Stories of farming through drought at a time of flooding
When the opportunity arose to interview Chris Thomas about his time of farming in the mid-north of South Australia during the great drought of 1982, not even flood-damaged roads could stop Steve from travelling to Crystal Brook to record the stories.
Meanwhile, a different climate story was celebrated in Adelaide last week; 50 years of Seeley International and its mission to provide reliable, innovative, and affordable cooling to people everywhere. While we don’t cover that story directly, there is a snippet in the introduction of Steve’s recollection of the night at Ayers House, that uncovers a quirky bit of SA history.
And as a board member of Radio 5mbs, Steve often listens to the station’s Liston On Demand programs and during one recently he heard a song by local band, Suedan, that demanded to be played on this episode.
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Running Sheet: Farming Through Drought
00:00:00 Intro
Introduction to the show.
This week this includes a recollection from the Seeley International 50th Anniversary dinnar at Ayers House, where Steve sat next to friend and client, Donald Kay, from Don Alan Pty Ltd. Steve mentioned this during his regular segment about small business on FIVEaa with Richard Pascoe, and it seems Donald will be hauled into FIVEaa before too long. However, Donald was mentioned because of some trivia about Sir Henry Ayers that he discovered and shared.
Also, Steve recorded the rare and boisterous “Go Power” chant that Sir Frank Seeley is known for. He did a moderate version in front of the dignitaries on Wednesday night, which Steve captured for posterity.
If you’d like to hear the full Frank Seeley story, here’s the link: The Cool History Of Seeley International.
00:00:00 SA Drink Of The Week
No SA Drink Of The Week this week. It now an occasional segment when stellar beverages are discovered.
00:06:32 Chris Thomas
One of Steve’s clients, and a former guest from episode 353, Alex Thomas from the Plant A Seed For Farm Safety and Save A Life, Listen To Your Wife campaigns, was heading to Crystal Brook last week to see her father, farmer, Chris Thomas, who farmed during the dramatic 1982 drought. Given that Australia is currently experiencing flood, Steve thought it would be the perfect time to remind all of us of the extremes of nature that farmers need to contend with to keep us eating fresh food.
Chris also got very ill during his farming career, due to Q Fever and a series of other complications, meaning Alex has had to care for him since she was 15; inspiring her to spearhead a down-to-earth farm safety business. She delivers talks and runs workshops all around Australia and as you’ll hear in the interview with her dad, farmers have a certain mindset and make up which is all about “getting the job done” and not so much about “self care”. That is changing but it’s also how these dogged humans have been able to push through and craft farming enterprises to support society here in Australia.
This is not an exhaustive documentation of farming or the drought; it is a story about passion and the eeking of a living in South Australia.
#Flooding is one extreme faced by #farmers and the other is #drought. In episode 363, Chris Thomas from #CrystalBrook recounts stories of #farming in #SouthAustralia, especially through the 1982 drought. https://t.co/pnTfMWtLrO Plus Frank Seeley's famous @PortAdelaideFC warcry
— The Adelaide Show (@TheAdelaideShow) October 30, 2022
00:42:50 Musical Pilgrimage
In the musical pilgrimage, we have One Day by Suedan.
Steve heard this on River Blues, a blues program on Radio 5mbs, which you can listen to via their website or by subscribing in a podcast app (there are also jazz, world music, and classical programs).
Suedan was formed by Sue Filmer and Danny Filmer in 2016 as a musical duo. They had played in bands for many years but never together.
Although Sue Filmer and Danny Filmer had played in many bands before they had never played together.
Steve first became aware of them while working with them through his business, Talked About Marketing, helping them set up their website.
To then hear them on 5mbs with a song befitting the mood and tone of farming through drought was too much of a coincidence not to feature the song in this episode.
Suedan produces roots and blues music, using cigar box guitars, cajun drums, blues harp, and vocals.
Catch their music, check out their upcoming shows, and hire them, via their website, Suedan Music.
Here’s this week’s preview video
No preview video this week.
SFX: Throughout the podcast we use free SFX from freesfx.co.uk for the harp, the visa stamp, the silent movie music, the stylus, the radio signal SFX, the wine pouring and cork pulling SFX, and the swooshes around Siri.