Banjo Paterson’s writing resonated with Mr O’Dwyer, albeit just a young lad he understood the poems were about life and happenings in the bush, just what he loved.
Mr O’Dwyer rode horses all his life even to Boomanoomana South Primary School where he attended until Year 6.
From a young age he knew he wanted to work on the family farm. He certainly did not relish the idea of undertaking further study, that wasn’t for him.
However, his mother Elizabeth (nee Parnell) - one of the first teachers at the original Cobram school - insisted her eldest son continue his education and enrolled him as a boarder at the Marist College in Campbelltown, an agricultural school known today as St Gregory’s College.
The travel back and forth each term was lengthy with a trip to Berrigan to catch a train, then travelling in a series of old ‘rattlers’ to get back to school. Mr O’Dwyer was often relegated to sitting on the floor owing to a lack of space on these trips.
Once settled in at college he started to enjoy his studies while playing cricket and rugby and taking up running.
“I was initially quite small but I bulked up as I got older and really enjoyed playing rugby for Campbelltown,” he said.
At boarding school, Mr O’Dwyer and his fellow students were educated in all aspects of dairying and growing crops, while the O'Dwyers ran a mixed farming property of 364 hectares (900 acres ) growing sheep, wheat and barley.
In 1939, with the introduction of irrigation, they also took to producing and selling vealers and cattle.
Two years later, Mr O’Dwyer returned home and took over the running of the farm and he loved it, it was what he had always dreamt of.
Hard work did not deter him from his passion for the land and he worked hard all his life to make the farm a success. He never lost his passion for poetry as he continued to read and recite his favourites, which resonated with him even more as he got older.
Mulga Bill’s Bicycle was one of the first poems Mr O’Dwyer learnt, followed by many others, including The Man from Snowy River, Clancy of the Overflow, How we beat the Favourite and The Geebung Polo Club to name a few.
Playing football for Barooga for 18 years, Mr O’Dwyer was always happy to oblige when his mates requested he recite one of their favourites on bus trips for away games.
When Mr O’Dwyer, nearly 92, is gathered with his wife Pam, four children, 13 grandchildren and one step grandchild, he only needs a small amount of prompting to recite the works of his favourite poet.
Banjo Paterson was not only a bush poet but a journalist, solicitor and author who grew up on a station in Orange, NSW, around racehorses and polo clubs and lived the life he has immortalised in print today.
