WELL-KNOWN pipe major and community stalwart Barry Ward received an Order of Australia Medal (OAM) on Saturday for his ongoing contributions to Mount Gambier and surroundign regions.
While people might recognise Mr Ward best when he pulls on a Scottish kilt and vigorously plays the pipes, his community service extends far beyond the Blue Lake Highland Pipe Band.
Appreciative to those who nominated him for the award, Mr Ward said he had made a lot of sacrifices over the years to give back to the community.
“Over the years, my family has probably suffered the most because I haven’t been there for them all the time because I’ve been doing other things,” he said.
“A lot of the organisations I’ve been with, I’ve been with for a while, because I believe if you are going to do something, you do it properly or you don’t do it at all.”
Mr Ward has looked out for people in the South East for many years, which is best reflected in his roles for the Mount Gambier Neighbourhood Watch and South East Disaster Committee.
The disaster committee was formed as a result of the 1983 Ash Wednesday fires and as a staff member at Telstra, Mr Ward claimed the roles as the Communications Officer.
“It was formed after that and it consisted of the State Emergency Service, the police and all the ancillary services,” he said.
“It never had to be brought into action while I was involved, but I believe it’s still going and it has been pulled into action since I left.”
Mr Ward has also spent 35 years with the Army Reserves and has received a certificate of achievement from the Returned and Services League in 2010.
“I was part of the Royal South Australian Regiment, but I didn’t serve overseas or anything like that,” Mr Ward said.
Sport has also played a significant role in the life of Mr Ward.
He represented both the West Gambier Cricket Club and football club as a player and committee member for many years and he still remains heavily involved with the two sporting clubs.
“I’ve got life memberships at both clubs and I still try to follow both as closely as I can,” Mr Ward said.
“I do a bit of volunteering for the football club and once again it’s just staying on, I find it difficult to get out of things.”
Despite his involvement with a number of different organisations, even Mr Ward admits he is now best-known for his talent on the bagpipes.
“I have been lucky enough to play in several European Tattoos,” he said.
“I became the pipe major, which is a big responsibility because it’s a bit like being a football coach, you have to lead from the front and make sure everyone’s doing the right thing.”
A particularly proud moment for Mr Ward was being the Lone Piper at the Menin Gate is 2012.
“It’s the biggest War Memorial in Europe with the names of 54,000 soldiers on the wall who have no known grave,” he said.
“There’s normally a couple of thousand people there every night of the year and I was lucky enough to be the lone piper when I took the band over to Belgium.
“The odds of doing that are pretty slim, so it was pretty amazing.”
Reflecting on his achievements and contributions, Mr Ward said he was very grateful his efforts had been recognised with the honour.
