THE recent meeting of the Paringa branch of Women in Agriculture and Business commenced with members listening to a song written and sung by Paringa local Frank Turton. ‘Live Before I die and Give Before I go’ expresses Frank’s personal philosophy.
Frank brought along numerous press cuttings of his travels to country music venues and his river adventures. He was born in Rochester, Victoria, had two siblings and grew up in a single-parent family. The family left Rochester for Kyabram, where Frank started school, and then a final move to Echuca, where he took up a carpentry apprenticeship. It was in Mooroopna that Frank met Diane Cliff, who was visiting from Renmark, and the couple married in 1972, in Renmark, with their reception held in the Paringa Community hall.
In the late 1970s Frank set up a business making wood signs using jacaranda and cypress timber, in Paringa. He did this for 30 years, at the same time pursuing his passion for country and western music, which lead to song writing and performing at country and western venues in other states. He was a regular at the Tamworth annual festival, where he performed on the streets with a live chook sitting on his hat on his head. This earned him the moniker - the Chook Man - and cemented his identity across Australia.
For 10 years Frank would travel to the quirky NT pub at Daly Waters to entertain visitors. On one occasion he appeared on the front page of the Sydney Morning Herald. He never failed to promote the Riverland, believing he can speak his truth through his music.
In 1984 on a trip upriver looking for the haunts of the legendary Possum (aka David Jones), he spotted a massive red gum stump at least 600 years old. After attaching 12 44-gallon drums and a 15hp outboard motor, he floated the stump downstream over two weeks. He positioned his ‘Black Stump’ in front of his workshop and it was a popular tourist attraction until 2024, when he gifted it to the Renmark Paringa Community Museum.
Since 1989 Frank has served various terms as a councillor on firstly the Paringa Council, then later the Renmark Paringa Council, for a total of almost 15 years, before resigning in 2023. Frank always held the interests of the district foremost, which at times brought him into conflict with CEOs and Mayors.  One of his more contentious battles was over the siting of the McCormick Centre for the Environment in Renmark.
In 1994 he crafted a guitar from jacaranda wood in the shape of Australia and travelled to Adelaide, where Johnny Cash was performing with his wife June and daughters. He met with his idol in a café and Cash and his entourage autographed Frank’s unique guitar, which also featured Cash’s photo.
Today Frank is a familiar figure riding his customised gopher on the streets of Paringa, and his distinctive houseboat/art installation named ‘Willitsinkorwontit’ is moored near the Paringa Bridge.
The Next WAB meeting is on September 23, at 10am, in the home of Di Scheiner, of Paringa, and guest speaker is Chris Pearce, of Renmark.