Dave Affleck
Dave Affleck was born in Melbourne and at a young age his family moved to Sydney. Over a number of years Dave's family moved around the country frequently. Some of the places Dave called home over this period included Ballarat, Tarcoola, Perth, Gnangara, Collie and Harvey.
1977 was a memorable year for young Dave as it was the year that he watched the newly released film, Star Wars, for the first time at a local Drive-In. This started a long love affair with the franchise and all things Sci Fi.
Dave and his family were soon enough on the road again. This time the destination was two hundred miles North of Kalgoorlie to a town called Leanora, as his stepfather looked to try his luck prospecting.
At the age of 15 Dave started his working life with three jobs, including a shop assistant at the General store from 7-3, cooking chips and doing dishes at the local roadhouse, from 4-6, then cleaning the front bar of the local pub from 10-11pm, for a roof over his head.
At the age of 16 Dave hitch hiked across the country to Ballarat for a couple of years, then moved to Robe in S.A for a period of time.
Dave’s connection with the Riverland began after his brother, who was working at Berri Fruit Juices at the time, reached out to Dave regarding a work opportunity. Here Dave assumed the title of Factory Hand and soon to be Jack of all trades, starting off blending, worked on the line as well as worked as a cleaner on the night shift. He spent 21 years at BFJ.
After BFJ shut its doors in 2010, Dave had a small break. He then joined the Almondco cleaning crew in 2011. Up until 3-4 years ago Dave was cleaning all the machinery at the Renmark processing facility. Around this time Dave was diagnosed with Parkinson’s and subsequently moved into a day shift cleaning role
“Nowadays I clean around the factory, blow clean around the factory. If I see something that needs cleaning, I clean it. I also look after all the recycling like carton recycling, office recycling, pest management, and tidy up the yard. There is a lot of sweeping, washing walls and doors, any jobs that needs doing really”
With the construction of the new Enhance building Dave’s responsibilities now include cleaning duties of the brand-new facility as well as regular visits to some of the other Almondco managed sites, including the Kuhlmann Road site, Gregory road Sheds and Virgin Hills storage facility.
In the early days Dave recalls a much smaller cleaning crew.
“When I started off, we only had a team of four cleaners. Then the company grew and there was more work, so we added more cleaners, and it slowly built up to what we have today. With project Enhance and when the new warehouse is up and running, we will need more cleaners”
Looking back at his time at Almondco Dave has some good memories.
“Everyone has been good to work with over the journey, otherwise I would not still be here. There are some people like Julie Francom, Rock, Syd and Robert that I have known for 20 years plus”
Dave is very pragmatic in his approach to his health challenges
“Parkinson’s is just another challenge, either you accept it, or you do not. I am not going to give up, I will just manage it and keep working. It is actually good for me to stay busy and productive”
Outside of Almondco Dave has a passion for arcades and not just playing playing them. Dave has built a car and truck simulator, a flight simulator (Jets and passenger line) as well as a pinball and arcade machine. Dave is not stopping there with his latest construction project which pays homage to his love affair with Start Wars, a true to size R2D2 unit with inbuilt audio and other remote-control functions.
Dave’s life outside of Almondco also includes time spent with his large family including his three children, three grandchildren and extended family.
Keep up the great work Dave and thanks for your long service to Almondco!