Sport
3 March, 2026
Long Serving Volunteer
At the Allora Sports Club’s AGM in October, it was decided to award life membership to 3 of the club’s long serving volunteers, in John and Wendy Ellwood, and Ken Wilson.
It’s difficult to summarise the impact these 3 hard-working, generous individuals have had on the club over the past 12-14 years but needless to say, the club is in a better position because of them.
Here’s a small synopsis of what Kenny, John and Wendy have brought to and done for the club over the years:
Ken Wilson
Ken and Suzie move to Allora in 2015. In the years prior to moving to Allora, Ken and Suzie ran a farm at Dalveen. In Ken’s words he was probably the worst farmer in Australia! While still living in Dalveen, Ken joined the Allora Golf Club even though he could have joined either Stanthorpe or Warwick.
On Sundays, Ken would arrive at the golf course a couple of hours before the competition started, and spend the time whipper snipping and mowing around the course.
When Ken moved to Allora, he significantly increased the time he spent working on the golf course, to the point that he was on the course most days. Ken took over the mowing of the rough, including mowing the creek banks. The angles that Ken would manoeuvre that big blue mower to ensure the course looked pristine had members in awe, and they’d breathe a sigh of relief when he popped back up into view.
Ken continued his whipper snipping around the creek, which was not a sort-after job and there weren’t too many others keen to take on the challenge.
A desire to make the course look well-kept, came with its dangers and sometimes the weather gods didn’t help. Kenny and Kev could tell a few stories of some hairy mower rescues and just how much chaos can be caused by 5 inches of rain up the valley overnight!
Kenny takes his rake down to the weir on a daily basis to clean out the grate to ensure water flows freely. Any golf balls that he collects from the creek he donates back to the club.
He is a very strong supporter of all charity days, always making himself available to play with non golfers. Not just an avid golfer, Kenny is also a supporter of night bowls and volunteers to assist when the school kids come over to the bowls club for lessons.
Both Ken and Suzie have assisted over the years at functions, and Suzie is always the first to volunteer when help is needed.
Kenny is a man of extremely high intellect and thinks on a totally different level to most other people. If you’ve ever had a round of golf with Kenny you will understand this quite quickly. He loves his golf, he knows the rule book like it’s imprinted in his mind and he’s always willing to share his knowledge and facts with others in a gentle and informative manner.
And he has so many stories! A very popular, absolute gentleman, and a fiercely loyal member of the Allora Golf Club, who praises the golf course to anyone who will listen.
John & Wendy Ellwood
In late 2012, John was on a golf trip around the Northern Rivers of NSW. Coincidentally, Kev Harrison was on that same golf trip and John & Kev played in the same group at the Ocean Shores Country Club.
John mentioned that even though he and Wendy were still working full-time in Brisbane, they were in Allora most weekends as they had purchased a small farm at Berat (apparently John’s ability as a farmer was even worse than Kenny’s!)
In 2013, Kev asked John if he would like to consider taking on the vacant secretary job at the sports club whilst Patron Greg Patterson approached local business owner Donna Evans to take on the Club Treasurer role. What ensued were stringent compliance and governance policies to ensure the financial future of the club.
In March 2013, John asked Wendy to help out behind the bar during a social function. Wendy quickly identified the potential of the club and soon took on the Provedores role.
A new vacuum cleaner and new tea towels were the first purchases! It didn’t take long for Wendy to put an ambitious capital plan to the committee that included a new kitchen, new toilets, painting, renovated bar, new blinds and curtains and a new sound/communication system. Total cost was $120,000 - a lot of money when the club was in a very tight financial position.
With Phil and Sue Higgins’ assistance, a grant of $35,000 was secured and the balance borrowed through the Warwick Credit Union on a guarantee from Gary & Donna Evans, and the Ellwoods. Talk about a leap of faith!
All the work was completed by late 2014 and Wendy then set about increasing the function side of the business to repay the loan. Since that time, the club has averaged 20 functions a year with a peak of 25.
In 2016, John assumed the treasurer’s duties in addition to those of secretary when the Evans’ moved away from Allora. John and Wendy continued to reside in Brisbane and came out to Allora every weekend with most of their time spent at the club.
Wendy did the bar for golf on Fridays and Sundays and catered for functions on Saturdays. John would mow the clubhouse surrounds and also help mow the golf course. When John and Wendy moved permanently to Allora in 2018, Wendy also worked behind the bar at Tuesday night bowls.
Over the past 13 years, Wendy secured in excess of $500,000 to fund capital works at the club and the cricket ground, and both John and Wendy’s shrewd business knowledge has played a large role in placing the club in the financial position it is today.
A total clubhouse and bar renovation inside and out, including a BBQ hut and smokers terrace, a croquet hut restoration, purchase of a fleet of golf carts and an improved golf course with new concrete paths, improved bridges, an irrigation system at the Allora Cricket Ground, new machinery and equipment and new floodlights on the bowls green, are just some of the restorative works and additions that took place at the club during John and Wendy’s tenure.
Their love for the local community is unmatched. Spending countless weekends and nights at the club, combined with their warm and welcoming natures, established the sports club as a successful venue for social functions and a welcoming club to members and non-members alike.
Congratulations Kenny, John and Wendy on being awarded life membership, and thank you for your generous time, input, love and care that you’ve put into making the club what it is today.
Plaques were recently presented to Wendy, John and Ken by the sports club’s president Kev Harrison.
In addition, the dining hall at the club has been named in Wendy’s honour and is now known as “The Wendy Ellwood room”.
