Awards for Fieldays Society's stalwarts

From left to right: Peter Carr, Warwick Roberts, John Kneebone Volunteer of the Year Simon Kay and Hon Jo Goodhew. Photo / Supplied

Te Awamutu's Simon Kay was awarded the inaugural John Kneebone Volunteer of the Year at the annual New Zealand National Fieldays Society awards dinner on Saturday night.

And fellow Te Awamutu resident Angela Alexander, a transport inspector from Go Bus, received the Rimmington Award in recognition of her outstanding service to Fieldays from an external organisation or individual.

More than 200 people gathered for the formal dinner and awards evening at Mystery Creek Events Centre to recognise those who had given their time, passion and service to the New Zealand National Fieldays Society Fieldays and Equidays events.

The Rimmington Award and the new John Kneebone Volunteer of the Year Award were the two major awards given on the night.

It new award is named for Nuffield Scholar John Kneebone, who wrote a letter to the Waikato Times in 1968 arguing for a Town and Country Show for farmers - an event for farmers to meet, view products and services and innovations in farm machinery.

From this idea, National Fieldays was born.

Mr Kay, a former farmer, has been a volunteer at Fieldays for seven or eight years.

He said he saw an advertisement for volunteers, and as a ex-farmer and regular attendee, he thought he would give it a go.

"I was hooked," said Mr Kay.

"It pulls you in being part of such a great event, and helping at other events the society runs.

"The downside is I don't get to see as much of Fieldays as I'm working rather than visiting."

New Zealand National Fieldays Society CEO Peter Nation said Mr Kay was to be applauded for his unselfish contribution, leadership and willingness to do whatever was asked of him.

"The John Kneebone Volunteer of the Year Award is a way to thank our volunteers for their contribution and commitment,"he said.

"People are nominated by their peers, and those are evaluated by a committee to come up with a winner. We envision that it will be a prestigious award, something people will aspire to win each year."

Mr Nation said Mr Kay stood out as someone who loved Fieldays and gave much of his time and energy to volunteering for the Society.

He spent an estimated 200-250 hours volunteering at Fieldays each year, fitting in volunteering around work as a part-time agricultural contractor and running the Lily Pad Café in Kaipaki with wife Deb and daughter Abby.

This year Mr Kay was manager of about 60 volunteers across three groups - site services, parking and couriers.

"Simon is always putting his hand up to help, and puts in long hours when he could probably be doing work for himself," said Mr Nation.

"Fieldays wouldn't be possible without the commitment and enthusiasm of our volunteers. The Society is 49 years old this year and members run it, own it and have built it to what it is today.

"We have a fantastic team of fulltime staff, but when you ramp up an event the size of Fieldays in particular, we couldn't do it without volunteers."

Mr Kay was surprised and delighted to receive the award.

"I love going to Fieldays and I love the job, but I wouldn't have been successful if it weren't for the hard work of a lot of other people. It's a team effort. I enjoy working with the other volunteers and meeting new people," said Mr Kay.

Ms Alexander said she was humbled to receive the Rimmington Award.

"I couldn't have done it without all my drivers," she said.

"They were brilliant."

From left to right: Warwick Roberts, Rimmington Award winner Angela Alexander and MP Barbara Kuriger. Photo / Supplied

Mr Nation praised Ms Alexander for her exceptional logistics skills and willingness to go the extra mile to help those in need.

"She led the seamless operation of the Go Bus service during Fieldays this year which resulted in a 63 per cent increase in people using bus transport to and from the event," he said.

"That meant fewer cars on the road, less congestion, faster travel times and a better experience for people," said Nation.

"Angela wasn't asked but she took the lead on this, and her focus, dedication and effort had a positive impact on Fieldays."

Ms Alexander had been working at Fieldays for at least five years for Go Bus, but took on a leadership role over the last few years.

She said her job involved 'lots of planning and thinking-on-your feet' and she 'tried to keep a level head and not panic under pressure'.

The Rimmington Award is named for founding member and past president of Fieldays, Russ Rimmington, who was also a former Hamilton mayor.