Sons of late Scaddan farmer Kym ‘Freddy’ Curnow brew tribute
AMID a farming family’s tragedy two sons have found a fitting way to honour their father, who died in a bushfire near Esperance in Western Australia last year.
Last November Scaddan farmer Kym “Freddy” Curnow died while trying to warn three foreign farm workers about the fire nearing Esperance. The three also died.
All but two paddocks of crops on Mr Curnow’s farm were reduced to ashes, but one of the barley crops that survived has been turned into a beer named after him.
Mr Curnow’s 19-year-old twin boys, Riley and Tom, came up with the idea of the locally made ale for family and friends to share in a tribute to him.
“We wanted to do something special. It was the last crop Dad planted, and he loved beer,” Riley said.
The beer is called “Freddy number 10”, to recognise their Dad’s jumper at the local Gibson Football Club.
The beer was made by Nigel Metz, who knew the family through his work for a local cropping group, and Robyn Cail of Lucky Bay Brewery, Esperance.
Tom and Riley, along with other family members and friends, helped with the brewing, which Mr Curnow’s nephew Daniel Hall, who has been helping out on the farm this year, said was an important part of the healing process.
“Freddy was a farmer who always had a beer after he knocked off. It’s a one-off brew and we will drink it while it’s good,” he said.
Tomorrow the family has invited the Scaddan community to commemorate a year since Mr Curnow died and they will put on a keg of the special brew to remember the well-loved farmer.
“We just want people to drink it and remember Dad,” Riley said.