The venue for the recent Primac Gurus Reunion was “The Rock”, located in the heart of Toowoomba’s CBD. The convenors certainly put out the “Welcome” mat for our group, providing a private meeting room, in an otherwise busy establishment.
The food and service was first class. A big thanks goes to Marg Barton, who once again liaised with “The Rock” to make this, yet, another successful Primac Gurus get together. Photo courtesy of Gary Mason
Article by : Greg Jacobsen November 2025
This year marks the fifth anniversary of the formation of Primac Gurus Association Inc. Part of the ethos of our organisation is to organise an annual reunion of past employees of the once great pastoral agency, Primac Limited, and of course the parent companies of Primaries and Mactaggarts.
On the 18th of October, our fifth reunion was held in Toowoomba at “The Rock”. Numbers were a little lower than previous get togethers, but none the less the “vibe and energy” was certainly in the room. There was plenty of “tall stories” and reminiscing of the “good old days”, as you would expect when a group of pastoral agents get together. The chief story tellers, in the room, this year must go to the two stud stock auctioneers, in Glenn Dunn and Keith McRobert.
Primac Gurus Association Inc fourth Annual General Meeting
As is usual, the Annual General Meeting of our Association, is always planned to be held preceding the annual reunion. This allows our financial members to come together at least once a year, to meet and elect a new committee, present the financial statements and have some say in setting a plan for the future direction of our group.
This years meeting was well attended, considering the distances some have to travel to convene a meeting.
Past President/Secretary Chris Todd and Treasurer Carol Jarick, made the decision to not stand for re election this year, with nominations called from the floor. The results of this year’s elections were”
President: Richard Handley
Vice President: Josh Lockwood
Secretary: Greg Jacobsen
Treasurer: Geoff Birch
Committee: Warren Hohnke, Steve Gaff, Gary Mason, Carol Jarick, Ross Ruhle, Ashley Loveday.
Incoming President Richard, welcomed the new committee members, and also took the opportunity to thank the previous committee for all that they have contributed to Primac Gurus Association Inc.
A copy of the minutes of the Annual General Meeting are attached:
Gurus Gather for the Fifth Annual Primac Gurus Reunion:
Numbers were a little smaller this year than at previous gatherings, but none the less, there was plenty of energy in the room. Gurus came from Rockhampton, the Western Downs, Beaudesert, Sunshine Coast, Brisbane and the local Toowoomba area.
List of Delegates were: Marg Barton, Geoff Birch, Glenn & Jocelyn Dunn, Bill Edwards, Richard & Barb Handley, Warren Hohnke, Greg Jacobsen, Carol Jarick, Ross Keane, Josh Lockwood, Emma Hyde, Ashley & Tina Loveday, Keith McRobert, Gary Mason, Brian Peake, Vic & Carmel Perkins, Ross Ruhle, Miff Staines, Chris Todd, David Wacker, Helen Walker & John Warlters ( Rural Aid)
Apologies were: Steve Gaff, Bernie Frawley, Mark Peters and Barry Dixon
L to R: David Wacker, Josh Lockwood, Miff Staines, Warren Hohnke & Marg Barton 
L to R: Chris Todd, Ross Keane & John Warlters 
L to R: Bill Edwards, Greg Jacobsen & Geoff Birch 
Warren Hohnke & Carol Jarick 
Josh Lockwood & Ross Ruhle 
Marg Barton & Helen Walker 
L to R: Ross Keane, Brian Peake & Chris Todd 
Keith McRobert & Geoff Birch 
L to R: Carmel Perkins, Helen Walker & Vic Perkins 
Ashley Loveday with Chris Todd 
L to R: David Wacker, Richard Handley & Warren Hohnke 
Warren Hohnke with Marg Barton & Bill Edwards 
Miff Staines and Tina Loveday 
Jocelyn Dunn and Barb Handley 
Glenn & Jocelyn Dunn
Birthday Wishes goes to Helen Walker
Helen Walker, celebrated a special birthday, just days before the reunion. She was presented with a wonderful bunch of flowers. Special thanks to Carol Jarick for organising the presentation to Helen.
