2011 Festival Guest of Honour -

Des Harvey

Photo: The Daily Examiner

Grafton's Jacaranda Festival Committee is pleased to announce their Guest of Honour for 2011 is local identity Mr Des Harvey of Harveys Jewellers. For many years Harveys Jewellers have proudly sponsored prizes for the Jacaranda Queen, Princess, Junior Princess and Jacaranda Children's Party.

Educated in Grafton, Des trained as a watchmaker, jeweller, valuer and gemmologist, and is currently enrolled at Southern Cross University studying for a Masters degree in Business Administration.

His business career commenced with the management of an Australian Trade Mission to Asia involving 160 exhibitors including iconic names as Qantas, BHP, Bank of New South Wales [now Westpac] Commonwealth Bank, Ford and General Motors Holden. He has travelled extensively overseas to trade fairs including Las Vegas, Hong Kong, Vicenza, Basle, Guangzhou, Osaka and Antwerp. During his business career he has owned retail businesses in Grafton, Coffs Harbour and Brisbane and a wholesale diamond business covering Australia, New Zealand and Fiji representing a diamond cutting factory in New York. He has also marketed his jewellery designs at Australian jewellery fairs. Des also distributes the world famous and patented Bluefire 144 diamonds which are polished under licence in their Antwerp diamond cutting factory.

Socially he is the inaugural President, Patron and Honorary Life Member of the Clarence Valley Gem and Mineral Society, now the Grafton Gem Club and inaugural committee member of the humanitarian organisation Project Concern (Australia). He also organised construction of "Jaycee Park" at the river end of Dobie Street and 2 Jaycee trade fairs held in the Grafton Showground and Pavilion.

Des has held positions of President and other executive offices in Jaycees, Toastmasters, is the founding Secretary of Grafton Midday Rotary Club and was awarded a Paul Harris Fellow. For 3 years he was the Chairman of Grafton City Centre Traders, followed by 3 years as President of the Grafton Chamber of Commerce and Industry. During this time he organised upgrading of Prince Street blocks 3 and 4 with underground power and new street lights. He also held meetings and received approval from the then New South Wales Premier Bob Carr for construction of a $70 million second Grafton bridge, and met with a variety of educational institutions to establish a University in Grafton. Des was also co-organiser of Business After Hours, an organisation aimed at assisting business networking in Grafton.

From an early age Des remembers his involvement in the Jacaranda Festival School Children's Display and checking through the "Spot It" entry forms and judging the winner, for many years. He also remembers manufacturing new and repairing damaged Queen and Princess Tiaras during his time at
the jewellery bench and when his father was a member of the Festival committee.

Des Harvey is a third generation of jewellers in Grafton and a fifth generation of jewellers in Australia. Like his wife Jennifer, they have lived all their life in Grafton. They have three children; two that live in Brisbane and one in Grafton.