General News
29 January, 2021
Life of service leads to recognition
JOHN Kavanagh’s dedicated life of volunteering and serving his community was recognised on Tuesday.
JOHN Kavanagh’s dedicated life of volunteering and serving his community was recognised on Tuesday.
The Skipton local was named as the Corangamite Shire 2021 Citizen of the Year at council’s Australia Day celebrations in Port Campbell.
A retired farmer, Mr Kavanagh is a life member of the Skipton Fire Brigade and received the CFA 50 year service medal.
He has been president of the Skipton Cemetery Trust for 11 years, and president of the photo club for five.
He has been treasurer of the Mechanics Hall for two years after many years on the committee and was president of the Skipton Progress Association for 10 years.
Mr Kavanagh is also a committee member and past-president of the Skipton Branch of the Friends of the RSL and has been a member of the St Vincent de Paul Society for more than 25 years.
His life of service to the community started 64 years ago when he joined the CFA as a 14 year-old.
“The CFA is a good thing to get involved in,” he said.
“It’s very important. The knowledge you get is important for bad days, it’ll save you and other people.
“I held just about every position in the CFA: fire manager, deputy group officer, strike team, leader sector commander. My first job was radio and I’ve been doing radio ever since on and off.”
The former Mannibadar farmer moved to Skipton “10 or 15 years ago,” and became a timber cutter, carting loads as far as Camperdown, Colac and Alvie.
In Skipton he kept up his lifelong association with the CFA and became involved in numerous other groups as well, including helping set up the Skipton Branch of the Friends of the RSL.
Mr Kavanagh said his role as president of the Cemetery Trust was one in which he joked “you get no complaints.”
“We put up a new fence and gates a few years ago. We’ve upgraded the cemetery a bit,”he said.
“Then I was involved in the hall committee. It’s a fairly well maintained hall.
“I’m in the photography club which is fairly successful. We have an annual photographic show which gets 700-800 entries each year.”
Mr Kavanagh said his motivation to serve the community came down to “things need to be done.”
“You feel like you can contribute in a way,” he said.
“You get ideas and put them forward. They don’t always come to fruition but people eventually come around.
“If you feel things should be done, get involved. Do it yourself. Surround yourself with like-minded people.
“There’s no sense sitting at home complaining. You’ve got to get involved.”
Mr Kavanagh paid tribute to his wife of 52 years, Cath, who has been by his side every step ofthe way.
“She’s worked with me every day of our married life. If anything needs doing, she’s out there with me,” he said.
The Community Event Award went to the Terang RSL sub-branch tram restoration launch.
The tram restoration team gave much of their spare time over 18 months to restore Tram W871 and convert it into an interactive multimedia education centre and museum.
Skipton’s Craig Walker, Margaret Clark and Malcolm Fletcher, Camperdown’s Peter Conheady and John Maher, Cobden’s Kate Daffy, Terang’s Ron Holmes and Elizabeth Bowden, Noorat’s Peter McSween and Timboon’s Enid O’Connor all received Australia Day achievement awards.
Corangamite Shire Mayor Ruth Gstrein congratulated the winners and the 10 achievement award recipients.
“We are very fortunate to have such proactive and community-minded people in the shire,”she said.
“They have all given generously of their time and effort to their local and wider communities.
“Today (Tuesday) we formally acknowledge their contribution and also recognise hundreds more in our communities who work tirelessly to help make our shire a great place to live.
“We also owe them our congratulations and thanks.”
