Early VGA Committee Members

Some of our great VGA committee men from the 1960’s
Boy Baker

Boy Baker

Mr. Baker (“Boy”) was born in Oakleigh and is the son of Mr. H. Baker, a well known market gardener and a former member of the Executive Committee.

After working with his father for years, Boy moved to Nangiloc in 1944 where he was one of the pioneers to grow vegetables for the Melbourne market.

Mr. Baker has been a member of the Executive Committee for six years and has represented the interests of the growers in the Mildura area. He has worked hard on hall and school committees and is at present on the Committee of Management of the Red Cliffs District Hospital.

Boy and Mrs. Baker have one son, who works on the property, and two daughters.

Clarrie Corrigan

Clarrie Corrigan

Mr. Corrigan (Clarrie) is a well-known gardener, having lived on and worked his property at Keysborough for most of his life.

He, also, is a past-president of the Australian Vegetable Growers’ Federation, of which he was a foundation member. He is also a past-president of the Vegetable Growers’ Association of Victoria.

Clarie has been a member of the Association for about thirty years, twenty-six of which he has spent on the Executive Committee. He is one of the Association’s delegates to the Wages Board.

Doug Stocks

Doug Stocks

Mr. Stocks (Doug) became a member of the Association
about twenty years.

His great-grandfather settled in Burwood in 1848, and the family, down
to the present generation in Doug, have been market gardeners. His father,
Jim, is a well-known member and ex-President of the Association.

Doug moved to Clyde in recent years and runs a dairy farming and market
gardening property of 320 acres.
Doug is married and has two children.
His main interest outside of his property is a spot of fishing.

Geoff Corrigan

Geoff Corrigan

Mr. Corrigan (Geoff) was elected to the Executive Committee
in 1969 and since then has been very active in Association affairs.

He is a member of the firm of C. W. L. Corrigan & Co. which has operated
a large and well run property at Keysborough for many years and a property
at Clyde North.

Geoff is the son of Clarrie Corrigan, who was a foundation member of
the Association and who was made a Life Member last year.

Geoff is married, has three children and in his younger days played football
for Keysborough. Now, because of work, he is restricted to an occasional
game of golf

Harry Goodrich

Harry Goodrich

Mr. Goodrich (Harry) has been a member of the Association for a number
of years and was appointed to the Executive Committee in August, 1967.

He was born in Bentleigh, and worked with his father, grandfather, and uncle
in the vegetable growing industry. Harry has been a partner with Mr. R. Talbot
for fifteen years and works large properties at Keysborough and Cranbourne.

Harry is still a young man and is keen on a game of tennis. He likes travelling
and has visited America, Japan, and the Far East. Harry is married with a son
and daughter.

Jack Walker

Jack Walker

Mr. J. A. Walker (Jack) joined the Association some years ago and was appointed
to the Executive Committee in 1967.

He has worked with his father, J. E. Walker, and brothers on properties at Maribyrnong
and Braeside and at present is managing a property at Braeside for his father.

Jack is well known for his quick-witted humour and his happy nature. Born at
Caulfield in 1933, he is now married with a wife and four sons.

He made a name for himself as a speedway rider for three years, during which
he was the winner of many titles, including that of Victorian Champion.
Jack still enjoys all sports, particularly boating with his family.

Joe Souter

Joe Souter

Mr. Souter (Joe) has been a member of the Executive Committee for six years
and has given very valuable service.

He was born at Bentleigh in 1914, one of seven children, whose father
took up a market garden property at Dingley in 1929, which Joe still
works. Joe takes an active interest in local affairs—he has been
President of the Dingley Recreation Reserve Advisory Committee since
1954, and is a life member of the Dingley District Tennis Club.

Besides hard work, Joe’s hobby is taking an occasional shot both in the
bush and at the Mulgrave Country Club, where he is a member. (Although
not a barrister, he likes practising at the bar). Joe has a wife and
four children — two
sons and two daughters.

