King’s Birthday Honours 2024: Rongotea’s Lance Berry awarded King’s Service Medal

Lance Berry, from Rongotea, has received a King's Service Medal (KSM) in the 2024 King's Birthday Honours.

Rongotea’s deputy fire chief officer Lance Berry loves helping the community.

So much so he has given 38 years of service to the Manawatū town’s fire brigade and community, and his efforts have earned him a King’s Service Medal (KSM) in this year’s King’s Birthday Honours.

Although the honours were announced today, Berry said rather than letting his family hear the news from a third party, he was going to speak with them directly at a family dinner on Sunday evening.

“I’m very proud. All of the work I’ve done has been part of a team. Everyone I’ve worked with deserves this award but I feel very humbled.”

Berry started with the Rongotea Fire Brigade in 1986.

“I wanted to help my community. When you get involved, you realise just how much help it is for the community and it’s just amazing. On top of this, the experience gives you amazing life skills.”

As well as helping the community with emergency call-outs, Berry was a part of the fire station extension project.

“We all got together and decided our station wasn’t big enough for our growing family. As a roofing contractor, I was able to help with that side of things. The whole crew worked together. We use the space to host a once-a-month family get-togethers.”

He also established the Rongotea fireworks display.

“It started as my friends and I buying a couple of fireworks, letting them off as a couple of dozen families watched and has since grown into an event that draws in 5000 people from near and far. It’s pretty amazing how it’s grown and it’s great for the town.”

He spent 10 years leading Te Kawau Cubs and Scouts.

“I was in that role for 10 years while my sons attended cubs and scouts. To this day, I still get people come up to me who were part of cubs or scouts during that time, talking about their families. Some have children and others even have great-grandchildren. It is quite special.”

Berry, a qualified roofer, was instrumental in the 1996 Te Kawau Memorial Centre build and has provided roof maintenance since.

Since 2019, he has been the chair of the Rongotea Community Committee and led several community projects including the Douglas Square and the Waitohi Rd walkway upgrades through the Keep Rongotea Beautiful campaign.

“I love getting involved with projects and helping out where I can. I get to help out and meet so many people.”

In 2023, Berry received a Manawatū District Council community award for his contributions to the Rongotea community.

“It was very out of the blue just like the KSM. I was very humbled to be honoured and I love helping the community. I’ve always said, if you aren’t involved you can’t complain.”