Glen Innes is celebrating local legend Jan Lemon receiving an Order of Australia Medal in the King’s Birthday Honours List this month. Jan’s commitment to her community is widely known, but we wanted to find out more, so Glen Innes News invited Jan to have a chat with us about her background and achievements and what makes this passionate communitarian tick.
Starting at the very beginning, Jan Lemon was born to Claude and Doris Rusbourne at Dalhousie Maternity Hospital, Glen Innes in 1948. She grew up on the family property ‘Caroona’ in the Reddestone area where her parents ran sheep and grew vegetables, particularly peas and carrots – “pea picking was a big thing in our lives because Dad had a big contract with Pict Frozen Foods in Glen Innes”. She grew up with two older sisters and a younger brother.
Jan attended St Joseph’s College from Kindergarten to Intermediate, and after leaving school did an Account Management Course at TAFE Glen Innes. Her first serious job was as a ‘checkout chick’ at Manahan’s Grocery Store in Glen Innes. In those days before computerised tills were invented, a cashier needed to remember all the prices, the discounts and work out the correct change.
In her early twenties, Jan started training with the National Australia Bank and left home to join the bank’s staff relief team travelling to different areas to act as a locum.
Jan then met the “sweetest man she has ever known”, Gordon Lemon from West Wyalong and they married in 1979. They became parents to Ben, now an accountant in Brisbane, and then Rebecca, now a vet in Tamworth who she declares are “both fabulous kids!’’. Jan is also a proud grandmother to Ethan, Georgina and Jasmine.
Tragically in 1983 when Jan’s children were just infants, her beloved Gordon died in a car accident. At the time the young family lived in Warren, NSW. Jan had to quickly learn how to navigate life as a single mother, working part-time with the Commonwealth Bank and driving the school bus run between Warren and Nevertire, accompanied by her little children.
It was a challenging time for Jan, and when her mother became ill – her father having passed away – Jan and her children returned to live with her mother in Glen Innes until she was able to move into the house next door.
Jan re-joined the NAB in Glen Innes, doing whatever role she could while the children were at school. Gradually she progressed to the full-time role of Bank Manager, an extraordinary achievement. She loved her time with NAB and described the staff there as “absolutely fabulous” with “amazing customers”. From her banking role she learnt the value of a good working relationship and the importance of valuing every customer. As she described it: ‘If you lose one customer, you literally need to replace that customer with two new customers.’
So how did Jan get so deeply involved with community work? She describes herself as always having been a “peoples’ person” and says she got this from her Dad. As a child she would go with her Dad to community events like the Rose Festival or fundraising for a new ambulance station. Fundraising included such things as frog jumping competitions and cray bobbing for a tagged cray in a local creek.
Jan’s early community activity seems to have been her involvement in sport. From the age of 15 she participated in basketball, tennis and squash. She also recalls youthful fun times at wool shed dances, designed to combine fun and fundraising, across the district in Pinkett, Red Range and Wellingrove.
Like many young parents, Jan’s own transition into a deeper commitment for the community coincided with her children’s school years, getting involved in the canteen and school sports. Then as her children left home to pursue their own careers Jan realised that she had more time to give and coincidentally a friend suggested that she come along to a Lioness (now Lion’s) Club meeting. In the 25 years since that fortuitous invitation, Jan has actively participated, and filled many executive roles along the way.
What she values most about the Lions Club is that while it raises funds for national programs, for example an eye health program, it strongly supports local organisations too. Its newest local initiative is an education scholarship for a Year 12 student from Glen Innes High or Emmaville Central School to assist with their future TAFE or university studies.
Joining Lions led Jan to participate in the Australia Day Committee beginning 25 years ago, and for over ten years, Jan has been the Chairperson of the Glen Innes Severn Australia Day Committee. Jan wants Australia Day to be celebrated for all Australians. “Glen Innes has amazing volunteers and it is nice to let them know they are appreciated even by just getting a nomination.” Jan should know – when she lived in Warren she received an Australia Day Sportsperson of the Year award for building and running the Warren squash competition.
Until the pandemic interrupted, Jan also volunteered at the Visitors Information Centre every Monday. Surprisingly for such a local, Jan said she learnt a lot about the area from the Centre. “When you are a single Mum, with kids playing sport every weekend, you have no time for sightseeing and taking drives” she said. When pressed for where she might take visitors to Glen Innes, Jan replied “There are so many things to do in this beautiful town and area. The Art Gallery, the museum, the Standing Stones, fishing, bike riding and an endless amount of sports and other things.”
Another of Jan’s major commitments is her role as a presenter on community radio station 2CBD. Being a presenter is actually the fulfilment of a childhood dream: “When I was 17 I wanted to be a radio presenter but of course there were no such jobs for women then.” That dream has certainly come true now. Jan hosts ‘Breakfast with Jan’ a couple of times a week, plus at least one other show and also presents at STA FM Inverell on Wednesday afternoons.
Late last year Jan became a founding committee member of Glen Innes News, feeling “desperate to have a local paper again”, bringing her wealth of community experience and network to our News team.
Reflecting on her community achievements, Jan in her typically positive way says “In some ways you can say I have been lucky, but even with unlucky situations, you have to be positive and learn from them. You can’t let tough get you.” Or to quote her familiar radio sign off “Keep on smiling”.
Congratulations Jan Lemon OAM!
