Big Garage. Brodribb Motors was founded in 1934 and G.P. Motors which took over Winson's Garage in 1939. A café owned by Lee Lett and Russell opening in 1932 and boasted that it had the town's first neon sign. Modernity has seen Curtis Australia, a pen-manufacturing business that originated in, and is based in, Mcleod Street, Bairnsdale. Fennings Timber producers of quality kiln-dried hardwood sourced from the Tambo Valley forests. Auswest Timbers Pty Ltd, which was established in 1996 in the Western Australian town of Busselton, distribute timber throughout Australia and to many countries all over the world including the United Kingdom, New Zealand, China, Hong Kong, South Africa, Indonesia, Korea, the Netherlands, Canada and the United States. One of the largest employers within the Bairnsdale area is Patties Foods which started from humble beginnings in 1966 from a local bakery in Lakes Entrance. Many of the larger-known franchise operations are somewhat ubiquitous and popular and have secured their place amongst the local businesses. Religion According to the 2011 consensus, the most common responses for religion in Bairnsdale (Urban Centres and Localities) were no religion 27.2%, Catholic 21.5%, Anglican 20.9%, Uniting Church 6.9%, and Presbyterian and Reformed 3.7%. Overall, 63.0% of the population nominated a religion, and 27.2% said they had no religion, compared with 59.8% and 29.6%, respectively, for East Gippsland Shire. The largest single religion in Bairnsdale urban area (Overlay) was Western (Roman) Catholic, with 21.6% of the population, or 2,619 people, as adherents. Tennyson Smith, the ardent prohibitionist, evangelist and teetotaller visited Bairnsdale in February 1920 and gained many supporters when he initiated a branch of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union. The movement was unsuccessful when they met with a violent opposition who interrupted meetings and threw stones at Tennyson as he returned to Adelaide House (171 Main Street) where they broke windows and tried to gain access to the building. The prompt arrival of Constable Martin, who fired a revolver in the air and arrested a leading trouble-maker, broke up the disturbance. Bushfires 2019-20 During the 2019–20 Australian bushfire season an evacuation centres was established in Bairnsdale at the Bairnsdale Football pavilion. Notable people Sir Albert Lind, Australian farmer and politician Alfred William Howitt, Australian anthropologist, explorer and naturalist Callum Chambers, West Coast Eagles and Carlton AFL footballer Lock Crowther, Australian multihull sailboat designer Kevin Coverdale, football player and coach Cameron White, Australian cricketer Charlotte McShane,