Getting to know our team with Jerry

Give a big warm welcome to TRACQS Activity Supervisor, Jerry. 

Growing up in Dimbulah on his parents’ tobacco farm, Jerry has called Dimbulah and Mareeba his home since childhood. Spending his earlier years growing Tobacco and Tea Tree’s, Jerry spent a lot of time outdoors and working alongside his family. 

During May to November, the offseason for tobacco, Jerry spent this time every year working in outer regional Victoria undertaking contract work and setting up vineyards. Being used to the hot weather during tobacco season, Jerry had a change of pace when he spent some time in the colder weather, moving to South Australia to do concreting for a couple of years. 

Throughout his work life, Jerry moved back and forth between farming, growing pumpkins and watermelons, and then concreting, where he established his own concreting business with the help of his lovely wife. In that time, Jerry also welcomed home his daughter. 

Flash forward to 2019 – after years of bouncing between farming and concreting, Jerry decided it was time to pass on his experience to others in the community, and applied for his current job as a TRACQS Activity Supervisor in Chillagoe. 

As a supervisor for the TRACQS Chillagoe Alliance Activity, Jerry supervisors our Community Development Program participants who use local marble to create artworks, as well as a variety of other artistic projects.

Jerry and his participants are also providing a mowing service for locals and doing restorations, welding, fabrication and basic construction and general community clean up. Jerry’s activity has also been erecting interpretive signage for significant stakeholders at the Historical Chillagoe Railway for tourism.

We’re incredibly lucky to have Jerry as a part of our team – as our participants enjoy learning from him, and our staff enjoy his company and friendship. Jerry brings a lot of fun and knowledge to the TRACQS family and the wider community.