General News
12 September, 2023
Alan clocks off after 51 years
FROM a dubious first day on the old Korong Shire’s outdoor gang, Alan Jackson has clocked off as one of the longest serving council workers in history. Alan officially retired from Loddon Shire last month, 51 years after being too late to catch...
FROM a dubious first day on the old Korong Shire’s outdoor gang, Alan Jackson has clocked off as one of the longest serving council workers in history.
Alan officially retired from Loddon Shire last month, 51 years after being too late to catch a ride on a bus to Borung where he was to start work with the outdoor crew.
A stern official warning - dismissal if it happened again - gave way to Alan’s rise to his later promotion to supervisor following amalgamation of local councils in the 1990s.
“Back when I started, we did everything by hand ... concreting, laying pipes. I then progressed to being a backhoe operator and that was the first time I had had a decent machine that saved a lot of time with the work to be done,” he said.
He had started working life as a flour mill hand in Charlton 18 months before being put on the council payroll.
“I was a junior being paid $28 a week but doing a man’s job. Then the business hit tough times and I was looking for a new job,” he said.
“Already playing football with Wedderburn, Lindsay Holt put in a word for me with the council and I pretty much started straight away.
“There have been some good people to work with, both outside and in the offices ... I had opportunities to work inside but that wasn’t for me.”
Alan’s fame as a footballer was the stuff of legends back in the 1970s. “St Arnaud’s Johnny Goode kicked a league record 15 goals one day and then the next week I came out for Wedderburn and booted 19 and that’s a record that still stands.”
He played in Wedderburn’s 1971 premiership side, coached the Redbacks and also won a flag leading Korong Vale in the 1980s.
Alan spent the last 12 months easing into retirement where more travel tops the list of planned activities.
This week he was off to Adelaide and Darwin is also beckoning for a return visit to relatives.
“And fishing ... love the fishing up there catching barramundi,” he said.
Overseas and Vietnam tops the countries already visited with New Zealand and South Africa likely to be passport stamps alongside Thailand and the Cook Islands.
And then there are the grandchildren in Melbourne, lawn bowls and barracking for the Melbourne Football Club.
But Alan is making no predictions about this year’s AFL grand final. “I am a proud Demons supporter but every time I tip them they loose,” he said.
Alan said he had enjoyed the 51 years working for local council but lamented the lack of money it received from governments to maintain roads.
“There’s not enough money being made available and the further you get behind with maintenance, the more money it will cost in the long run,” he said.
“People complain a lot about the roads but those roads are mostly up to the Department of Transport,” said Alan.