Merrilyn Jay Gollan awarded Order of Australia Medal for her life’s dedication to show sector

Bunbury woman Merrilyn Gollan has been honoured with the Order of Australia Medal for her service to the agricultural show sector.

Mrs Gollan is most notably known for her work in the Royal Agricultural Society of Western Australia, joining as a member in 1948 to become the ring steward at the Perth Royal Show from 1988-2002 and chief arena steward from 2003-2018.

Mrs Gollan is also a life member of the Bunbury Horse and Pony Club, the Brunswick Agricultural Society and was the social secretary and member of the South West Over 55s Cycle Club from 2007-2022.

This is not the first recognition Mrs Gollan has received for her community efforts, winning the WA Volunteer Service Award in 2014 for recognition of more than 25 years of service.

She was also named Australian Volunteer of the Year in 2006.

Mrs Gollan said she was surprised when she received her OAM because she didn’t realise just how long her list of accomplishments was.

“It seemed an awful lot of things I’d done, it interested me because I hadn’t realised all the things I’ve done,” she said.

“You don’t do it for the recognition, you do it because you like helping people.”

Her love of agriculture and equestrian goes back to her childhood, growing up droving cattle along the Leschenault Estuary.

“Horses were a part of our life, we had to drive cattle from one farm — we had three farms — to the others, we had no road transport,” she said.

Mrs Gollan then developed a passion for show riding, first riding at the Royal Show at the age of 12, which led her to nearly representing Australia at international level.

“I was nominated as the WA representative for the first Olympic equestrian team in 1952 ... but when my name went in, the higher authorities were notified that women were not allowed to ride at the games,” Mrs Gollan said.

“It’s amazing thinking that that wouldn’t happen now ... it’s just one of the things that happened to me because I was a girl.”

Mrs Gollan said the response from her family had been heart-warming.

“One of my daughters who lives all the way in Queensland found a little snippet about me in the paper, so she printed it out and sent that to me,” she said.

“I was surprised, it’s a much bigger award than any of the Western Australian ones I’ve gotten ... I feel very honoured.”