths when the sheep came out, never fear…it was all under control.
In conversation with David Brook and Peter Schmidt.
First to join Neale onstage were two founding members of OBE (Organic Beef Exports) David Brook and Peter Schmidt. David has recently been appointed the Chairperson of the Board for the Australian Stockmen’s Hall of Fame. Both spoke strongly of the history of OBE and its integral contributions to opening up the industry both nationally and internationally. They spoke of the company’s beginnings, its grounding in family business and its future goals.
Frank Correnti was then invited to share his techniques and tricks of the trade working with organic beef. The entrée, slow braised OBE organic beef shin, red claw crayfish salad and smoked tomato vinaigrette went down a treat!!
The entree.
Rob Lawson then shared with the audience some of his original poetry and spoke about why he loves the bush and why it will always be home.
Guests were then able to dine on the main meal… Slow roasted OBE organic sirloin rubbed with Middle Eastern spices with carrot-parsnip bake, salsa verde & port wine-verjuice reduction.
Neale Stuart, James Walker and David Brook.
David Brook then started the conversation with a representative from the next generation of young farmers, James Walker. James had some wonderful insight to continuing in the proud family tradition of working on the land and gave some overviews and thoughts on the ups and downs and the joys of working in the outback.
To wrap up the menu, Frank created a traditional pavola with a twist… old fashioned pavlova with passion fruit cream & mixed berries.
The evening finished with a final acknowledgment of the menu and its chef, Frank Correnti, then Neale invited guests to peruse the materials made available in the cottage by the State Library of Queensland, OBE and the Agricultural College.
By the fire with Gordon Storer.
Some lucky patrons were able to sit by the campfire with Gordon Storer and enjoy his stories of living, working, loving and being out in the bush.
The Stockmen was a wonderful event, supported by the Australian Stockmen’s Hall of Fame and its incredible team of staff on the floor, behind the bar and in the kitchen.
For more images go to flickr.
The whole weekend was terrific. Those who chose to stay away certainly missed a great event. From the toilers who did the setup work, and kept us all refreshed to the chefs who did such wonderful things to our meal, it all added up to a memorable evening. The sound throughout the night was remarkable in that there was none of the drumming or sound distortion so often found at such events. Everything that was said came through loud and clear, whilst still allowing the guests to easily converse amongst themselves without interfering with the main speakers.. Top marks to to the sound and lighting professional. Nadine, and Katherine from the State Library of Queensland, who, together with an extremely able and skilled team made the evening such a success, along with the hosts and lovely hostesses from the Stockmans Bar and grill at the Stockmans Hall of Fame combined to make the whole event such a success. The speakers, from a varied cross section of inland life, made the evening a most informative and pleasant experience for all. For my small part, I thoroughly enjoyed myself, and sincerely hope those who chose to talk with me enjoyed the experience as much as I. From the number and variance of the questions put to me, it indicated that people are still interested in our inland and what makes it so dear to people like myself.
The presentation put forward through the highly skilled MC, and those who responded was just great. The information put up by those of the Organic Beef producers forum made great listening and I for one thoroughly enjoyed it. It was great to again meet up with some of those I had known from ‘the long ago’ and to pass the time of day, and also to meet some new people, especially “Ann” from Auckland in New Zealand, but who originally came from California in the USA. She told me that she had made the trip to Longreach only because she had heard of the Stockmans Hall of Fame whilst still resident in the US. Being a horse person, she had made it a “must see someday” and as luck would have it, she was in Longreach over the weekend, and honored us all at the evening with her presence. I hope she enjoyed our company as much as we did hers. Overall, a beautifully organized and presented evening, and congratulations to all those who made it so.