Those who have worked at the AKD Sawmill in Tumut have been honoured at an AKD Lumber Legends night at Tumut Golf Club. Source: Tumut & Adelong Times
AKD CEO Shane Vicary welcomed everyone and presented the awards, with the help of Tumut AKD manager Warren “Rab” Green.
Comedian Mick Meredith and local musician Andrew Wortes provided the entertainment.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, these awards were delayed three years.
Prominent among the Lumber Legends was Kerry Bird, who recently retired after an amazing 56 years.
“I really like it (working there), but night shift was getting a bit hard,” he said. “I lost my wife and made a decision to retire.”
He started at the mill as a teenager on January 19, 1966.
“PGH owned the building then,” he said. “Things have changed a lot since 1966. It used to be very hands-on; now everything is computerised. I’d love to be still going to work there but as I said night shift was getting a bit tough”.
He was delighted with the night and the recognition he received.
“It was really great; I was really surprised,” he said.
“I was the last one to receive an award but I didn’t mind that. They all stood up and gave me a handclap. I thought I was a pop star for a minute.”
Mr Vicary read out some of Mr Bird’s history at the mill.
“Kerry commenced with the company at the Gilmore site on a one-month trial,” he said.
“He was in the furniture section where he was making components for furniture for approximately three years. From there Kerry went to the gang saw. Some of the jobs Kerry did were stacking timber, grading tongue and groove flooring board and grading and stacking quad. He also worked on the wide planer for a while.
“Kerry was in the planer mill for around 20 years before he went into quality control, working beside Jim Seymour, Dave Polsen and Archie Davis. He did this for around eight months then sorting for approximately three years.
“Still at Gilmore, Kerry then went to the old debarker. A new debarker was then built and he was there for around two years. ACI closed and Kerry came into the Tumut sawmill to the debarker.
“Outside of work, Kerry was married to Jenny for 50 years before Jenny passed away in February 2021. He is a father and grandfather.
“Kerry was a very dedicated and conscientious worker, and we wish him all the very best in his retirement.”
Others to be honoured on the night were Paul Dow (45 years), Janice McDonald and Tony McGrath (43 years), Scott Gorman and John Lanyon (42 years), Robert Sturt (41 years), Leonard Field (40 years), John Robinson and William Stuckey (38 years), Phillip Douglas (36 years), Rodney Harris (35 years), Gregory Musson, David Shedden and Shane Stevens (33 years), Steven Kell and Kelvin Matchowitz (31 years), Jon Baker and James Gorman (30 years), Vicki Keogh and Debbie Maher (28 years), Katherine Gorman (27 years), Timothy Forrest, Joseph Hardwick and Scott McVean, Sharon Musson and Matthew Taylor (25 years), Ian Blundell and Steve Thomas (23 years), David Dean, Jason French and Horatio French (22 years), Ben Abarca (21 years) and Adam Grayland (20 years).
