Seventy years on
Gary had made quite an impact on the lives of Earl and Hazel, and they soon realised that there was room in their hearts for another child.
Their second son, Alan, came into their lives on 21 October 1957 and completed their family circle.
The site at Brandy Creek Road served its purpose for ten years but as the business grew, it was clear that R.E.N. needed more space to house its ever-expanding range of products and services.
By this time, Austin had also joined the range of motor cars on offer at R.E.N. The search for new premises was on… In 1958, R.E.N Motors moved to a prominent location in Palmerston Street, Warragul.
Relocating from the outskirts of town into the CBD was a well-considered business decision, placing R.E.N in the same precinct as Claxton Engineering and Woods & Reeves International Trucks, Tractors and Farm Machinery.
1958 also saw Earl take advantage of the thriving Gippsland dairy-farming industry by opening an R.E.N branch in Leongatha.
With Earl’s indisputable work ethic, and with his long-serving employee Don Smith at the helm, the Leongatha branch was embraced by the local farmers.
The following year was a big year for R.E.N Machinery and New Holland.
The ultra-modern Haycruiser 178, a fancy self-propelled baler, had come straight off the New Holland production line in America and was on its way to Warragul.
It was front and centre at the Warragul Show and was hailed as ‘a special attraction’ not to be missed at Stand No. 5 for R.E.N Motors.
In March 1959 and aged 3 Earl and Hazel’s son, Gary, made his debut appearance for R.E.N Motors, posing with his Dad on the New Holland Haycruiser 178.
Photographic evidence of Gary’s ‘first day at work’ appeared in The Gippsland Farmer… was it a sign of things to come for Gary?
New premises and a new direction for the business meant a new name... of sorts.
R.E.N. Motors became R.E.N. Machinery to reflect the shift towards predominantly dealing with sales and servicing of farm machinery and equipment.
Earl retained the initials ‘R.E.N’ as an acknowledgement to his former colleagues, even though it had been many years since they had been financial stakeholders.
In 1962, Earl made the difficult decision to leave the confines of New Holland to acquire the Massey Ferguson franchise.
The opportunity for exclusive dealership of the in-demand Massey Ferguson range of tractors and agricultural implements was too good to refuse.
The Leongatha operation came to an end at this time to concentrate on the new franchise.
1964 gave Earl and the R.E.N crew a brush with fame when ‘The King’ of Australian Television (and part-time Longwarry farmer) Graham Kennedy was shopping for a new and reliable tractor.
Earl had great delight in selling a Massey Ferguson MF35 diesel tractor to the Gold Logie winner and host of In Melbourne Tonight.
May 20, 1964 was an exciting day for R.E.N, when The Australian Women’s Weekly published a photo of Graham Kennedy on his brand-new Massey Ferguson.
Introduced to the region in the 1960s, the Gippsland Field Days was the result of the collaborative efforts of Earl French, Vin Rowe and John Woods working closely with a local committee.
The trio were dedicated local agri-business owners who believed that a local Field Days would benefit the farming community.
They were instrumental in bringing people together, from all walks of the agricultural world.
Gippsland Field Days was held at various local settings from 1963 to 1967, with the first hay-baling demonstration taking place in the paddocks of Smith Street in Warragul.
It is hard to imagine now, but apparently it was a crowd-pleaser for the spectators.
In 1967, Gippsland Field Days settled in at Lardner Park.
The unwavering belief and hard work of Earl, Vin, John and the committee put Lardner Park and Gippsland on the map.
Earl’s contribution was acknowledged by the committee when he was awarded ‘Distinguished Service and Honorary Life Membership.’ Now known as Farm World, it is a nationally renowned annual event on the agricultural calendar.
On October 5, 1976 Earl, Hazel and Gary’s world changed forever when they suffered the devastating loss of their son, and brother, Alan.
After twenty-one years together, their family circle had been irreparably broken.
It was in the 1970’s when R.E.N was again on the look-out for a bigger site.
The Palmerston Street site was too small to accommodate the increasing size of the business (this would have been appreciated by Coles, which became the new occupier of R.E.N’s former Palmerston Street home). R.E.N looked to greener pastures… literally. Earl took a leap of faith and relocated to his Normanby Street land, where he set about building the new home of R.E.N Machinery.
Earl and his loyal staff enjoyed the modern new premises, with Brian Jones and Neil Gardner both remaining with R.E.N for over 30 years.
(Moving to Normanby Street proved to be a lucrative business decision, with R.E.N going from strength to strength and remaining at this site until September 2018).
1982 rang in another big change for R.E.N, with Iseki tractors being introduced to the tractor range.
Massey Ferguson was still in demand, but Iseki provided the locals with an alternative and was a hugely successful seller.
Twenty-four years after his appearance in The Gippsland Farmer aboard the Haycruiser 178, Gary French joined the team at R.E.N.
The decision to leave his long-term employment with James G Morrison Building was difficult, but the opportunity to join his Dad at R.E.N was too good to refuse.