Page 26 - The Outdoor Showman magazine January-March 2023

Into the Sunset
May they rest in peace.
Gone but they will live on in our memories, reflections, and stories forever.
Jack Rae OAM
Jack Rae OAM led a full life dedicated to his family and his community and took every opportunity to promote agriculture and bridge the gap between rural Victoria and our city cousins.
Jack Rae has been recognised with
Life Memberships by the Dandenong Agricultural and Pastoral Society, the Berwick Agricultural and Horticultural Society, the Akoonah Park Committee of Management, the Royal Agricultural Society of Victoria, the Victorian Agricultural Shows Ltd, numerous Horse Breed Societies, the Victorian Farmers Federation, the Honorary Justices Association, the Freemasons and named in the Queens Honour List.
Not a bad effort for a young boy who left school at 13 years old to milk cows on the family farm.
Jack was a friend to so many, and highly respected by the travelling Showmen.
On behalf of the Victorian Showmen’s Guild we celebrate the life of Jack Rae OAM and will remember his friendship and dedication to the agriculture show movement. The President, Executive Committee and members of the Victorian Showmen’s Guild wish to express their sincere condolences to Jack’s family and friends. He may be gone, but we will never forget him.
My dear friend Jack Rae OAM passed away on the 8th December 2022, aged 94.
Jack was a good mate sadly missed by many. He is someone you’d never forget for the rest of your life.
Jack could bring different people together to work for an ultimate aim – for holding shows across Victoria and Australia.
He was a person you could work with
all day. We’d discuss things and resolve any differences. There’d never be any animosity. Now, that’s real friendship.
As the Dandenong Show celebrated 150 years in November, Mr. Jack Rae’s involvement spanned more than
half of its life span as a president, committee member and steward.
At national show conferences, so many would approach Mr. Rae just to say hello.
He had exceptional judgement of animals, and got involved in every section of the show whether it was horses, sheep, cattle, arts and crafts.
Jack encouraged a lot of young people to be part of the show scene and in the community in general.
Jack Rae OAM was known throughout the community. If he didn’t know of the family, they would know of him.
As a teen, Jack walked droves of cattle
to Dandenong Showground from his family’s farm in Narre Warren North, where he lived and looked out across the Dandenong Ranges for most of his life.
He joined the agricultural show society’s committee as an 18-year-old following in the footsteps of his father, George. And remained there for over 70 years, helping to organise each annual show.
Jack was a fourth-generation cattle farmer, a former show president in
1957 and 1985, and life member of the Dandenong and Berwick show societies.
At last November’s Dandy Show, he was listed as the deputy chief steward. He sat in at the cattle section and was guest at the show president’s afternoon tea, along with sister Thelma, brother Bert, daughters and nieces. In my mind, that was my highlight of the show.
In 2018, the Dandenong Show Society named its heritage cattle sale ring, the Jack Rae OAM Pavilion.
Jack had been instrumental in saving the sale ring, signage and other relics after Dandenong’s stock markets were closed in 1998.
Similarly, a new building at the Akoonah Park showground in Berwick was
also bestowed Jack’s name in 2021.
Jack wasn’t a man to seek glory but the committee convinced him we wanted to name a new building after him that he was heavily involved in establishing,” said Akoonah Park manager Gayle Joyce.
His commitment to the park was
part of his agricultural commitment
to seeing the land improve. He was always striving to provide better facilities for the Berwick Show and that drove the development of the park.
When Berwick Show moved from Buchanan Park to its present site, Jack was involved in transporting the show’s rotunda. He was also part of setting up the flourishing Akoonah Park Men’s Shed.
Without the wisdom of Jack and
his leadership within the various committees he has chaired, we’d never have seen the development, nor the financial stability to allow the ongoing maintenance of this beautiful reserve.
Jack was also chief marshall of
the City of Casey’s Riding of the Bounds, a tribute to a centuries-old tradition in sister city Berwick upon Tweed, England, for 25 years.
A celebrated annual custom, the riding saw Jack direct up to 200 riders on a route through local streets and along Casey’s border with the Shire of Cardinia, mirroring the British tradition which inspected the border with Scotland.
Jack was the only man you’d ever think of to run an event like that because he had the knowledge and the skills and he knew the country.
Jack was the Royal Melbourne Agricultural Show ringmaster from 1984 to 1995 and received a Medal of the Order of Australia for his services to primary industry.
He’s a man that played an indelible part in my life, and the mateship that happened along the way! His memory will be cherished forever.
By John Follett
Jack Rae at the Melbourne Royal Parade in the 80s
24 THE OUTDOOR SHOWMAN
Melbourne Show Ringmaster 1987
Jack Rae OAM 1986
For further stories on Jack Rae OAM please visit
www.melbourneroyal. com.au/virtual- museum/collection/ royal-melbourne- show/ringmaster- jack-rae-oam