north east regional extra | April 12 - 18, 2023
nemedia.com.au
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April 12 - April 18, 2022
A wheely big achievement for Julie By BELINDA HARRISON JULIE Browne reckons she must’ve heard thousands and thousands of renditions of ‘The Wheels on the Bus’ and ‘1000 Bottles of Beer on the Wall’ during her 25 year tenure as a bus driver. The popular colleague, friend and driver will celebrate 25 years behind the wheel in 2023, and is the second longest-serving employee with The Dyson Group in Wangaratta, pipped only by Peter Claney who has just a few extra months on her. Julie was born in Cobram and grew up on a dairy farm in Katamatite where her love of driving was sparked by her father who taught her to drive a variety of vehicles. In later years, Julie moved to Western Australia where she earned her bus and truck licence and worked with Fortesque Bus Lines. When Julie moved back ‘cross country’, she settled in Wangaratta and became one of the first female bus drivers in the town when she secured a job with Cullen’s Bus Lines. Five years ago, during Julie’s 20 year celebrations, she reflected on how she came to get the job with Cullen’s. “I approached Stuart Cullen and asked if he’d take on a woman driver,” Julie explained. “He said he’d take me on a test drive and it was a little bit scary because he gave me a crash box of an old bus … but I must have done something right because he ended up hiring me.” Following her time with Cullen’s, Julie joined what was then Wangaratta Coach Lines, where she spent the next 18 years before they were bought out and became Dyson Group.
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NATURAL AL WORLD D
ANIMAL CARE
GONE FISHING
TOOL TALK
YOUR HEALTH
with BELINDA
with LUNA
with ROB
with MICK SEYMOUR
with ROXY AKERS
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