Community art: Allen Bawden at work on the mural on the tennis wall at Denial Bay.
ALLEN Bawden has overseen many things in his time as president of the Denial Bay Progress Association (DBPA), and has enjoyed helping to further develop the community of Denial Bay.
Originally born in Tumby Bay and growing up in Port Neill, Allen spent a large amount of his life living in the Northern Territory.
Allen moved up north shortly after marrying his wife Cheryl in 1979, spending most of their lives together living around Darwin.
Cheryl worked as a teacher while Allen was principal of schools in Darwin.
Allen said he became heavily involved with community work during this time.
“I have always had a heavy involvement in community work, which included a lot of voluntary work,” he said.
Allen retired in 1998, and the couple would then move to wherever Cheryl found schoolwork, including on Kangaroo Island.
They were living at Coffin Bay when Cheryl found work available in Ceduna, so they moved up to the Far West Coast, settling into the community of Denial Bay.
Shortly afterwards, Allen joined up with the DBPA, when Greg Sleep was president.
Allen said Greg came to him about taking on his role shortly before leaving for Port Lincoln in 2009.
“Greg and I worked together a lot, and he came to me and suggested I should fill in the vacant position,” he said.
During his time as DBPA president, Allen oversaw the completion of many projects, including establishing a walking trail around the village, the youth activity pad, putting lights in and around the toilet block, creating a Denial Bay cabinet for the Ceduna National Trust Museum and providing Denial Bay Progress Association with their own pennant.
Allen also oversaw the restoration of the Denial Bay jetty crane, which sits in its restored state within the village.
Under his term as president, Denial Bay’s Whiting float was also constructed and won the Best Community Float for the Oysterfest Parade for two years in a row.
Allen said the projects were about giving Denial Bay something to display and call its own.
“The different projects during my time as president were about creating an identity for Denial Bay, things we can call our own,” he said.
“Ron Martin deserves thanks for mechanically maintaining the Denial Bay Oysterfest float, and I hope it can be used in parades and to deliver Santa to the children’s Christmas parties for years to come .”
Recently, Allen has been busy in creating art, with the murals on the tennis wall and toilet block.
Together with several volunteers, Allen has worked to create a mural depicting the marine landscape of Denial Bay.
Allen said it has been a worthwhile project to do.
“With this mural, I appreciate the opportunity to create a large piece of artwork,” he said.
“Many tourists who have come to Denial Bay have already taken photos of the mural and have commented on how striking it is and how it stands out when approaching the town.”
However, after three years Allen Bawden recently stepped down from his position as DBPA president, but intends provide assistance in future Denial Bay projects.
While Progress Association affairs weren’t personally taxing on him, Allen is surprised about how much leisure time he now has to engage in activities around the home and around Denial Bay.
These include tending to his big garden, going fishing or working on his hobbies out in the shed, including woodturning and creating model boats out of recycled materials.
He plans to add to this year’s Jetty Market with a craft stall to display some of these creations.
Both Allen and still remain active in education, Cheryl does work at Ceduna Area School and Allen invigilates external university exams for several universities around Australia, including University of Adelaide and Monash University.
Allen said during his tenure with the DBPA, he received great support from the community.
“During my tenure, I had great support from the District Council of Ceduna, the office was always willing to provide assistance to any Denial Bay projects,” he said.
“Thank you also to the old committee for the assistance they provided and their big efforts put into community enterprises.”
“It’s been a pleasure to contribute to the Denial Bay community.”