Recipient of the 2012 Australia Day Mayor’s Lifetime Achievement Award, Les Skate at the Coldstream and Yering War Memorial.
By Kath Gannaway
A MAN who has served the Coldstream community for more than 60 years has been awarded Yarra Ranges Council’s Australia Day Mayor’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
Leslie (Les) Skate was among nine Yarra Ranges individuals and members of the Millgrove Residents Action Group honoured for their community service at a ceremony at Burrinja in Upwey on Australia Day.
Yarra Glen community workers Dorothy Barber and Jillian Hess were also among those honoured with Certificates of Recognition.
Mr Skate, 83, was 14 when his family moved to Coldstream in 1943.
He followed in his father’s footsteps as a shearer for 25 years and later, as a self-taught builder, established Skate Constructions which built many of the Yarra Valley’s wineries.
A combination of practical skills and a generous community spirit have seen Mr Skate’s name on many of the institutions and projects which are integral to the Coldstream community.
He has been an active member of the Coldstream Cricket Club and is a life member of the Coldstream Football Club, the Lilydale Agriculture and Horticulture Society and the Scout and Guide Associations.
He was a founding member of the football club in 1952, and a dedicated worker and office bearer.
On the ground, he played 305 games and coached the Under 16s to the club’s maiden premiership in 1963 and the second 18s to a senior flag in 1972.
When his sister, Coldstream historian Val Sheehan, put forward an idea for a memorial to honour the district’s servicemen and women, Mr Skate set to work.
He found willing helpers in his sons Roland and Tim and stonemason John Mitchell. The Coldstream and Yering War Memorial was unveiled in 1995.
He has assisted in setting up a Men’s Shed at the Caladenia (Dementia) Centre in Lilydale and has spent his own time and money creating pathways and landscaping at the centre.
Mr Skate’s most recent project would seem to indicate that his lifetime of achievements is far from over … and not confined to the Yarra Valley.
The plight of the flood-devastated community of Benjeroop, near Swan Hill, touched his heart and, as always, his response was practical and generous.
He has gone back to building, despite the replacement of both shoulders some time ago, helping rebuild properties ruined by the flood.
Since May last year he has spent two weeks out of every three on the job with local Lindsay Schultz and is glad to be able to help in a situation where he said a community has been left to fend for themselves.
Mr Skate said he was surprised and a bit overwhelmed by the award.
“I never thought about things I’d done, you just do them and I suppose you could call that an achievement,” he said.
To receive recognition on Australia Day added to the honour, he said.
“I’ve always looked at Australia Day as a day to look back at history of the pioneers.
“They are the ones who really made Australia up to this point where we can celebrate Australia Day.
“If you looked at those values and brought them forward to the present time, I think the country and the world would be a lot better place to live in,” he said.
Mr Skate epitomises the Mayor, councillor Graham Warren’s description of the hundreds of volunteers who work for their communities.
“Many of these are unsung local heroes, so Australia Day is just one opportunity to recognise their hard work,” he said.
