Electrical appliance salesman retires after 47 years in the trade Gary heads for the hills

l CAIRNS CBD | Isabella Guzman Gonzalez

A LEGEND of the Cairns electrical appliance retail industry, Gary Woodrow, is finishing up after 47 years of service.

Mr Woodrow will work his last shift at Kennedy’s Betta Home Living today.

“It’s scary, but it’s pretty exciting. I’m looking forward to this next stage of my life,” he said.

“My wife is retiring soon, and we’ve got the four-wheel-drive ready to go. We’ll travel around for three to four months and then plan trips overseas for the next few years.”

Mr Woodrow of Redlynch said he’d miss interacting with the clients the most.

“Customers are just fantastic,” he said.

“I’ve got three generations of people come to see me, and it’s great that they stick to you.

“People come to you, and they say, ‘What will I buy?’, they trust you, and they trust the companies that you work for, and there’s wonderful people out there.”

With over 47 years of service, Mr Woodrow has seen technology evolve from black and white TVs to colour, VHS and Betamax recorders, cassettes to CDs and mobile phones.

Creek’s name changed

l EDMONTON

BLACKFELLOWS Creek at Edmonton has been officially renamed to Bana Gindarja Creek.

“I started in the electrical industry in 1976, working for Chandler’s on Lake St,” he said.

“When I started, I was delivering colour televisions and getting rid of people’s old black and white television, so there’s certainly been a lot of changes since those days.

“It’s what I love about the industry, there’s always something new coming into the market, and you have to keep up.”

Spending his last 20 years at Kennedy’s, Mr Woodrow said the firm had become his home and wished the best for the business.

“They (the team) are excited for me, but they’re sad to see me go as I’m sad to leave, but I’m still part of the Kennedy family,” he said.

“They’ve been very good to me, my son started his apprenticeship as an electrician through Kennedy’s, and we’ve got husbands and wives, sons and daughters that have been in the ranks of the Kennedy’s family.”

Store manager Janelle Given said the team were happy to see Mr Woodrow move to a new and exciting stage in his life.

“It’s a bittersweet time,” she said.

“We’ve had the fantastic opportunity to have Gary as part of our family, and what he has brought to the table in knowledge and experience in our industry is something you can’t take away. We feel honoured to have had him on our team.”

The name change was championed by Gudju Gudju Fourmile – an elder of the Gimuy Walubara Yidinji people – who made initial representations to Councillor Rob Pyne to have the creek and an adjacent council park renamed.

A council spokesman following consultation with traditional owners in February 2021, the council made a formal submission to the Department of Resources requesting consideration be given to renaming the creek to Bana Gindarja, which refers to the cassowary (an important cultural totem). The council also renamed the adjoining park to the Allan and May Oliver Park / Bana Gindarja Park in April 2021.

“The creek renaming is the first of its kind in the Cairns region and Far North, and one of only a handful that have occurred in Queensland,” the spokesman said.

Cr Pyne said Bana Gindarja celebrated Aboriginal culture, something he wanted to see more of.

Rotary donation for youth

l PALM COVE

YOUNG people will be the beneficiaries of a $10,000 donation by the Rotary Club of Cairns Sunrise.

The funding was presented to Harbrow Mentoring co-founder Marc Harbrow and Our Future Mentors managing director Esther Gaffney to be used in their after schools program which helps to improve the life skills of young people through leadership, mentoring, sports and culture.

Ms Gaffney had told a Rotary club breakfast of the work they were doing in the community and the results they were starting to achieve. “Unfortunately, some government funding for one of their programs had been discontinued recently and they approached the club for assistance,” said incoming Sunrise club president Margaret Milutinovic.

She said the profits from the monthly Palm Cove Markets, which were operated by the Rotary club, were donated to community projects. Markets’ co-ordinator Col Lawson said “given the recent headlines about youth crime and homelessness, our Rotary club felt this was a worthy local project to support and which would help to make a difference to the lives of some teenagers in Cairns”.

Harbrow Mentoring provides various programs to young people.