By Jamie Salter
Pakenham’s Tim Ahern is the winner of the Stan Henwood Volunteer Award 2022 for his lifetime of volunteerism for The Rotary Club of Pakenham among many other community groups. Tim sat down with reporter JAMIE SALTER to share the joys and challenges of volunteering over the past 58 years.
Tim Ahern started volunteering when he was 17 which ignited a lifelong passion for helping his community.
Born and raised in Rythdale on a farm, Tim’s family has now lived in the area for six generations.
His great grandfather Daniel Ahern started the first school in Pakenham, his grandfather JJ Ahern was the Shire of Berwick secretary, and his father Lin was a dairy farmer at Rythdale.
Tim went to school at Pakenham Consolidated School, then Pakenham Catholic School before being sent to Xavier College Boarding House at age 10.
At age 15 he left boarding school to join his father on the dairy farm.
“I hated boarding so I went home,“ Tim said.
“That was at a time when dairy farmers were struggling, so we sold the farm and moved into Pakenham and started our lives from there.“
Tim was involved in a number of different jobs before breaking into the building and plumbing industry, working at Mcilwraith (Tradelink) and then Hardy’s (Mitre 10) where he quickly began managing nine stores across metropolitan Melbourne and Gippsland.
“Building and plumbing supplies is a very friendly industry,“ Tim said.
“I went there as a temporary job but that’s why I stayed – I loved it.“
In 1965, Tim started volunteering as secretary with the Cardinia Tennis Club.
“The lady who took me to the annual tennis club meeting said ’you’re an Ahern, so it’s expected.’“ Tim said.
Tim and his wife Jan had three children – Tim, Matthew and Katie – who were very involved in local sport.
“Without the support of my wife and kids I wouldn’t have been able to do a lot of what I’ve done,“ Tim said.
“I get an enormous amount of pleasure out of volunteering for the local sporting clubs including the squash club and the football club.“
Tim joined Rotary in 1988 and has since been awarded a Paul Harris Fellowship in 2011 and the Paul Harris Fellow Sapphire Pin in 2018 – held in high esteem by Rotarians.
He said volunteering was about making a difference.
“I was brought up in a community at Rythdale where if people didn’t put their hand up to do something there wouldn’t be a tennis club or football club,“ he said.
“It’s just one of those things that’s in your DNA.“
The most significant volunteering experience for Tim was assisting with the Black Saturday bushfire recovery at Labertouche in 2009.
“When I first retired it was driving me nuts, I wasn’t enjoying it at all,“ Tim said.
“I was asked to help a Vietnam veteran who lost his fencing and if I could help organise people.
“I was up there for nearly 11 months and it helped me immensely with transitioning to retirement because I was amongst people.“
Tim called on his contacts in Rotary as well as suppliers in the building industry to get equipment for the bushfire recovery.
In 2010, Tim was a finalist for Cardinia Shire Council’s Citizen of the Year for his work at bushfire affected areas.
Reflecting on his time volunteering in Cardinia Shire, Tim said red tape was now getting in the way.
“In the past when something needed doing, we just did it but now it appears you’re hamstrung by red tape,“ he said.
“Now you’re not allowed to do most things like taking a tractor onto someones property and banging up some posts for them and most recreation reserves aren’t allowed to cut their grass anymore.
“Rotary recently had 60 trees to plant for a 60th anniversary and we weren’t allowed to plant them, a contractor had to come and do it whereas normally you’d get everyone together and have a barbecue and build that fellowship in the community.“
He said going through approval processes has come at a big cost to the community.
“When you’re told you can’t do something it’s fairly frustrating and a lot of volunteers have dropped off because of it,“ Tim said.
The Rotary Club of Pakenham has gone from about 50 members in 2010 to 24 members today and is calling for more young people to get involved post Covid-19.
“We find particularly in Rotary our numbers are dropping off as we go along,“ Tim said.
“Most young people are happy to help out if we ask but it appears they don’t want to commit to joining a group.“
One of Rotary’s projects has been at Toomuc Creek, where the group has built barbecue shelters, seating, exercise equipment and planted trees.
“We’d love more of the community to come and take part in these projects,“ Tim said.
Tim said connecting with people was the main driving point for his years of volunteering.
When Tim was recently diagnosed with prostate cancer, he said it slowed him down but he wasn’t going to stop helping others.
“I found in the time after my operation it was harder to get back into things and when you stop it’s harder to get going again but I think by being involved in the community it helps you keep young,“ he said.
“It keeps you sharp and keeps your mind going.“
Tim is waiting for the all-clear from his doctors.
He has now gone back to his farming roots, raising 140 cows on properties in Pakenham Upper and Officer.
“Most days of the week I go down and get celery or broccoli and feed cattle, it keeps me out of mischief and my grandkids come and help out,“ Tim said.
“Farming is bred in you, you never lose the enjoyment of that.“
