By Casey Neill
Ever been to the Monbulk Police Station?
You have Trevor Ricketts to thank.
The 86-year-old served as the town’s Business and Traders Association president when the group lobbied for and succeeded in establishing the police station.
Mr Ricketts counts it among his greatest achievements.
He received the Yarra Ranges Council Mayor’s Lifetime Achievement Award on Australia Day in recognition of this service and so much more.
“He has been tirelessly and regularly involved in launching projects in his community and dedicated to helping others,” his award citation said.
“He’s well-respected, trustworthy, fair and generous with his time.
“He is an extraordinary community member, a leader and a mentor.”
Mr Ricketts moved to Australia from the UK in 1948 and was sponsored out to Monbulk.
“The whole town was very welcoming,” he said.
Particularly welcoming were the parents of his future wife, Joan.
After a year he moved to a flat in Hawthorn, and as a cheesemaker by trade manager a business in Doncaster.
He’d return to Monbulk to visit Joan’s family and soon started building his own home in the town.
“I built the home myself on the weekend and holidays,” Mr Ricketts said.
It wasn’t long before he immersed himself in the community.
He became a Justice of the Peace in 1969, and got mains water connected to Monbulk Primary while president of the Monbulk Primary School Committee.
Mr Ricketts is the Monbulk Rotary Club charter president, a past-president and life member of Monbulk Soccer Club and Monbulk Probus Club, and a Monbulk and District Senior Citizens Club trustee and public officer for more than 35 years.
He was a Monbulk High School Committee treasurer, Lilydale Sewerage Authority Board member, Monbulk Scouts Parents Committee president, and a member of the liaison committee between Sherbrooke and Lilydale Councils, providing community input for the shire amalgamation.
“I don’t do these things for reward or recognition,” he said.
Today he’s the Monbulk and District Men’s Shed vice president and said he’d “quietened down”.
