Page 13 - The Outdoor Showman APR-JUN 2020

Showmen’s Guild of Australasia
SGA
President’s Report
4 Turner Avenue, Yatala, QLD P.O. Box 690
Beenleigh QLD 4207
Ph: (07) 3807 0011
Fax: (07) 3807 0730
E: showmens.guild@bigpond.com www.showmensguild.com.au
Office Bearers 2019 PATRON
Angus Lane
PRESIDENT
George Pink
SECRETARY
Patricia Blades
TREASURER
Peter Short
TRUSTEES
Doreen Brown Lewis Osborne
VICE PRESIDENTS
Luke Chambers Gary Johnson Robert Young Shane Blades Stewart Watkins Glen McGregor Glenn Pink
Emile M Verfurth III Elwin Bell Jnr Clayton Taylor
COMMITTEE
John Roberts Ted Baker Aaron Pink Michael Wood Brad Chambers David Allan Tyrone Miller Terry Nilon Jesse McDonald Luke Hennessy
Dear Members, Showmen and Show Societies,
What a weird time we see ourselves in at the moment. COVID-19 has hit us hard as we look towards recovery and what ‘the new normal’ will look like and what this means for the Amusement Industry.
I want to give you some history of Show ‘hard’ times as I have seen over the years. It is a shame that my mate Doug (Roberts) is not here as he had a great memory of events and times.
I am George Pink.
I was born in the middle of the war. The first Showman I came into contact with was Arthur ‘Sparrow’ Baker. Sparrow was in the Army like many other Showmen during that time. We were camped at the Railway Yards in Melbourne, there were also Showmen camped on the river banks at Dubbo as well as Stockton in Newcastle and many other places I can’t recall.
The first really hard time I remember was during the war. The Showgrounds where we usually camp at had been turned into an army barracks. We had to camp at the railway yards, they had no power or water and we had to make do with what money we had.
As soon as the war was over the Shows were back on and the Showmen were back to work. Money was very short and we had to use what transport we had, which was really only cars as there were very few trucks back then.
In the 50’s Australia was hit hard by the polio outbreak. Again the Showmen found themselves in ‘hard times’ and our industry was ‘shut down’. The polio epidemic stopped people coming to the Shows to avoid dangerous, large crowds. Once polio was under control we were back to work as normal again.
The next interruption to our industry was in the 60’s with Vietnam War. This was also a tough period for the Showmen. It was uncertain times which we had to push through. Yet again us ‘Showmen’ bounced back once the war was over and business was back to normal.
So as history shows we have found our industry in hard times before and this COVID-19 is no different. Do not despair we will be back stronger than ever.
Stay positive, your mate George Pink
George Pink President
THE OUTDOOR SHOWMAN 11