Old Man River

Ted Chisholm was thanked for his ongoing commitment to Warburton by Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu a
Ted was one of 13 Victorians recognised at the 2011 Senior of the Year Awards presented by the Premier and the Minister for Ageing David Davis.
He was nominated by the Upper Yarra Valley Garden Club for his work as leader of the River Crew in building and maintaining the tracks, ramps, seats and lookouts along the stretch of the Yarra River that flows through Warburton.
Garden club secretary Janet Sowden said the club was “very proud indeed that he has been honoured in this fashion”.
Mr Davis said Ted could reflect on a lifetime of community service, but his most outstanding contribution to his community began when he was over 70.
“He is a much loved and admired member of his community. At Ted’s 90th birthday celebration the Mayor of Yarra Ranges aptly described him as a living treasure,” Mr Davis said.
“In the community, older Victorians undertake countless hours of voluntary work, making a huge difference to people’s well-being.”
Ted, now 92, and the band of hard-working volunteers known and admired as his ‘River Crew’ officially retired earlier this year after 21 years on the job.
“The river was just as good to me as I was to it,” he said.
And was he ever…a self-confessed workaholic, Ted said the men were out from dawn to dusk when they worked.
“We wore out a lot of gear,” he said.
“The river, it wants that extra touch.”
He said Warburton needed the river walk as much as anything in the town.
“What’s going to happen to the track worries me,” he said.
“I wish I was a bit younger…I had a few more plans up my sleeves.”
With the backing of the Warburton Advancement League, Ted began by hand-making 23 seats and 13 tables.
“I put them where I wanted to put them,” he said.
The accolades – and he has had a few over the years – don’t sit easily with Ted who says he could not have done it without his crew.
“We couldn’t have had a better gang,” he said.
“They backed me so honestly.”
He said his chaps had done just as much as himself, “I like that my name’s there (on Chisholm Park in Warburton) but I’d have loved their names to be next to mine,” he said.
Ted said he enjoyed a few good yarns with the Premier when he was presented his latest award at Government House on Friday 30 September.