Primac Gurus donate to the 2025 flood victims of rural South West of Queensland
As is usual, the committee of Primac Gurus Association Inc, select a worthy charity to partner with each year. With the devastating floods across central and south western Queensland in early 2025, our decision was made rather easy to nominate Rural Aid as our charity of choice this year.
Soon after the devastating event, the committee acted rather quickly, to make an urgent donation to the charitable organisation Rural Aid. Rural Aid was established as a charity in 2015, it’s Mission Statement says “to provide economic and emphatic assistance to rural communities, impacted by natural disasters, by partnering with key stakeholders to deliver meaningful outcomes.”
Through our donation, and working with Rural Aid’s representative John Warlters, our Association was able to provide short term relief to flood affected victims in the Quilpie and Thargomindah districts, in the form of pre paid visa cards to source much needed assistance to those affected.
Our gratitude and thanks goes to all the volunteers of Rural Aid and, in fact all volunteer groups that pitched in during that devastating time.
John Warlters, representing Rural Aid, was able to be at our reunion, to discuss the work that his team carried out in the west earlier in the year. Our 2024/25 President, Chris Todd and Treasurer Carol Jarick made a presentation to John on the day.
To check out the good work that Rural Aid offers, visit their website: https://www.ruralaid.org.au
Pictured is our inaugural Treasurer, Carol Jarick and immediate past President Chris Todd making the presentation of $5,000 to Rural Aid’s representative John Warlters.
Fund Raising Auction & Raffle Results!
Due to the reduced numbers of Gurus present this year, the ever popular auction competition, was not a feasible option this time. Previously, organised by Helen Walker, the competition has always provided plenty of keen interest and excitement. It is hoped that we can re introduce this to our future gatherings.
None the less, our ever popular Guru, Warren Hohnke took to the floor, and auctioned the range of items kindly donated for our fundraising cause. The auction raised a pleasing $1,240.00 for the five lots on offer. A huge thanks once again goes to regular sponsors Carol & Kevin Jarick, and their business, Skills on Demand, along with the Hart Family and their company Stockyard Beef. Your support is much appreciated, once again!
Lot 1: A Gidgee Smith Overnight Bag kindly donated by Skills on Demand, sold to Tina Loveday for $75.00 
Lot 2: An original landscape painting, donated by Kevin & Carol Jarick, sold to Bill Edwards for $130.00 
Lot 3 & 4: 2 full striploin of beef donated by the Hart Family, Stockyard Beef, one sold to Miff Staines for $360.00 & another to Brian Peake for $350.00 
Lot 5: Rustic Garden Art donated by Skills on Demand sold to Carmel Perkins for $325.00.
The raffles once again proved to be rather popular with a further $390.00 raised on the day. Again a big thank you to the “goodies” that were provided for the raffle prizes, kindly donated by Marg Barton, Carol and Kevin Jarick. A huge thank you once again.
Primac Gurus: Become a member today!
The 2025 Primac Gurus Association Inc, re- elected President Richard Handley, in his address, prior to the fundraising auction, again paid tribute to the outgoing committee, and expressed his thanks to outgoing President Chris Todd and Treasurer Carol Jarick for their time in their official positions. He also welcomed the newly elected members to the 2025 committee, and looked forward to working with them.
Richard was excited to see several new faces in the room, who were attending a Gurus reunion for the first time. He commented that there were at least five past employees of the Dalby office in the room.
Primac Gurus committee members past and present: L to R: Chris Todd, Ross Ruhle, Josh Lockwood, Warren Hohnke, Carol Jarick, Greg Jacobsen, Marg Barton, Helen Walker, Geoff Birch & Gary Mason 
A reunion of past Dalby employees: L to R: Richard Handley, David Wacker, Miff Staines, Vic Perkins & Josh Lockwood
Thinking of becoming a Primac Gurus member? Click on the link Primac Gurus Membership Application, or speak with one of the committee for more information:
Our Sponsors!
Our thanks to our sponsors that helped make our 2025 Reunion a success, goes to the Hart Family and their family business Stockyard Beef, Carol and Kevin Jarick and their business Skills on Demand, and Marg Barton.
Article by Greg Jacobsen, Photos courtesy of Gary Mason and Carol Jarick.
