Ian Apps has been looking after the bowling green and maintenance of the Ex-Services Club for the last 3 years. Summer 2020/2021 will be his 4th year at the Club. He doesn’t play bowls as much as much as he could. His partner has 5 boys and they play a variety of sports on both Saturdays and Sundays, something which Ian regularly attends and enjoys.
Ian worked at Coota Oilseeds before taking up a role with Manildra at the Coota Abattoirs where he was a knife hand.
Upon the closure of Coota’s largest employer in February 2017, Ian joined the team at the Ex-Services Club.
He said, “It’s been good here, we have great bosses. Megan is a good lady, our restaurant is coming along well with some good cooks.”
Ian had spent around an hour and a half polishing, buffing and scrubbing the honour rolls and all of the brass on the corner of Parker and Wallendoon Street, when we met up with him for a chat.
You could instantly tell Ian takes pride in his work, as he continued to clean away at the grime and grit which comes from passing traffic on a busy thoroughfare, while being able to talk to us.
Ian said, “Anzac Day means Mateship. I was living up in Brisbane and living with 6 army boys and that stuck right into me, what army and the defence forces are about. Just seeing their devotion.”
Ian’s partner has a son in the cadets now and they lined up at 0600 on Anzac Day to take part in the driveway services, which were carried out across the town, the district, the state and the country. He said, “It’s his first year in the cadets, it is unbelievable what they have supplied him with.”
The Cootamundra Ex-Services Club has a great relationship with HMAS Cootamundra and regularly enjoys a good gathering of Navy personal and other returned servicemen and women at the club, especially on Anzac Day. Although unable to open at the moment, the tone of the Federal Government and the NSW Government has changed over the last week and a return to normality may occur in a clearly defined process, sooner rather than later. For now the social distancing measures remain, but hope continues that businesses such as the Ex-Services Club will soon be able to open their doors and trade in the the near future.
Congratulations Ian you have now appeared in our first website story posted to our Facebook page. We will continue posting stories from this week’s print product and new stories from now on. Our first print product came out on April 23, 2020 last week, for free. This week the Cootamundra Times will cost $2. Our website does not have a paywall and we have designed our business so that those online and those who are not, can enjoy reading about the Coota community and surrounding areas. We hope that everyone can support our new venture and ensure its success by purchasing a printed copy. This week we chat with Mark Elia about his life, his sporting achievements and living in Coota. More to come.