Fieldays volunteers awarded

Two Waipa people have been recognised for their efforts in making the annual National Fieldays a success.

Te Awamutu’s Simon Kay and Angela Alexander were the recipients of two major awards at the National Fieldays Society awards dinner at Mystery Creek Events Centre.

A new award for 2016, the John Kneebone Volunteer of the Year Award, went to Simon Kay, who was recognised for ‘‘his unselfish contribution, leadership, maturity, willingness to do whatever was asked of him,’’ said Fieldays Society CEO Peter Nation.

Kay, a 58-year-old former farmer, had been volunteering at Fieldays for about eight years.

This year he managed around 60 volunteers across three groups: site services, parking and couriers. Kay estimated that he put in about 200-250 hours a year volunteering at Fieldays, especially in June – in the weeks before, during and after the event.

Kay was surprised and delighted to receive the award.

‘‘I love going to Fieldays and I love the job, but I wouldn’t have been successful if it weren’t for the hard work of a lot of other people. It’s a team effort,’’ said Kay.

The Rimmington Award was given to Angela Alexander, a 50-year-old transport inspector from Go Bus, in recognition of her outstanding service to Fieldays from an external organisation or individual. Alexander was praised for her ‘‘exceptional logistics skills and willingness to go the extra mile to help those in need’’, said Nation.

She led the ‘‘seamless operation’’ of the Go Bus service during Fieldays this year which resulted in a 63 per cent increase in people using bus transport to and from the event.

Alexander said she was humbled to receive the award, and said she couldn’t have done it without the support and commitment of her drivers.

The Rimmington Award is named for founding member and past president of Fieldays, Russ Rimmington. The John Kneebone Volunteer of the Year Award was named for Nuffield Scholar John Kneebone, who prompted the idea of a town and country show for farmers.