John Milburn

John Milburn

Mr. Milburn (John), has been associated with vegetable growing for over
twenty years at Keilor and represents that district on the Executive Committee.
Besides being a grower, John is a qualified fitter and turner, and takes an active
interest in local affairs. He was an inaugural member of the Keilor Jaycees and
has held office as Vice-President, Public Relations Officer, and is now the President
for 1969.

John is married with two young children, a boy and a girl.

Ken Lee

Ken Lee

Ken Lee has been associated with the vegetable growing industry all his
life on property at Clayton, first with his father and now with the help
of two sons.

He has been a member of the Vegetable Growers’ Association of Victoria for over
thirty years and has been a member of the Executive Committee since 1967.

Ken is a keen football follower (Essendon) and enjoys an occasional game of golf.
He is married, with a charming wife, one daughter and three sons.

Ken Marriott

Ken Marriott

Mr Marriot (Ken) was elected President of the Association at the recent
Annual Meeting, and his appointment was a very popular one.

Ken is a man of many parts—he is a Councillor of the City of Springvale,
and was Mayor for the year 1965-1966; he is a Commissioner of the Melbourne
and Metropolitan Board of Works, and has been President of the Springvale
Benevolent Society since he founded it six years ago.

He is also Vice-President of the Australian Vegetable Growers’ federation and
one of its delegates to the National Farmers’ Union of Australia.
He has been associated with the vegetable industry all his life. He is a great
grandson of the original Marriotts, who migrated to Australia from England in
the early 1800s, and started market gardening close to what is now Glenhuntly
Railway Station.

Ken was born and lived on his father’s property in Bentleigh for 27 years, whence
he moved to the Springvale-Heatherton area in 1959, where he works a flourishing
market garden.
Ken is a married man with a most charming wife and daughter.

Len Cochrane

Len Cochrane

Mr. Cochrane (Len) has been a member of the Association for some years
and was elected to the Executive Committee at the Annual Meeting last August.
He is young and forceful and should prove an acquisition to the Committee.

Len lives at Keysborough and has been engaged there in the vegetable growing
industry all his life with his brothers Geoff and John.

He is happily married with a wife and three children.

Les Allen

Les Allen

Mr. Allen (Les), has been a member of the Association and of its Executive
Committee for many years, and is probably the most well-known and respected
member of the vegetable growing industry. In partnership with his two brothers,
Roy and Frank, Les works a property at Wheeler’s Hill, part of which
was purchased in 1923, and is still being farmed.

He was one of the founders of the Australian Vegetable Growers’ Federation,
and has been President of that Federation, and also a delegate to it
since its inception. He has been President of the Vegetable Growers’
Association of Victoria, represented it on the Chamber of Agriculture
(President in 1954), and is a member of the Market Advisory Committee.

Les is also active in local affairs—he is a Councillor of the
City of Waverley, Chairman of the Dandenong Valley Authority, and President
of the Waverley Football Club, Victorian Football Association.

Martyn Andrews

Martyn Andrews

Martyn was born in Dandenong and has lived there all
his life. He is the fourth generation to carry on market gardening in
the district and works a property in Brighton Road, Dandeong, in conjunction
with his brother Don under the name of G.T. Andrews & Son Pty. Ltd.

Martyn is married with one son and two daughters, and his main hobbies are shooting
and golf.

Murray Barnett

Murray Barnett

Mr. Murray F. Barnett, was elected President of the Vegetable Growers’
Association of Victoria in 1963, and in his three years of office, has
proved himself a most popular and efficient President. Behind his happy
nature is a well balanced and enquiring mind, and his mature judgment is
a great asset to the Association.

He comes from a long line of market gardeners—both his grandfather
and father were well known in the Moorabbin district His father wac a
foundation member of the Australian Vegetable Growers’ Federation and
was President of the Federation and of the Vegetable Growers’ Association
of Victoria for a number of years. His uncles Lorry, Ray and Clarrie
Barnett, are also well known market gardeners.

