As unit controller for Wyndham SES, Laurie Russell has a cool head in a crisis. The 72-year-old Werribee resident tells Charlene Macaulay about memorable call-outs and his new-found passion for cruising.
What’s your connection to the Wyndham area?
I came here in 1977, we lived in the Dandenongs, in a town called Upwey, prior to that. I brought my wife and four kids down here to take up a job with the then Shire of Werribee as a parks superintendent. The job was full of challenges on a daily basis, and I tend to thrive on a challenge. When I first came here, my job description was to manage parks and reserves for a population of 18,900 people. Now, there are more than the number of people in Wyndham Vale itself. I retired a while ago.
What do you like about living in Werribee?
When we left Upwey, we were given a big send-off by the fire brigade and the remark was made to us that we’d be back – but we’ve had no ambition to go back. Being part of this community, and seeing it evolve around us, is a good feeling.
You’re a founding member of Wyndham State Emergency Service (SES) – why did you put your hand up for the job?
The state government at the time was on a push to increase the SES units across the state, and the then Shire of Werribee was looked at as being an area that needed an SES unit. Both Gerald Greenwood, who was the original unit controller, and myself, worked for the council and were basically directed to start it up by our great friend, the late John Nicol.
I have been unit controller for more than 20 years, and I’m also on the board of directors of the SES.
Tell me about some of the more memorable call-outs you’ve had through Wyndham SES.
The call-outs that stick in your mind is the ones you do for the people who need you the most, and they are normally the elderly. They will go out of their way to make sure that they say thanks in their own particular way.
What other hobbies do you have?
My wife and I over the last few years have got a passion for cruising. We’ve been on six so far, we try to do one a year.
I’ve got nine grandchildren and five great-grandchildren, and they keep my occupied. I think in this day and age, you learn from your grandkids – you try to direct them, but you learn from them too just by talking and listening. We’ve got an extremely close-knit family.
