Mike said he loves the challenges of his work. As the parks supervisor he deals with the maintenance, development and infrastructure services for the Busselton area.

“My work covers sports grounds, festivals, mowing, grave digging, general maintenance through town, setting up the stinger net, keeping the town tidy after all events, vandalism cleanup and many more items, but with a good team these roles are fulfilled,” he said.

“It’s certainly an important role for the community and it keeps me busy. Summer is the busiest time of the year. I haven’t had a day off since before Christmas. But it quietens down after the summer months.”

Mike started working for the shire on the pothole truck, then moved to drainage and became a machine operator, which he did for seven years.

“I was employed on parks and gardens looking after the beachfront. A groundsman was required for Sir Stewart Bovell ovals so I put my hand up for it,” he said.

“It’s been a hard haul, but it’s been worth it and I’ve seen a lot of change. With machinery, the procedures and how things are done now are so different. You have to keep up with these changes otherwise you fall behind.

“I’ve been doing this type of work for 10 years and before that I focussed on parks and gardens for 18 years. All up I’ve been at the shire for 27 years. It’s certainly a challenging type of work, but I thrive on it.”

It’s not all ovals and parks that Mike works on; it’s also helping the shire with festival preparation and the festival post mortem.

“I spent four weeks looking after Southbound and more recently the Festival of Busselton,” he said.

“With the bonfire we had to get the backhoe to clean up the beachfront. We carted the mess and half-burnt wood away to make sure it was safe for surf lifesaving, which was on the next day, and for beach dwellers.”

Mike said he prefers the summer period because it’s a lot busier and challenging for him.

“I’m an outdoors person and I love a challenge,” he said.

“You don’t see results straight way and it’s a long process, but over the years you can see the results. People might not see what we do at the time, because we work behind the scenes, but keeping the town and grounds tidy does pay off.”