Barambah PaCE<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\nCecil “Pickle” Brown has loved every job he\u2019s had.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always given 100 per cent,\u201d the acting Cherbourg Community Health manager said.<\/p>\n
Today he\u2019s best known as “Uncle Pickle” to the kids from 30 schools across the South Burnett he\u2019s helped rescue from Otitis Media ear infections.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhenever I go into the schools that\u2019s what I hear; \u2018hello Uncle Pickle\u2019,\u201d the man who runs the Health-e-Piccaninnies van said.<\/p>\n
Pickle started life on the Cherbourg Mission.<\/p>\n
He remembers standing with kids at the old community hall each Christmas and getting an ice-block and present from a white government officer dressed as Santa.<\/p>\n
Pickle\u2019s father Cecil worked as a cabinet maker and farmhand and travelled to Brisbane to box professionally at \u00a0Festival Hall.<\/p>\n
His mother Rae had nine children and worked as a domestic at Cherbourg Hospital, until the family moved 31km to Kinbombi\u2019s farming district.<\/p>\n
Pickle and five of his siblings then faced the daunting task of going to Goomeri’s Year 1- 10 school.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were the only black faces there,\u201d Pickle said.<\/p>\n
But he and his two school-aged brothers and three sisters fitted in well and Pickle secured a job at a bakery within minutes of his last day at school in Year 10.<\/strong><\/p>\n\u201cAt the sound of the bell I walked straight up there and set to work,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy father had spoken to the owner and had set it up for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
But after 11 months as a baker\u2019s hand, Pickle was about to begin his apprenticeship when he heard townsfolk \u201cdidn\u2019t like a blackfella making their bread\u201d.<\/p>\n
As a 16-year-old, Pickle was hurt.<\/p>\n
Despite the urging of his boss to stay, Pickle went to live with his older brother and sisters in Brisbane.<\/p>\n
He worked in a meatworks, steel foundry and for Schwarzkopf Hair Products.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had big frizzy hair then and they had the best products out there,\u201d Pickle joked. \u00a0\u201cI put them to use.\u201d<\/p>\n
But when Pickle returned to Cherbourg to holiday with his elderly grandmother, Elsie McGowan, he decided to stay.<\/p>\n
He worked at the Gallangowan Foresty for 13 years before being asked to start an emu farm by Cherbourg council CEO Warren Collins.<\/p>\n
The industry was proving successful in Western Australia and riding off the back of demand for ostrich products.<\/p>\n
Pickle was given 14 employees and a National Parks wildlife permit to capture 300 emu chicks.<\/strong><\/p>\nThat was easier said than done. As the songs says, emus can “run the pants off a kangaroo”.<\/p>\n
So he and his men sat down to work out what to do.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe decided to separate the old boy looking after the chicks with a motorbike and herded the chicks towards the fences,\u201d Pickle said.<\/p>\n
His men then grabbed the small birds by the legs and put them in cages.<\/p>\n
\u201cSix of us were A Grade footballers at the time and used it for training,\u201d Pickle said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was bloody hard work.\u201d<\/p>\n
After four trips to Tambo and Blackall the men had their allotted amount.<\/p>\n
For 13 years they built the Cherbourg Emu Farm to hold 5000 birds, ranging from chicks to adults.<\/p>\n
They sold stock to other farms. An abattoir was built to provide emu meat, leather, oil, feathers and eggs to a European market.<\/p>\n
Then bird flu hit NSW and all exports were stopped.<\/p>\n
The domestic market was too small to support the emu industry and Australian stakeholders began to fight among themselves.<\/p>\n
Pickle looked to the future.<\/p>\n
He realised he wasn\u2019t getting younger at 44 so he decided to find work that would see him through to retirement and provide good superannuation.<\/p>\n
He found a job with Community Health and has continued to work and study.<\/p>\n
Pickle now holds a Diploma in Primary Health Science, is in a senior role and provides a service that helps people lead a happy life.<\/strong><\/p>\nHe feels very satisfied, content and happy.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor Cherbourg kids I\u2019d say: \u2018Go to school every day, keep going, do your Year 11 and 12; even university\u2019,” he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cLearning gives you the scope for better wages and makes it more enjoyable for your job because you can operate better and utilise equipment.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou get better results; more satisfaction.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou build your confidence once you master techniques.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pickle now looks back and is thankful to his parents for making him and his brothers and sisters go to school every day, respect their elders and respect their family.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey taught us to treat people as we\u2019d want to be treated and that school sets you up for your future,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Cecil “Pickle” Brown has loved every job he\u2019s had.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":72350,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[1135],"yoast_head":"\n
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![\"\"](\"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/06\/20140626picklebrown.jpg\" "\\"Cec")
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