Fiona Dunkley’s eulogy to Barry.
Saint Mary's Church, Friday 18th July 2008Good morning everyone. My name is Fiona Dunkley. My brother, Kim and I (along with Craig, Deb, Tania and Mark) organise the Great New Zealand Craft Shows. Since 2001 it has been our pleasure to work alongside our friend and comrade, Barry Bain, or Baz as we called him.
We have counted up all the shows that Barry worked at – a total of 85. Besides the Craft Shows, he did Gardenz, the Pet Expo and the Good Food Show.
I remember the first time I met him – Gardenz 2001. It was the end of the first set up day and we were all standing around the information desk in the semi-dark, tucking into great big, greasy, meaty pizzas. There were about 10 of us, all except for one person – Barry. There he was, munching on a vegetarian Subway sandwich. I remember wondering who this quiet, shy, skinny guy was, amongst all the other burley labourers helping to set up the show. I thought this would be his first and last show, that we’d never see him again. How wrong I was!
Barry might have been a bit more slender than the other guys, but he was twice as fast and twice as strong as any of them. And he stayed with us, right up until he left on his trip with Alicia in early May. He even managed to squeeze in 2 shows this year before he left. He proved himself to be totally dependable, hard working and tireless.
Our chief roadie, Craig Wilson, has been a good friend of Barry’s for many years. (They met nearly 20 years ago when both of them were attending a horticulture course at Lincoln University). We have worked out that since that very first Gardenz, they have lived together as motel flatmates for at least 85 weeks, have travelled several 100,000 kilometres together, and yet they have never shared a steak or a meat pie. As we all know, Barry was a dedicated vegan, so much so that he didn’t even eat honey as it was a by-product of an insect.
When he travelled to the shows he would bring boxes and boxes of stuff with him. All his precious supplies of things like Indian dried beans, Nepalese porridge, seaweed stew, mung bean tea and more! It was fascinating and I always enjoyed sampling his latest concoctions.
And then there was all the apparatus he brought with him as well. His bean sprouter, nut grinder, fruit juicer and pie maker went everywhere with him. That’s why we needed a van – to cart all Barry’s gear around!
And at the shows while everyone else drank lattes and flat whites, Barry would have a soy milk fluffy with a teaspoon of roasted dandelion powder. He was true and steadfast to his beliefs.
There was yet another side to Barry – he had a very dry sense of humour, which was well matched with Craig’s. The two of them would always make me laugh, back at the motel, at the end of a long day. They were like a double act – like Morecombe & Wise or Laurel & Hardy. They would tease and wind-up each other mercilessly.
And Kim tells me of how he and Craig would jump on Barry’s bed and wake him up at 2 o’clock in the morning, after the exhibitors’ party at many shows. Poor Baz!
Barry was also our designated driver, which was very handy at times. In Whangarei last year, late on a very wild, windy & stormy night he drove a bunch of us, up to a lookout point far above the city. We had got him out of bed and he was still in his pyjamas. That’s the kind of guy he was!
When in Christchurch, he and Alicia would often drop in to the office, usually with a bag of fruit they had picked, in an orchard somewhere. We were always pleased to load them up with vegetables grown in our own organic garden, which we have at the office.
Over the last 7 years Barry made many friends amongst the exhibitors (especially the vegetarian ones) and enjoyed visiting and staying with them at their homes all over the country. Baz was a great friend to all of us at Dunkleys Shows and the wider Craft Show family, and will always be remembered with great affection.* * * *
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