Mr. Barnett was born in 1926 and began gardening at the age of 16. He
moved to his own property at Keysborough in 1956, where he has developed
a thriving 40 acre market garden property. He has a charming wife and
three children—a
boy and two girls.

All business is not his idea of life, he played football for Moorabbin as a young
man and nowadays enjoys a game of golf and sailing his yacht at Mornington.

Norm Hawkes

Norm Hawkes

Mr. Hawkes (Norm) also has given a number of years valuable service on
the Executive Committee and is a well respected member of the Association.

He was born at Mordialloc in 1926, and is of the fourth generation to live on
the garden, the same land in Warren Road. His father was a foundation member
of the Victorian Vegetable Growers’ Association, and served on the Executive
Committee for many years.

Norm is Vice-President of the East Mordialloc Branch of the Liberal Party, and
also a Trustee of the Mordialloc Methodist Church. He is married with a wife
and two children;a son and a daughter.

Sam Crimi

Sam Crimi

Mr. Crimi (Sam) has been a market gardener at Werribee South for over thirty
years, and, as a member of the Executive Committee, he represents the growers
of that district.

Sam was born in Messina, Italy, and came to Australia in 1927. After working
in Victoria and New South Wales for three years he finally settled at Werribee
and has been a very successful grower.

He joined the Association in 1947 and has been a member of the Executive Committee
for six years.

Sam is married with three grown-up daughters.

Stan Parkinson

Stan Parkinson

Mr. Parkinson (Stan) has been a member of the Executive Committee for eleven
years and served as President from 1961 to 1963.

Stan has been a Councillor at Waverley for eleven years, and a Commissioner with
the Metropolitan Board of Works for ten years.

As a young man, he took over his father’s gardening business at Oakleigh and
later moved to a property at Mulgrave. He proposes moving to Berwick within the
next twelve months.

He is a married man with a charming wife and three adult children.
Stan enjoys a game of golf and is a member of Kingswood Golf Club

Tom Corrigan

Tom Corrigan

MR. CORRIGAN (Tom as he is known to his friends) is one of the most popular
members of the Association, and his kindly, genial nature has endeared
him to ail his associates.

He has been a member of the Association for thirty years and has served on the
Executive Committee for a number of years. He is Chairman of the Field and Gadget
Day Committee and is also a member of the Victorian Onion Marketing Board.

Tom was born at Malvern in 1914, and his family settled at Brae-side in 1934,
where the firm of Corrigan Bros, now work a 40-acre property. His extensive experience
and knowledge of the vegetable industry are being utilised to the full by the
Association and the Board.

His main sporting interest is bowls, and he tries his skill at the Cheltenham
Bowling Club, where he has been a member for 20 years.

Vern LePage

Vern LePage

Mr. Le Page (Vern) is one of the young members of the Executive Committee
and is a most enthusiastic and willing worker in the Association’s affairs.

He has been a member of the Committee for nearly five years and follows in the
footsteps of his father, Mr. E. A. Le Page, a Life Member of the Association.

Vern has been a market gardener all his life, first working on his father’s property
at Cheltenham, and then entering into partnership with his brothers Frank and
Len to carry on the business on the family property at Cheltenham.

Three years ago, he and his family went to live in Heatherton on another property
which is also conducted in the partnership.

Bert Damon

Bert Damon

Bert Damon was a member of our Executive Committee for more than six years.

Bert was a market gardener most of his life, first working on his father’s property
at Mount Waverley, and then in 1955 entering into partnership with his brothers
on a property at Noble Park.

In 1966, he and his family went to live at Berwick, where he ran a prosperous
dairy farm. Although he is a very busy man, he finds time for an occasional game
of bowls at the Berwick Bowling Club, of which he is a member.

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