Recently, the Junior Farmers WA cohort of 1961 celebrated their 65th anniversary with a luncheon reunion, full of discussion, reminiscing and pouring over old documents.
Eleven of the original cohort of 29 met at the Mundijong Community Resource Centre for the event, which they described as very enjoyable.
Several even wore the blazers they were given as a Junior Farmers’ uniform from back in the day.
Mundijong had historically been home to one of the biggest Junior Farmers’ Clubs in WA, hence the choice to meet at the location.
Event organiser Rodney Field describes the 1961 adventure vividly: “It was the biggest trip Junior Farmers WA had ever organised, and the only one to visit every state of the country. It was 33 days long in total.
“It was such a special thing, since we were selected from a cohort of around 7000 back in 1961. Most of the people that were on the trip were outstanding junior farmers, which meant, in their region, they’d won the trip,” he said.
“A lot of the young people in our time didn’t necessarily have the same education as now, and Junior Farmers really provided that, and was a way of extending yourself. We did lots of activities, like debates, local dances, and more. It was the highlight of our social lives.
“We won our position on the trip through a zone system. I think there were 12 zones in Western Australia, and we were all just rural people that hadn’t seen a lot of the country. We did a lot of bonding along the way and got to see the other half Australia.”
After catching the train all the way across the Nullarbor, including a stopover in the remote town of Cook, the cohort also visited the Sydney Royal Show, where they participated in various agricultural activities.
A visit to the Snowy Mountains Hydro Scheme, then under construction, Canberra and eventually Brisbane, would follow.
The journey concluded with a visit to Tasmania, where the participants familiarised themselves with the apple industry in that state.
Along the way, group socialising was very prominent.
“We took ourselves to see West Side Story. It was a relatively new play at that time, and it had just started showing in Sydney,” Mr Plain said.
Another participant, Margaret Henderson, remembers Canberra very fondly: “The war memorial, which we visited, was really wonderful. I remember as well that we visited the University of New England in Armidale. The Snowy Hydro Scheme was a real eye-opener for us.
“At the university, we spent five days doing a course that involved discussions with our peers from other states on the subject of where the agricultural industry was heading,” she said.
The majority of the reunion’s attendees described having pursued agriculture as a career following the trip.
A consistent theme throughout the luncheon was what the attendees thought younger generations from the country may be missing out on.
“We were really big back in the day, and yes, Junior Farmers has now become Rural Youth, but the membership isn’t as big as it used to be,” said Mr Plain.
“Back in the day, you didn’t go away from town very often. You really lived for your own town. Nowadays, people go all over the place, so there’s not that same connection to the community anymore.”
