Library treasurer adds it up

By Jim Mynard
Bank managers get to be treasurers. That’s a sure thing, says Berwick Mechanics Institute and Free Lending Library treasurer Graham Hughes.
When you think about it, the Berwick Village Chamber of Commerce treasurer, Paul Russell, is a manager at Berwick National Bank.
So Graham, a former Commercial Bank manager, as well as having many other roles for the bank in his career, has also been treasurer for all manner of organisations, including footy clubs and churches.
His present position with the library, which began in 1981, puts his name in the history books, so to speak.
He is listed in Richard Myers’ award winning book about the library, published in 1999.
Graham also served the library as president from 1989, after Dr Noel Stephenson, who was president form 1961 to 1988. He served the dual role until Joyce Hayes became president in 2000.
He was born at Sale, Gippsland, in July 1939.
“My father was health inspector for the council, but he went away to the war for four years, which meant I didn’t get to know him in the early part of my life.
“My dad came home as a stranger, but he was active in the community and heavily involved in the Scout movement.
“He was one of the early Scout leaders in Australia, and of course I became a member of the Cub Scouts.
“But later on I became more interested in playing football, although I was no champion,” he said.
But football was well and truly in his family line, because Graham had three uncles and a cousin who played league football.
The Arthur brothers Stan, Allan, and Harold, and then Graham Arthur, a noted Hawthorn player, made it to top level footy.
Despite that, someone encouraged him into becoming a Collingwood supporter.
Graham had been working in Portland until 1981 before he came to Berwick to manage the Commercial Bank.
“I was here two days and was told that the bank’s managers were always treasurers of the library.
“That was a time when the Commercial was the only bank in Berwick,” he said.
Apparently there was not a lot of opportunity to say no.
“Maybe I was lucky, because I was always interested in libraries and I was quite happy about it all.
“We found the atmosphere in Berwick great, and Sue was always involved in things, especially the church.
“She has worked a lot in the community and is the present Casey senior citizen of the year,” he said.
“Our children went to school at Berwick Primary and Berwick Secondary College and then on to Monash University,” he said.
Working his way to Berwick took him far and wide.
He spent five years in school at Sale and in 1949 the family moved to Ballarat, where he was quickly into sport.
“I went to the Ballarat High School and joined football and cricket teams.
“But my father obtained a senior position at Eltham and we were off again. He was at one-time president of the Health Inspectors Association,” he said.
Graham left school and joined the bank on 4 January 1956.
“That was the year of the Melbourne Olympics and I also joined the Rover Scouts and became heavily involved. My first years at the bank were at places where I could live at home, and it was a big thing for me when I was transferred to Drouin because I had to live away.”
During those days he played football with Hallora Strzelecki and was becoming a local lad of this region.
He said he would drive through Berwick every second or third week and maybe a little attraction formed for the village, in his mind.
Nevertheless it was back to Swan Street, Richmond, when he received his next transfer.
“That was an interesting time; the bank had its own footy team.
“I liked the involvement and exercise I received from football,” he said.
He and Sue met at Zigfields in Hawthorn, but he received a posting to Robinvale on the Murray River ,about 60 kilometres east of Mildura.
“I thought it was the end of the earth, but it turned out to be a nice country town with a lovely community and there was an atmosphere where everyone knew everyone else.
Sue had a really good job with Wormald and I think was about to move up to Robinvale but I was called back to head office in Melbourne for a computer conversion program.
I was asked to go around and teach staff the new systems and that led to a few interstate trips.
“The computers came naturally to me and I was happy with that job.”
They married in 1969 and had two children, Paul in 1973 and Anna in 1977.
Both have two daughters.
“I worked as a relieving manager for a while until I was posted to a permanent position at Nathalia, where I joined the Apex Club. We lived on bank premises. That’s when you really get involved with the community. We were in the middle of the 1970s drought and people were doing it tough.
“I found that to be a sad time, because I was seeing the stress people were under. I was made treasurer of the football club and it would be my job to take the admission money at the gate.
“From there we went to Portland, a great spot, and again this led to community activity, including involvement with the church.
“We had a home overlooking the bay and had a lovely time at Portland. We were there when the Alcoa plant opened and we saw development of a large wood chip industry.”
From Portland they made their last move and that was to Berwick.
They first lived in the bank home at Russell Avenue, but after five years bought it as their retirement home.
“We had a home in Ashburton and had that leased out.”
The Commercial Bank was taken over by the Bank of New South Wales, later to be taken over by Westpac, and it was retirement time for Graham.
“This home was ideal because we were handy to everything, it was near the school, I could walk to work, and at one time when I had to work in the city it was a handy walk to the station.
“During my last years with the bank I became a kind of Mr Fixit and could be sent anywhere if something went a little wrong and I spent a little time at Marlanda House in Bourke Street, among the lawyers.
“I recall the Ash Wednesday disaster and the traumatic time it was because I was seeing that people were really suffering and I knew them well.
“Many lost their properties and some lost family members. Also, I was a member of the Rotary Club of Berwick and we would go out to help clean up burnt-out sites.”
They follow other interests, with Sue running a playgroup at the Anglican Church, and they enjoy an active participation with Probus.
Sue is a member of Inner Wheel.
Graham has seen a lot of the passing parade at Berwick and with Sue as part of his team has helped fashion the good side of the community.
“He saw the passing of long serving library president the iconic Dr Noel Stephenson, rebuilding of the library, highly commends the work of another Berwick icon Pam Darling and her team of volunteers, and has spent countless hours working to preserve the heritage collection of books at the library.
He stresses the importance of keeping these books and the highly treasured Casey collection in one place.
“This collection is part of Berwick and Victorian history. Many old books we have are now well out of print,” he said.
Graham said the Berwick Library was a unique boutique service ideal for older people and a service now being used more and more by students seeking hard to get books.
Just for the record he is treasurer of the Casey Combined Probus Club.