OH4691: Transcript. Interview with Trevor Fisher in 2022 by David McLeod.

Summary

David McLeod interviewing Trevor Fisher August 2022 for the Busselton Oral History Group. Busselton had the good fortune to be chosen as the ‘retirement’ place by the Kojonup farming family of Trevor and Jenny Fisher when they arrived in 2008. With a history of 58 years in mixed farming in his own right, following his father’s death when he was only 19, Trevor also had a commendable record in community service and sporting involvement in Kojonup. It was soon evident that he had no intention of sitting on his verandah and smelling his wife’s beautiful roses. He joined the Board of BESS (Busselton Elderly Support Service) and age-related issues quickly became apparent. As part of that the need for a worthwhile fill-in for men who, for the most part, had retired from their primary activity and had time on their hands, led Trevor and others to take up the offer [in 2011] of a small shed in a block of businesses set back off Bussell Highway between West and Gale Streets, to set up as a Men’s Shed. The inadequacy of the premises and the need for something suitable was highlighted to Lotteries [Lotterywest] who accepted an invitation to a morning tea, attended also by as many eager troops as could be successfully rounded up by Trevor and the likes. Before he died, a fellow keen Rotarian, Don Harrington, had approached the local authority for land beside the Vasse River west of Strelly Street, on which to build a Men’s Shed. Part of the initiative concerned a need for storage in connection with Disability Sailing. David Johns, a retired builder from Kalgoorlie, drew up plans for the very large shed now in service and, despite rapid success with funding from Lotteries, sadly David had passed away and he did not see it built [commenced in Roe Street September 2013]. This left Trevor holding the strings and, together with a fellow tennis player, Alex Mears (a surveyor), the professionalism of their approach to Lotteries assured that success. A component of the application was over $330 000 of in-kind contributions to the project. The final result on any given day sees up to 60 people happily going about their business in a great facility and using modern machines to make useful items. Busselton Men’s Shed nominated Trevor for the Western Australian Volunteer of the Year award in 2019/’20 and he was successful. His whole philosophy for him and his family is one of service to others who need a hand, and he lives by it every day.