LOCAL Jamieson resident Brendon Scott McKenzie (more commonly known as Scott) was born in Tallangatta in 1957.

He was three years old when with his mother Cynthia and father Ken he came to live in Jamieson.

Ken and Cynthia purchased a dairy farm in the Jamieson Valley where they produced butter-milk from 90 cows.

Later they crossed to beef cattle.

Scott and his younger siblings Rochelle, Bradley and Malcolm were educated locally at Jamieson Primary School, then Mansfield High School.

During the 60s and 70s Cynthia, a very talented musician often played the piano at the Courthouse Hotel on Saturday evenings, entertaining the local patrons and visitors.

During the holiday period in 1984 Scott met a very pretty girl, Jenny Doyle who was holidaying with her parents in Jamieson.

The couple fell in love and married in 1986.

Today, Scott and Jenny live on 14 acres of the family’s original farm.

They have two children Stephanie and Brendon who were also raised in Jamieson and attended Jamieson Primary School, later attending Mansfield Secondary College.

Stephanie studied criminology at university and later returned, now in her third year of naturopathy working for a chiropractic clinic on the Mornington Peninsula.

Brendon studied security and counter terrorism at university.

He is living in Canberra with his partner Michalee and works for the Department of Parliamentary Services.

Scott purchased the Jamieson River Automotives on April 1, 1982 from his then employer Graeme Willey.

He has been servicing the area with fuel, gas and mechanical repairs seven days a week for 41 years and Jenny has managed the accounts side of the business.

In the early days the core business of Jamieson River Automotives was farming equipment.

The business moved as Jamieson catered more to tourism and holiday home owner’s requirements.

Scott has repaired almost every type of motor, from sewing machines to bulldozers and everything in between.

Nothing seemed to faze Scott, as his knowledge and capacity to solve mechanical mysteries was put to the test, he would give a wry smile and fix the problem.

Scott’s garage has also been the local information centre (by default).

If anyone required information regarding local roads or conditions, he was their first port of call.

Scott also owns Jamieson Towing and Salvage which he will continue to run.

He has an extraordinary knowledge of the High Country tracks and has rescued many adventurers, from almost every difficult location in this challenging terrain.

He has spoken on his phone to people who need his help, who often have no idea where they actually are.

He has asked for a description of what they can see and has been able to pinpoint their location.

He is a great asset to have and great relief to the recipients.

Occasionally Scott’s salvage jobs have become multi day affairs.

They have been so remote and so difficult to extract they have taken up to 48 hours to complete.

Some of Scott’s rescues have been extraordinary, when he received a call to help rescue a line of camels that had slipped off the Bridle Track near Cinnabar Hut.

The adventurer John Elliott was walking his camels from Queensland to Perth via Jamieson.

He had walked the camels through the Jamieson Valley toward Licola, when the lead camel slipped on the soft edge and slid down toward a deep gully taking the next camels.

Fortunately the fall was stopped without injury or loss of life.

Scott and members of the CFA answered the call, with police and some local residents working to rescue and bring the animals safely back to terra firma.

The camels were rested and resumed their historic travels to the East Coast and then on to South Australia and Perth without mishap.

Scott has also run delivery of fuel to Mt Terrible Phone Tower and Matlock Phone Tower.

He has aided accident victims from motor bike crashes, recovered cars from deep ravine slips, caravans, helped in police rescues where hikers were injured and lost.

He took many fire calls when he was CFA Captain for many years and as a CFA member.

Scott also came to the rescue when a neighbouring lady phoned the service station to ask for help there was a snake drinking from her fish pond.

Scott dropped his tools and drove to the front of the property, where the lady was standing looking a little perplexed.

She said, “it must have run away after I called you; I came outside and it wasn’t there.”

A shrug of the shoulders, all in a day’s work for Scott.

Scott created a wonderful community spirit and social hub, where local residents, friends, passing clients and visitors were always welcomed at the service station.

Many met with Scott and enjoyed a coffee and a chat.

Meeting up with neighbours and visitors was common place, with the greeting “meet you at Scott’s”.

Recently, Jenny and Scott decided to sell the business.

They wanted to enjoy semi-retirement and not work seven days a week, enjoy some travel and a more leisurely life style.

They were thrilled when approached by local couple Colin Tyler and Lauren Ciszewski, when they asked if they could lease the building from Scott.

Jenny and Scott are working together to clear the space.

On June 30, 150 friends and clients from over the 41 years, arrived at the service station to thank Scott and Jenny for their remarkable service.

Jenny and Scott with Stephanie, Brendon and Michalee, had organised the party to thank their friends and clients for their loyal support over Scott’s tenure.

Friends travelled from Alice Springs and almost every state to attend the farewell party to say thank you for the wonderful times they enjoyed in Jamieson and the constant good service.

The new leaseholders Colin and Lauren will still provide fuel and retail items from the service station shop.

They will run their business from the site but will not be able to provide mechanical repairs.

Jenny and Scott will remain in Jamieson, so it’s not farewell, but a new adventure awaits.

We wish them well.