Norm still packs a punch at 103. 47530
By Mara Pattison-Sowden
NORM Golding still remembers more than 100 fights he won as a boxer as if it was yesterday.
His boxing came in handy more than 80 years ago when the workers on the Upper Yarra Reservoir had a bit too much to drink at the pub.
“I was pleased with how I kept the peace at the Upper Yarra dam,” he said.
The Upper Yarra’s most well-known identity shared many more memories with friends and family when he celebrated his 103rd birthday last Saturday.
His favourite stories focus around his boxing and as a volunteer fire-fighter, but don’t get him started on back-burning.
When the notorious fires of 1939 swept over the hill towards Powelltown, Mr Golding said he knew the only way to save the town was to back-burn.
“I got told they would jail me if I did it, but I did it anyway,” he said, with a cheeky grin.
His daughter Beth Golding said her father wasn’t the type to sit back and do nothing.
“Dad was never afraid of standing up and speaking for himself,” she said.
Mr Golding was recognised for his contribution to the community with a framed certificate from the Royal Humane Society of Australia.
“Norm Golding risked his life repeatedly in rescue work in the Powelltown districts in January 1939,” says the citation.
The bronze medal that accompanied the certificate still holds pride of place among his many treasured belongings.
Mr Golding has lived in the Yarra Valley for more than 80 years, where he married and raised a family, ran several businesses, became a shire councilor and contributed to numerous community and sporting organisations.
Family and friends joined Norm for his birthday with a barbecue function last weekend at the Mess Hall at the Upper Yarra Dam.
Norm Golding’s contribution to the Upper Yarra area has earned him the title of a “living legend” – and it’s a title he continues to live up to.
