The Cootamundra Herald continues its feature profiling the people living in our community. This week, we spoke to Des Rowe as he was awarded life membership of the Cootamundra SES Unit.
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Mr Rowe received life membership of the Cootamundra SES Unit, but it’s something he’s “not fussed” about.
“In one way it’s good to be recognised, but that’s not why I do it, I do it to help out other people,” he said.
It can be helping people around Cootamundra, neighbouring towns or even other states.
When Mr Rowe joined the State Emergency Service, it was still transitioning from the old Civil Defence groups.
Mr Rowe first applied in 1966, officially joining the unit on January 1967 and started his SES training.
“Back in those days we did different types of training, you didn’t do a great deal of work, but you were getting ready,” he said.
Mr Rowe was on the first deployment to assist after Cyclone Yasi in 2011, working out logistics and returned for a second deployment focusing on recovery work,.
“During a flood at The Rock we had to go look for a wedding ring,” he recalled.
The house had water 1.2 metres up the wall.
But before even being able to look, they had to remove a large log which the flood had left on the doorstep.
“It was a one in a million chance to find a wedding ring in the mud, muck and after the flood had gone through,” he said.
Some time later though, the team managed to locate a ring in the home, delighting the resident.
On Saturday, Mr Rowe was presented with not only an award for 50 years service, but life membership.
Mr Rowe was the unit controller from 1973 to 1993, and returned to that job in 2015.
“Hopefully we can get someone to take my place (as controller), I’ve served my apprenticeship,” he said.
While volunteering in the SES for 50 years has been enjoyable for Mr Rowe, he’s spent almost as long playing and coaching junior and senior soccer.
Mr Rowe started with the Olympians, before moving to the Rams and playing in the Southern State League, which he dryly described as “an experience”.
He was often one of the fastest on the field and would often play on the wing, in his second week playing soccer he got the job of coaching juniors.
One of the fields on Mitchell Park bears his name.
The senior teams disbanded in 1991, and Mr Rowe coached an Australian team overseas on the Europa Tour in 1992.
Back home in 1993, Mr Rowe became a founding member of the Strikers, being their first coach and playing in their first season.