Terence (Terry) Malcolm Hayes has always invested his time in his community and on Monday his efforts were recognised with an Order of Australia Medal (OAM) in the inaugural King’s Honours List for his service to the community of Gloucester in NSW.
Terry, who now lives in Cooroy, grew up in Bondi, played rugby for Randwick and rugby league for St George in his younger days, and was school captain of his college, an achievement that proved useful when he met his future wife, Joan, in David Jones in Sydney.
“The first time I saw her in David Jones I said ’I’m going to marry her’, and I did,“ he said.
“That’s an event I’ll never forget.“
Soon after seeing her he was invited back to the college, along with other former school captains, for the annual ball. He asked Joan to go with him “and that was the start“.
The couple, who this year celebrated their 63rd wedding anniversary, have seven children, 18 grandchildren and six great grandchildren, and have now moved to Cooroy to be closer to family.
In the 1970s Terry gained a job with veterinary products company MSD and the family moved around a bit to Culburra and Crookwell where Terry volunteered in his spare time.
He was coach of the Goulburn Reds rugby team and cofounder of the Crookwell rugby club in the 1970s, helped out with the annual swimming carnival and with the local bushfire brigade in Culburra in the 1980s.
But it was in Gloucester in the 1990s and 2000s where Terry really left his mark.
“We had a caravan park in Gloucester and became very much involved in the activities of Gloucester for the town,“ he said.
“Living in Gloucester was something very special. It was a wonderful town. People there are wonderful. When you’re in a little country town people just get together. It’s OK to kick the ball off but you have to have a team behind you.“
One of his main achievements was starting the Gloucester Mountain Man Tri Challenge in 1991.
“I wanted to do something for the town, to get the town recognised, something that would make the town more prominent,“ he said. “It’s a beautiful place.“
“I approached Triathlon Australia. The triathlon we had in mind was totally different. It was 22km mountain bike ride (nobody knew what a mountain bike was), 11km paddle down the Barrington River and 10km run into town. It was a triathlon with a difference. It was unique. The town got behind it.“
There was a lot of work behind the scenes to sure up sponsors for the event which ran its first race with 117 competitors and has become a permanent fixture of the Australian Triathlon Calendar.
Terry also coached and managed the Gloucester High School rugby union teams in the mid-1990s, was a member of the Gloucester Rotary Club and was founding member of the Gloucester Probus Club in 1997.
In 2000 Terry was instrumental in setting up the Gloucester Food and Wine Society to enable locals and visitors to sample the produce of the Hunter Valley in which they were located.
“It’s been a wonderful thing for people to enjoy the food and wine and socialising, and it’s still going,“ he said.
Over the years Terry has fundraised for various initiatives including one to enable a local paralympian to attend the Sydney Olympic Games and one of long-lasting benefit to the town – the establishment of the Gloucester Hydrotherapy Pool.
As president and chairman of the committee he led a group who worked with the help of the RSL club to raise $750,000 in 18 months enabling them to obtain equal government funding to build the hydrotherapy pool, which has become a great asset to the community.
“They’re teaching kids how to swim. People are coming to Gloucester because of the pool. It’s wonderful for older people,“ he said.
Terry paid tribute to his wife Joan who he said had been beside him in everyone of his endeavours.
Terry and Joan and family members planned to celebrate the award with a picnic.
