THEY lived hard, played hard, bowed to no man and made their own rules.
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They were the men who many credit with making Albury-Wodonga the jewel in the crown of regional Australia — in particular, Tommy Pearsall (hotelier and brickmaker), Maurie Chick (construction), Arch McLeish (transport operator), Dal Delaney (earthworks and road construction) and Alan Foster (chief engineer at Uncle Bens) — in the post-Whitlam era and during the rise of the Albury-Wodonga Development Corporation.
Mal Hutchinson, who became a successful businessman in his own right with his partner Graeme Bosse — the pair owned five hotels in Albury, Jindera and Holbrook at one stage — said the area will never see the likes of Pearsall and co — and what they created — ever again.
“We didn’t realise at the time how incredible it all was, but you look back now and you recognise it really was,” Hutchinson said.
“Tommy Pearsall was the best mayor we ever had and he and Maurie gave Albury a big start, with supermarkets and the like.
“I met Maurie in the 1960s and Tommy in 1970; they were two very different people, with Tommy more on the conservative side and Maurie out there.
“But they were two great men.
“And we should include the likes of Dal Delaney, Arch McLeish, Alan Foster among the movers and shakers, and others as well.
“Albury would not be the same if it wasn’t for these blokes.”
The larrikin nature of Chick and Delaney and others is the stuff of legends and there are hundreds of stories of the hijinks they got up to.
“I remember when Dal bought a Mercedes but had a problem with rattles in it,” Hutchinson said.
“He took it back to the car dealers three or four times but they couldn’t find the problem.
“Dal ended up ringing the proprietor of the car yard and telling him he had solved the problem of the rattles — ‘I bought a Lexus’ he told him.
“But when Dal told Maurie what he had done Chicky turned around and said “Yeah, but it’s still a Toyota”.
The former member for Benambra and Indi, and now chair of Albury-Wodonga Health, Lou Lieberman said he was personally grateful to Chick and the community owed a huge debt to those mentioned previously and others such as Max Luff, Brian Moriarty, Alan Torney and others.
“When I was an articled clerk at Tietyens, Angel and Jackling Maurie was my first client,” he said.
“But when I opened my first practice he followed me across.
“I was not so much surprised, as rapt, and he encouraged me through thick and thin.
“I ended up buying the original house he built for himself and his wife Marji, from his mate Bill Robbins.
“But the purchase was supervised by Maurie, who made me promise that my wife Marj and I would behave in a temperate manner — which was a bit unusual coming from him.
“By then he lived around the corner and he used to drop in every morning, bringing in The Border Mail and stopping to have a chat before continuing his walk.
“They were exciting times in Albury-Wodonga, with Tommy (Pearsall) and Maurie leading the way and every day was filled with optimism.”
Mr Lieberman said it was wrong to think that these movers and shakers concentrated solely in Albury.
“When my wife and I moved to Wodonga in 1962 the population was only about 6,000, only half the roads were sealed and sewerage was basically non-existent,” he said.
“But these blokes had vision and they invested heavily in Wodonga.
“They were great to hang around and watch in action and they were all community-minded and very generous.”
Colin Joss, now one of Albury-Wodonga’s most successful businessman with interests in construction, cleaning and maintenance, says it is sad that it is only when we look back that we realise the impact these men had at the time.
“They worked hard, played hard and while I admired their style I never tried to emulate them when they were playing — especially down at the Astor Hotel, most nights,” he said.
“They all had Albury-Wodonga first and foremost in their minds and they had a huge impact on the region.
“It was Maurie Chick, who I first had dealings with shortly after I finished my apprenticeship, who gave me my first leg-up in business.
“I remember flying down with him to Gunbower, near Echuca, to do some work and having to direct him because he didn’t recognise any of the landmarks, although I did.
“We ended up landing in a paddock which had a lot of those mounds you see in irrigated country.
“We hit about three of them but ended up landing safely.”
Perhaps no one is in a better position to sum up the life and times of the people who played such a large part in the development of Albury-Wodonga than Chick’s son, Alan.
“Dad was determined I was not going to go into building and I ended up being indentured to Lou Lieberman as an article clerk,” Alan said.
“I worked for the firm, Harris Lieberman, for about five years before I ended up going back to work with dad.
“Along the way I did a Masters degree in construction law at Melbourne Uni and now work as an employed solicitor with Kell and Moore.
“They were exciting times for a young bloke, being involved them with them all.
“When I turned 18 — well perhaps before I turned 18, Maurice would invite me to have a quiet beer at the Astor Hotel with the publican Jack Ellis and a few of Maurice’s mates, including Dal Delaney, Bert Daley, Arch McLeish, Jack Marshall, Bernie Menz, Alan Torney, Bill Robbins, Max Blomley, Don Bow, Alan Foster, Dennis Millward, Vin Griffith, Neville Wily and invited guests from time to time.
“The school would last two rounds, or if people felt thirsty, a third round.
“As a kid, 20 or 30 quick beers (although they were only 7’s) was a pretty fair effort for the week.
“But these blokes did it five nights a week and most Saturdays.
“They worked hard, played hard, were larrikins but canny businessmen, who were good family people and very community minded.”THEY lived hard, played hard, bowed to no man and made their own rules.
