Driven by Graham Newbury of Morphett Vale, Adelaide, this tanker was particularly eye catching. He finished restoring his Stuart Tank just prior to making it to Corowa. The person who was going to transport the tank fell off a ladder whilst working on his own tank and ended up in hospital. Photos by Adrienne Hartnett.
Some 225 vehicles and over 1000 people came to Corowa last week for the 44 th annual Swim-In and Military Vehicle Gathering.
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The KVEs (Khaki Vehicle Enthusiasts) loved the reception wherever they went in the area, which included a packed, both sides of Sanger Street parade last Saturday morning.
From Middle Park in Melbourne, John Brooksmith and wife Annette loved jeeping down Sanger Street.
About 200 vehicles participated in the parade which was very impressive. Then it was out to the showgrounds where a Show and Shine of the military vehicles occurred, along with a Swap Meet.
On Saturday afternoon the vehicles gathered down at the lagoon and all the amphibious vehicles took people for rides.
The wide range of former military vehicles in the parade along Sanger Street Corowa was on full display and admired by locals and visitors.
Special praise was mentioned by event organiser Jan Thompson regarding showgrounds extraordinaire Jan McKenna who organised the Swap Meet and Corowa Rotary Club for all their help on the day, including the beautiful barbecue. “if there is anyone who would like to help next year with the Swap Meat, please contact me on 0412078096,” Jan said.
“Sonia and Andrew Palmer and the staff at Ball Park Caravan Park understand our event and they like to make sure we are happy with how the event is going.
“We were fortunate to have the outdoor screen and projector loaned to us from the Federation Council. We used this for showing movies on two nights and our presentations and guest speakers on Saturday night.
“Bill and Isabella Bates did a presentation on her Legacy journey last year and Scott Rough did a presentation on an event he is organising for the 80 th Anniversary of VP Day in 2025. This will involve military vehicles driving from Melbourne to Townsville.”
Most of the restaurants “do really well while we are here” according to Jan. “I was given a report that one group waited a while to receive their meals. After a discussion the group was invited back another day and the participants were looked after very well. We understand that in hospitality times have been tough and getting the right staff can be an issue. Most of our participants do eat out while they are in Corowa.”
Federation Council Mayor Pat Bourke said it was good to see “the big excitement back in town”. “It’s exciting to see such a large range of historical vehicles and it’s great for the local economy and regionally as they travel to several local areas whilst here,” the mayor said. “It’s always good to see them.”
The Town Crier and John Crothers from the Chamber of Commerce were praised by Jan for their involvement.
The KVEs enjoyed being at the SHE Shed last Wednesday. “The ladies organised an activity for us to do and we were very well looked after,” Jan said. “This included lunch and we made a box and did mosaic designs on our lids.
“The children from South Corowa Primary School visited us on Wednesday afternoon and learnt about the differences between the smaller and larger amphibious vehicles and had a look at some of the other vehicles. We like to either visit schools, child care centres, aged care and we also visited Glenview this year.
“On Thursday we had the Army bring two vehicles over and we went up to Club Corowa for our second Veterans and Vehicles Reunited. Some of the Australian Army Band from Kapooka entertained us. If there are any veterans who are interested in coming along next year please make contact with us. This event will probably appear on our program every year. Thanks to the staff at Club Corowa for making us feel welcome when we entered the club for a meal.”
The KVEs had two trips on Friday, one group going to Glenrowan and Milawa, and the other went to Yarrawonga and Mulwala.
Local committee member, Sam King organised a treasure hunt and this involved people following directions to various places of interest in the Corowa/ Rutherglen area.
Various awards were handed out at a presentation evening on Saturday, including the Hard Luck award to Les Robinson who set off from Perth and 700kms from home broke down and had to be transported home and the Breakdown Award: to Mitch Holland as he was entering Corowa in the fire brigade blitz.
The longest distance travelled was by Peta and Mick King from Geraldton in WA in their Blitz, being over 3000km to make it to Corowa.
Themes for the next three years were announced: 2025 is Year of the Unimog and Mack, 2026 is Year of the 6X6 and 2027 is Year of the Utility.
This year’s sponsors were Federation Council, Club Corowa and Waldrons IGA.
Participants of the KVE gathering look forward to coming annually to Corowa, the event always following the Victorian Labor Day weekend.
The KVEs maintain if looked after, will keep returning to Corowa. That’s good news, because other towns on the Murray River would love to have them.
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