Eric Isaachsen – Inaugural President, 1974-79
In 1973 Eric Isaachsen was a final year medical student at The University of Western Australia (UWA). Isaachsen was one of Gary Aitken’s UAAC team mates joining with Aitken on training runs and other club activities. Isaachsen shared Aitken’s need to do something interesting when running through the hills on Sunday mornings. Aitken invited Isaachsen along to the November 18th event. Although it was a warm time of the year Isaachsen was enthused and revelled in the challenges presented by orienteering. (1)
Imbued with enthusiasm Isaachsen attended the next event and this was the beginning of a twelve-year commitment. Isaachsen learnt from Aitken how to field work orthophoto maps and developed skills of his own as a fieldworker and mapmaker. Isaachsen and Aitken as a team were responsible for the fieldwork and cartography of five maps in 1974 alone. In addition to this Isaachsen set courses and spent a considerable time finding suitable locations to map and negotiated with landowners such as the Forestry Department, Metropolitan Water Board and the Public Works Department. Isaachsen negotiated with landowners at Yanchep to map their area to produce a Trim course.
As noted in Chapter 10, Isaachsen had a great deal of experience representing different sporting groups and so was an excellent choice for President, a position he held from 1974 to 1979 when he and his wife left WA for the United Kingdom.
Trevor O’Sullivan – Inaugural Treasurer, 1st August 1974 – 11th March 1976
Trevor O’Sullivan became OAWA’s first treasurer at a time when some considerable development was required. Gary Aitken and Eric Isaachsen had put into practice a system of collecting event fees and purchasing assets for the association but not even an informal position of treasurer had eventuated. Once O’Sullivan was elected, he, with the sanction of the Executive at that time, set up membership fee structures, event fees for non-members, set up accounts and resolved monies from before August 1974. (2)
Gary Aitken – Secretary, 18th November 1973 (officially 1st August 1974) – 5th December 1982
The secretary’s role in an organisation is pivotal as it clearly involves communicating not only within the organisation but also with external bodies. The secretary is usually the least visible of the office holders and it is often the most difficult to fill at election. Not enough has been written about Secretaries because they tend to do the writing. Also, the Secretary does not present a report to the AGM. This means that all we have to go on is implied by the activities of the association.
Whilst organising orienteering in WA in 1973-4, Gary Aitken combined the role of president, treasurer and secretary by taking charge and communicating not only with the eastern states orienteering associations but also with government and quasi-government organisations in WA to achieve particular aims. As more people began to be drawn into the orienteering organisation Aitken began to devolve some of the activities he was undertaking. Eric Isaachsen took on a number of promotional and mapping activities to assist, whilst Aitken wrote numerous letters to government and non-government organisations in the role of secretary of an organisation which was yet to be formally convened. With the formation of the OAWA on August 1st 1974 the position of secretary was taken up by Aitken. President and Treasurer duties now devolved to the formal position holders and Aitken was free to concentrate on secretarial duties. In 1976 Aitken took on the role of Newsletter Editor which was shared from time to time with OAWA President Isaachsen. In 1978 Roy Hiller and Sue Osborne took over the Newsletter Editor role leaving Aitken to focus on the role of OAWA secretary. At this time Aitken also was involved with the development of relationships with the OFA representing the OAWA from time to time.
Aitken’s main achievements as secretary were to develop relationships with government bodies such as the Metropolitan Water Board, Forests Department, Public Works Department, the CRC, and the Education Department; with schools; with The University of Western Australia; with teachers’ colleges; with Wembley Technical School and with non and quasi government bodies such as the Kings Park Board, the Scouts and Guides movements and other service organisations. Aitken’s ability to convince these bodies of the benefits of orienteering and to develop meaningful relationships with them has been a bonus for the OAWA because the good reputation pioneered by Aitken put the OAWA in an honourable position for later years.
References
1. Interview with Eric Isaachsen August 2006
2. Minutes of First OAWA Executive (Council) meeting
Photo: Clipping from Northern Suburbs Weekly (a small local newspaper) around the time of OAWA formation. Click to enlarge.
