John joined the Association on 31st October 1967. Since then, John has served a continuous 28 years as secretary of the Victorian branch.
John was co-opted onto the Victorian branch committee of management following the death of John Sneddon in June 1972 and was elected secretary following the resignation of Ern Raddatz in November of that year, a position that he holds to this day. Besides the general secretarial duties of the branch, John produced draft Modelling and Photograph competition judging rules and the rules of the Incorporated Association (for the Victorian branch). John has served on the exhibition committee since 1972 producing masters for exhibition promotional material and the Exhibition Guides from 1994 to 2000. To this day, John is one of the three cashiers who operate the ticket box at the Moomba exhibition and is responsible for the financial accounting on the treasurer's day off. In addition he supports the branch on open days by supplying rolling stock and presenting a showcase of his models.
On the Federal scene, John as layout officer performed the "cut and paste" production of the plates from which the Journal was produced from March 1987 until Roger Lloyd introduced 'Computer Desktop Publishing' in September 1989. In 1993, John undertook the updating of the "AMRA Beginner's Guide" and "A Guide to Model Railways" and scanning and typesetting the combined text into "A Guide for Beginners in Model Railways" published in 1994. During 1997 when Roger took an extended holiday to America, John produced three Journals using the established desktop publishing format. He also takes over as distribution officer when Ron Thomas is unavailable.
The Association has benefitted to a major degree from John's enthusiasm and willingness to give freely of his time, management, and secretarial abilities to further the aims and growth of our Association. John received a Meritorious award in 1979 and was granted Honorary Life membership in 1987.
John has demonstrated that advancement of the Association is one of the aims of productive membership. He never looks for recognition and over the years the branch has relied on his secretarial expertise and has never been let down.
