OAM honours
Two Baw Baw shire residents, Alan Ryan of Warragul and Don Blackley of Drouin, were recognised in this year’s Queen’s Birthday Honours announced yesterday.
Both were awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia General Division (OAM) for their services to the community.
While they have a lot in common in their dedication to voluntary community causes over decades their working lives were far removed - Mr Ryan spent most of his in business suits sitting behind a bank manager’s desk while for rubber boots wearing Mr Blackley paddocks and the milking shed were his office.
Wanting to help make a difference to the community in which his children would grow up was one of the main motivations behind Don Blackley’s more than half a century of voluntary work in the Drouin district and wider Gippsland region.
Mr Blackley, 82, was at the weekend awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia General Division (OAM) for his community service.
“Pleasantly surprised” by the award, Mr Blackley said however “you always think of someone else who may have deserved it more”.
A dairy farmer at Longwarry North, Mr Blackley and wife Margaret, who died in 1989, had four children (one deceased) and the three children and two of the grandchildren still live in the district to which he has made such a significant and lengthy contribution.
Mr Blackley now lives in Drouin with wife Rosemary, who he married in 2003.
His voluntary work started with services clubs.
Initially it was with the Drouin Apex Club of which he was made a life member, served as president and took on wider responsibilities as District Governor.
Mr Blackley joined Drouin Rotary Club in 1978.
He was president in 1986-87 and retains involvement with the club as a senior active member.
Between 1977 and 1980 he was also a member of the Drouin High School council.
Involvement with the service clubs and their work to build and support local projects opened his thoughts to ways to become even more involved in contributing to the community.
That led to Mr Blackley’s election to Buln Buln Shire council in 1991.
He was the shire’s last president in 1994 when it and Warragul and Narracan shires were amalgamated to form Baw Baw shire.
During the three-year period the new shire was administered by commissioners Mr Blackley and the two other immediate past presidents of the former shires were an advisory committee to the commissioners.
He also was an inaugural member for the Committee for Drouin formed in 1994 to provide a Drouin “voice” to the new shire and remained a member until 2000.
Mr Blackley won a seat on the first publicly elected Baw Baw Shire Council serving one term from 1997-2000.
A number of other volunteer local organisations also found his attention.
He became a member of the Drouin Cemetery Trust for 10 years from 1996, serving as its chairman for six of those years, and also in 1996 joined the Drouin History Group of which he is still a member.
While the history group and Rotary club are now his principal Drouin interests Mr Blackley’s community work has spread wider.
Since 2002 he has been a member of Gippsland Water’s Environment and Community Consultative Committee and a member of the audit committee of the Gippsland Waste Management Group.
Mr Blackley has served as a Justice of the Peace since 1998.