Rotary Club of Northlakes Toukley In Touch September 2013 | Page 5

DAVE TOOLEY Pp Phil Cohen A journalist friend once told me, “Mate, the main thing sharks do in Australia is sell newspapers.” And it’s true; media reports of shark attacks are ‘way out of proportion to the number, even the severity of those attacks. The same might be said of bikies. Of the half-million or so motorcyclists in Australia, far less than one percent are the source of most of the headlines. As for the rest, there is only one thing that’s true of them all: there are no two exactly alike. That’s certainly applies to Dave Tooley. Sitting astride his Harley Davidson, he looks every inch the bikie, but there is much more to the man than that. Dave was born in Albury and moved to Canberra at age 14. His first job was at Commonwealth Bank; it was then that he bought his first motorcycle, “To get away from the three-piece suit I wore to work,” he said. Obviously, a career in banking wasn’t in his future so after three years, he left to found work about as far removed from banking as he could get, first as an interstate truck driver, then as a garbo. That early-morning job left him with free time, so Dave started at the Canberra Institute of Technology, studying horticulture systems. This led to his own lawn mowing business, then into gardening and landscaping and finally, environmental, earth care and permaculture consulting, where he has run workshops on waste reduction, recycling and composting. He also worked with the Juvenile Detention Centre near Canberra teaching horticultural systems, providing career opportunities these boys would otherwise never have had. In 2002, Dave and his family moved to Cobargo in the Bega Valley, where they were to stay for the next ten years. His contributions to the community there led to him being voted Citizen of the Year. These days, Dave is a full-time carer. He moved to Pacific Lakes Estate in 2012 to be closer to his son and his two grandchildren. Dave has joined the PLE Fire Brigade and - another facet of this remarkable man’s talents - he has started teaching Tai Chi courses at Toukley, Norah Head and Wyongah. Anyone interested can contact him at [email protected] or on 0400-997-110. Dave first came to our notice when he took part in a charity motorcycle ride of over 100 riders. It wasn’t his first; he has done other rides in support of cancer research, men’s issues and other charity work. Environmentalist, teacher, carer, Tai Chi instructor and all-round good citizen – when you see (and hear) Dave riding by on his big Harley, you’ll know that you are looking at much more than ‘just another bikie.’ Rotary Club of Northlakes Toukley Page 5