No school like the old school

PETER Heywood describes himself as old school. He has lived in Garfield his whole life and cannot think of a reason to leave.
And when Peter says he’ll do something, he commits for life.
That sentiment rings true in his involvement with the Rotary Club of Garfield–Bunyip.
Now the president, Peter joined the club after being invited by former member and close friend gEOFF Young.
“At first I didn’t know what to expect, so I just went along,” Peter said.
“But once I got involved, that was it.
“I’m old school like that, once I commit that’s it – it’s like playing cricket, if I say I’m playing I don’t not show up.”
Around the world there are 1,210,047 Rotarians in 32,774 clubs and 34,000 Rotarians in 1164 clubs in Australia and while Peter’s club might be struggling for numbers at the moment he said there was much left to do in the community.
Not only is the opportunity to raise money for local groups something to keep Peter interested, there are also the friends he has made through the club.
“A lot of people think it’s just an elitist group of old guys having a meeting,” he said.
“But it’s not like that, yeah sure it’s a bit of a social outing for the older guys, but it’s an opportunity to get together with mates and do some good things.”
An added bonus is the uniqueness of the Bunyip-Garfield Branch.
“We have a lot of farmers and working class people,” he said.
“That’s what makes us unique, in the city there would be lots of lawyers and doctors.”
As if his work in the community was not enough, Peter also plays local cricket and umpires local footy games.
After playing footy in the 1970s Peter decided to try his hand at umpiring local under 15 games and found he enjoyed it.
“To be honest, I thought I was pretty good at it,” he said.
“So I went down to Melbourne and got some training – ended up umpiring under 19 league games, sat on the bench for reserves games and travelled all around Victoria.
“I met a lot of wonderful people there and later I umpired a lot of the Eastern District League games too.”
A growing family made it hard for Peter to continue, so he hung up the boots and whistle in the 1980s.
But a chance encounter with a former umpiring mate in Warragul saw Peter pull on the boots again.
“The big gap in between made it hard to get back in the saddle,” he said.
“Fitness is a bit harder and the aches and pains after the game are worse than they used to be – but it’s great.”
Umpiring is not the only affinity that Peter has with Aussie rules.
He and his family, including his three daughters, are all members of the Essendon Football Club and try to attend all games.
While being a member is no mean feat for many, it’s the attendance at games that brings the family together – two of his daughters now live in the city.
“It’s really nice to head into the city and watch a game together,” he said.
“It means we get together quite a bit despite the distance.”
He said the family saw most home games – when he wasn’t busy umpiring, or overseas for work.
Peter took over the family business, Garfield Engineering, a couple of years ago after starting there with his dad as an apprentice.
“We ship commercial door hardware products all around the world,” he said.
“For hospitals, nursing homes and that kind of thing – we have even done works on jails, which was quite interesting.”
Despite the stringent security checks and constant guarding of workers, Peter says the works in jail was not the most interesting for him.
“We provided products for the Australian Embassy in Beijing,” he said.
“I thought it was great because we were an Australian company shipping something into China rather than the other way around.”
He said although the work did not mean he had to travel to China, thanks to the technology of email and internet, it was one of the most enjoyable work experiences he has had.
“I’m off to New Zealand again later in the year, it will be my third trip for work,” he said.
“So it all keeps me busy.”
Busy? That’s one way to describe Peter Heywood.