A tribute to Alan Meyer

President Rebecca, my fellow Rotarians and Guests, it is my great honour to present this tribute to Alan Cuthbert Meyer a highly respected Rotarian from October 1967 to his passing on 29th July 2022.

This tribute aims to reflect the life of a man well lived.  A man who contributed greatly to the Rotary Club of Waimate and his community. He will be long remembered as a person of great integrity, booming voice, a matter-of-fact persona, clear intellect and great sense of humour. – example when asked at a recent club meeting on his recognition of 55 years service, he was asked – “how do you do it Alan” – his answer “just wake up each morning I suppose”

On another example of his matter of fact persona in his Rotary biography and I quote “When asked what kept him coming back every week to Rotary  for 50 years he said. “That’s easy,it’s the friendships, camaraderie and the fellowship.  Why wouldn’t I keep coming back.

Alan was born in 1924 and from that moment farm life at Akatere dominated. He was one of four children, the oldest Wilfred, Stuart, John and Margaret.  He was married to Patti for 72 years with three sons, Bruce, Alister and Gerald.

In terms of service to rotary outside of consistent attendance at many projects:

Rotary Service

Community Service

Probably the first farmer north of the Waitaki to supply P.P.C.S. with lambs.

Alan recalled early farming years were tough.  Early farm life did not include electricity, cooking was by coal range and candle light and his mother regularly had 10 – 11 people at the dinner table. The heavy hauling and cultivation wasdone by horse.

Later on Alan remembered his late teen war years on the farm. Again I quote from his Rotary Biography  “I remember 1 year we grew about 150 acres of flax.  Our nearest factory for processing the flax was at Makikihi.  The crop was harvested with flax pullers towed behind tractors.  The puller pulled the crop out of the ground and bound it into sheaves which were stoked till dry then picked up in large 4 wheeled trailers towed by rubber tyred tractors and taken to Makikihi to be processed.  We were always told that the linen was required for the fabric on aircraft wings etc”    

Alan was a noted farmer.  Akatere become a model farm under his stewardship.  He developed the Drysdale sheep breeding pool having a great interest in this bred and its strong wool for carpet making

Alans passion for trees saw expanded plantings on Akatere.  He was actively involved in the South Canterbury Branch of the NZ Farm Forestry Association for over 60 years.  Alan was a foundation member of the branch and an early Chairman. He was a member of the National Executive from 1963- 1967

Alan and Patti were awarded Sach Dolmar’s South Island Farm Forester of the year in 1982.  Akatere, now farmed by his sons, is living evidence of this award and also the passion Alan had for trees.  In the early 1990’s he generously gifted an area of land for a Macrocarpa mixed genus trial which has continued to be monitored by Crown Forest Research and visited by branch members and interest groups.

Alans interest in trees also pointed him to dendrology, the science and study of woody plants, specifically, their taxonomic classifications.  Alan was eventually recognised by the International Dendrology Society for having discovered an upright form of red oak on his farm plantings.  The tree has been botanically named Quercus rubra fastigata. It is more widely known, cultivated and now sold commercially in nurseries throughout the world, as the Akatere Oak.

Alan was a self-taught engineer of great renown locally, proof of his intellect and analytical abilities to provide engineering solutions to the farming operation.  

As Rotarians we are exposed to his abilities for making all sorts of contraptions and gadgets on his Jet Boat.  He was an avid fisherman and a founder of our annual fishing weekends where some might say his use of all of the gadgets on his jet boat actually distracted him for doing a lot of fishing!

On these weekends he would regale us of previous incidents and so on during fishing weekends.  This was a source of great entertainment and laughter sometimes imbibed of course with a couple of Scotlands finest single malts.

I conclude be recording my great respect and admiration of Allan Meyer.  On our trips to fielddays and the like, the topic of conversation was of course trees.  I learnt a great deal about trees from Alan.  He was a veritable walking  encyclopaedia, an extraordinary knowledge that was also imparted to others during fielddays.  What Alan Meyer did not know about trees was not worth knowing

I was extremely thrilled when Alan asked me to deal with his extensive library when he passed as he couldn’t bring himself to do it.  I am delighted with Patti’s consent, his library will be the foundation stone for a tree and history focussed library in a future Bushtown Auditorium and learning centre.  I belief Alan would be thrilled with that outcome.

My fellow Rotarians lets us not ever forget the fine Rotarians that we have heard about tonite.  They are inspirational and provide us with goals and aspirations which encourage us to achieve in our lives.  On that basis I am honoured to have known and been around Alan Meyer.