Wayne Short

Citation Speech for Wayne Short

When Wayne Short was contacted to say that he had been nominated for a community honour, he said “I bet it was Gavin Scott trying to get me back for nominating him two years ago!”. We can confirm that Gavin was the one that nominated you Wayne, but it comes with the backing of many others in the Stanway and Halcombe communities, who you have helped over the years.

Wayne has lived in Stanway his whole life and is a passionate advocate for residents of Stanway and Halcombe. He’s known to get stuck into anything that he’s asked to do and he does it with such enthusiasm that it belies the amount of work involved, says Gavin.

Wayne’s most notable contribution to the communities he serves is as the Chairperson of the Halcombe Community ANZAC Day Committee, who plan and organise the ANZAC Day commemorations.

Without an RSA presence in the community, Wayne and the committee have set about providing residents with unique ANZAC Day experiences which have gained interest from those outside of the community, most notably in 2019 when they organised the re-enactment of the “Homecoming in 1919” in which over 600 people attended.

This was an event that when Wayne looks back with hindsight, if he knew now how much work, organisation and negotiation it would take, he would have probably scaled it back. But with the support of others on the committee, albeit some who had their doubts, they managed to pull off a really special day with the whole community getting in behind.

One of the highlights of the day was when the steam train pulled into Halcombe, just as the Air Force helicopters were arriving in town, which rather fortuitously happened because their locomotive had broken down a couple of times on the way up the hill.

Wayne is adamant that things must be planned properly. He says there’s no excuse for bad planning, so he is meticulous in this regard. He’s built strong partnerships with many others in the community, which means that he gets buy in from others for his ideas, as well as other people’s. He organised a scrap metal drive for the local fire brigade that totally filled of Mike Banner’s paddock, but from that they raised $20,000.

You’ll regularly see Wayne at the St Michael and All Angels, as Reverend Sarah McMenamin says, he’s been a longstanding member and is the master of practical help such as plumbing or gardening, but also as a welcomer, reader and rumour has it, an amazing flower arranger.

One of the cool things that you hear from Wayne when speaking to him is that he’s not just thinking about what is good for now, but how things are going to sustain themselves in the future when he eventually decides to take a step back. Or if he takes a step back, might be more accurate. He's always keen to involve the younger generation in organising things and thinks of it as succession planning.

When he’s asked how he feels about being a recipient of a community honour, he answers in typical Wayne fashion. He's quick to point out that he’s surrounded by good people, go getters who are willing to stick their hand up when things need to be done, which makes much of Wayne’s job easier.

Whilst he’s happy to share the limelight with others for what has been achieved in the community, tonight is your night, Wayne. Hard working, loyal, strong integrity, reliability, approachable and treasured. These are just a few of the words that have been used to describe you in your nomination. You may not realise the impact that you have on people, but as Gavin Scott said in the nomination form “Wayne folds each member of his community into his warmth and passion for the area. He shows a genuine personal interest in people and always supports others to contribute in a way that is meaningful to them.”

So whilst you may not feel like you are deserving of this recognition, please have now doubt that you are more than deserving.