Citizens like Kevin McCarthy simply go about their jobs with quiet efficiency. They go to bed at 7pm and start work at 3am.
In the years before his devoted service to the bread industry, Kevin’s life was dominated by horses.
From his parents’ Greta horse stud, he graduated to Mentone racing stables, riding track work there and later back in Benalla.
Among other things, he learned to avoid horses running under low-hanging trees and against fences.
He also learned about the virtues of getting out of bed early, which was essential in the racing industry and good preparation for delivering bread.
Kevin hung up the saddle in 1984 and commenced work at Bertalli’s Bakery, where he has subsequently become an iconic figure in the Benalla landscape.
Initially, he delivered bread on Sunday mornings to over 20 milk bars. There are now only four remaining in Benalla.
The world certainly changes. It was an era of trust, where the bread man had keys to most shops, where supermarkets closed at lunchtimes on Saturdays and didn’t open at all on Sundays.
With marriage to Sue and an expanding family, Kevin’s bread round became full-time starting at 3am.
He became part of a support group of that could be termed Benalla’s “night people”.
This included other bread companies, security guards such as Peter Robinson and local police.
Kevin recalls some bread men who weren’t really suited to the job, particularly the hours.
He remembers asking one new employee to sweep out the bakery at the shift’s end.
The new man stated that he “did not sweep”. Thus ended an otherwise promising career in the bakery.
Other episodes included one night returning from Mansfield when the truck’s engine blew up.
It was in the days before mobile phones, but fortunately, he was picked up by a bus load of Benalla footballers heading for home after a very late night out.
Kangaroos and deer were other hazards, and the occasional wombat would wander across the road, especially near Nillahcootie. Sometimes collisions were unavoidable.
Other excitement in the form of a bread thief trying to steal bread from the bakery yard gave Kevin an opportunity to demonstrate his skills as a security guard.
Unfortunately, when trying to catch the thief, he fell over in pursuit. Such is life.
Then there was an episode of unloading bread at Bosley’s one night.
Kevin tripped backwards out of the truck and was knocked out.
Fortunately, his wife, Sue, was able to take over, and she completed the bread round.
But while there have been occasional difficulties, Kevin loves his job and likes to start each day off by saying hello to everyone he meets.
He has always been appreciative of the opportunities that the Bertalli family bakery has afforded him.
He enjoys his day-to-day work thoroughly and goes into the bakery even on days off.
He is a bit like Jack Reacher in that he never employs an alarm clock, having an internal clock that gives him the near exact time.
He still loves the horses and owns one now, which he is sure will become a champion.
Life is good for the hard-working, conscientious bread man, and he enjoys it with his hoard of grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
– Brian Lang
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