FOR a shire of about 8000 people, Cootamundra bats well above the average when it comes to citizens and former residents going on to accomplish great things.
Greg Conkey certainly counts amongst Cootamundra’s highest achievers and last week his dedicated work in the Riverina was recognised when he received an Order of Australia Medal.
Mr Conkey, the son of current locals Neville and Noreen Conkey, has never forgotten where he came from.
He was born in Cootamundra and attended the local public school and high school before getting his start in the journalism world at the Cootamundra Herald.
Neville reports that after Greg finished school a journalism cadetship at the Herald came up under the guidance of the late Barry Clarke.
Following this Mr Conkey went onto the Armidale Express. It was in Armidale Mr Conkey met his wife Jenny, with the two still happily married with three grown boys.
After their stint in Armidale, Greg and Jenny moved to Wagga, where they live today.
Mr Conkey spent a brief period at the Daily Advertiser, before he and three others established the Riverina Leader in 1979.
He was the newspaper’s editor for more than 20 years, never forgetting the early lessons he learned under the tutelage of Mr Clarke.
Mr Conkey established the newspaper’s biggest fundraiser, the Riverina Leader Christmas Food Appeal, in 1980.
He also served as the chairman of the now defunct Wagga Drug and Alcohol Committee, which liaised with local clubs and licensed premises to implement deterrents to smoking in premises before the mandatory ban was introduced.
His next project was the Life Education Campaign to take a caravan to schools to teach students about healthy lifestyles.
Mr Conkey used his newspaper to raise enough money to build two wells in the Wells for Water project in Tanzania in 1992 through World Vision.
Inventor Warren Tyson assisted Mr Conkey on his next venture by developing a pump for irrigation which was powered by the current from the river.
A local campaign raised enough money to purchase one of these machines and it was commissioned by Mr Conkey and Mr Tyson in Mozambique in 1993.
Mr Conkey is the former chairman of Lillier Lodge fundraising committee and a current member of the Rural Medical School Research Committee.
recently, Mr Conkey updated his swimming instruction certificate at his own expense to give adult swim classes with other volunteers.
He is a member of the Wagga City Male Choir and presents a weekly column on Wagga radio station.
During what should have been a very exciting time, Mr Conkey was unfortunately in hospital last week when the honour was announced.
He had been rushed to St Vincent de Paul Hospital in Sydney for emergency heart surgery last week, however Neville reports his son is doing well and could head home to Wagga as early as this week.
Neville and Noreen have two other sons, Doug, who also lives in Wagga and is a chartered accountant and Howard, who lives in Canberra.
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