The sun was shining in Murray Bridge, SA over the weekend as truckies who have passed away were honoured at the White Hill Truck Drivers’ Memorial.
Hundreds of people gathered for a beautiful service and five names were added to the two memorial walls – Kelvin Peter Barr, Evan Roland Gutschke, Walter Norman Champion, Gil Gregor and Stephen Mark Dowell.
The special day began with a convoy, with trucks meeting at White Hill.
Each truck wore a banner bearing a tribute to the deceased and drove down the hill to the memorial, where they lined up to toot their air horns ahead of the service.
Organiser Keith Wood said the day was quite moving for everyone present.
“We got two ladies who lost their husbands this year to put a wreath on both walls and that was quite emotional.
“We also have two plaques on the walls for two young children who died in a truck accident. Their mother, Sharon Hourn, spoke about the loss of her children and what the wall means to her.”
Wood, who is a semi-retired truckie who has been on the road for over 40 years, said the idea for the memorial came about because several of his family members have their names on the Australian Truck Drivers Memorial Wall in Tarcutta in NSW.
He wanted to give people a way to pay tribute to truck drivers who have lost their lives – either in an accident or through natural causes – without them having to travel long distances.
“I’ve been driving since the army days in ‘76 and a few of my mates have passed away on the road,” he said.
“My father, uncle and brother in laws, they were on the Tarcutta memorial and it’s a fair way for everyone to go so I started one up in South Australia.
“Since we started it, the council have done the whole area up and we’ve got toilets and a barbecue and everything there now.
“So a lot of the families will come and get together. It’s sort of a healing place for a lot of them.”
Up until the pandemic hit, a truck show took place alongside the convoy and memorial service, however this has been on hiatus for the past few years.
Wood is planning to bring the show back next year, as well as changing the date due to a clash with harvest season.
“We are very excited to announce that our 12th memorial service will be held on the new date of 2nd March 2024 and that we will be bringing back our much loved Show n Shine!” he continued.
“We are looking for volunteers to help out so please get in touch with us on Facebook or email Cathie at keithandcathie@bigpond.com.”