They were the men who many credit with making Albury-Wodonga the jewel in the crown of regional Australia — in particular, Tommy Pearsall (hotelier and brickmaker), Maurie Chick (construction), Arch McLeish (transport operator), Dal Delaney (earthworks and road construction) and Alan Foster (chief engineer at Uncle Bens) — in the post-Whitlam era and during the rise of the Albury-Wodonga Development Corporation.
Mal Hutchinson, who became a successful businessman in his own right with his partner Graeme Bosse — the pair owned five hotels in Albury, Jindera and Holbrook at one stage — said the area will never see the likes of Pearsall and co — and what they created — ever again.
“We didn’t realise at the time how incredible it all was, but you look back now and you recognise it really was,” Hutchinson said.
“Tommy Pearsall was the best mayor we ever had and he and Maurie gave Albury a big start, with supermarkets and the like.
“I met Maurie in the 1960s and Tommy in 1970; they were two very different people, with Tommy more on the conservative side and Maurie out there.
“But they were two great men.
“And we should include the likes of Dal Delaney, Arch McLeish, Alan Foster among the movers and shakers, and others as well.
“Albury would not be the same if it wasn’t for these blokes.”
The larrikin nature of Chick and Delaney and others is the stuff of legends and there are hundreds of stories of the hijinks they got up to.
“I remember when Dal bought a Mercedes but had a problem with rattles in it,” Hutchinson said.
“He took it back to the car dealers three or four times but they couldn’t find the problem.
“Dal ended up ringing the proprietor of the car yard and telling him he had solved the problem of the rattles — ‘I bought a Lexus’ he told him.
“But when Dal told Maurie what he had done Chicky turned around and said “Yeah, but it’s still a Toyota”.
The former member for Benambra and Indi, and now chair of Albury-Wodonga Health, Lou Lieberman said he was personally grateful to Chick and the community owed a huge debt to those mentioned previously and others such as Max Luff, Brian Moriarty, Alan Torney and others.
“When I was an articled clerk at Tietyens, Angel and Jackling Maurie was my first client,” he said.
“But when I opened my first practice he followed me across.
“I was not so much surprised, as rapt, and he encouraged me through thick and thin.
“I ended up buying the original house he built for himself and his wife Marji, from his mate Bill Robbins.
“But the purchase was supervised by Maurie, who made me promise that my wife Marj and I would behave in a temperate manner — which was a bit unusual coming from him.
“By then he lived around the corner and he used to drop in every morning, bringing in The Border Mail and stopping to have a chat before continuing his walk.
“They were exciting times in Albury-Wodonga, with Tommy (Pearsall) and Maurie leading the way and every day was filled with optimism.”
Mr Lieberman said it was wrong to think that these movers and shakers concentrated solely in Albury.
“When my wife and I moved to Wodonga in 1962 the population was only about 6,000, only half the roads were sealed and sewerage was basically non-existent,” he said.
“But these blokes had vision and they invested heavily in Wodonga.
“They were great to hang around and watch in action and they were all community-minded and very generous.”
Colin Joss, now one of Albury-Wodonga’s most successful businessman with interests in construction, cleaning and maintenance, says it is sad that it is only when we look back that we realise the impact these men had at the time.
“They worked hard, played hard and while I admired their style I never tried to emulate them when they were playing — especially down at the Astor Hotel, most nights,” he said.
“They all had Albury-Wodonga first and foremost in their minds and they had a huge impact on the region.
“It was Maurie Chick, who I first had dealings with shortly after I finished my apprenticeship, who gave me my first leg-up in business.
“I remember flying down with him to Gunbower, near Echuca, to do some work and having to direct him because he didn’t recognise any of the landmarks, although I did.
“We ended up landing in a paddock which had a lot of those mounds you see in irrigated country.
“We hit about three of them but ended up landing safely.”
Perhaps no one is in a better position to sum up the life and times of the people who played such a large part in the development of Albury-Wodonga than Chick’s son, Alan.
“Dad was determined I was not going to go into building and I ended up being indentured to Lou Lieberman as an article clerk,” Alan said.
“I worked for the firm, Harris Lieberman, for about five years before I ended up going back to work with dad.
“Along the way I did a Masters degree in construction law at Melbourne Uni and now work as an employed solicitor with Kell and Moore.
“They were exciting times for a young bloke, being involved them with them all.
“When I turned 18 — well perhaps before I turned 18, Maurice would invite me to have a quiet beer at the Astor Hotel with the publican Jack Ellis and a few of Maurice’s mates, including Dal Delaney, Bert Daley, Arch McLeish, Jack Marshall, Bernie Menz, Alan Torney, Bill Robbins, Max Blomley, Don Bow, Alan Foster, Dennis Millward, Vin Griffith, Neville Wily and invited guests from time to time.
“The school would last two rounds, or if people felt thirsty, a third round.
“As a kid, 20 or 30 quick beers (although they were only 7’s) was a pretty fair effort for the week.
“But these blokes did it five nights a week and most Saturdays.
“They worked hard, played hard, were larrikins but canny businessmen, who were good family people and very community minded.”
