Mr Ladson said he felt honoured to have received this recognition, which is accompanied by an ‘honorary member of Rotary’ — the highest distinction the club can bestow.
Deniliquin Rotary president Angela Frino said Mr Ladson has shown his unwavering commitment and passion to the community through his years as a Rotarian.
‘‘It has been such a pleasure and honour having Neville part of the club,’’ she said.
‘‘He has done so much for his community, and made Rotary incredibly proud.’’
Mr Ladson was just 29 years old when he joined Rotary in 1981, making him the youngest member at the time.
Since then he has served the community in many different ways.
He has been a key player in the introduction of various events and infrastructure to the town, and has held every executive position possible in the club— including being president twice.
In his position as community service director, Mr Ladson had a hand in the erection of the Island Sanctuary bridge, put heavy groundwork into the de-velopment of the walking track along the river and helped intro-duce the safety house program to Deniliquin.
In his first stint as president in the 1980s, Mr Ladson organised a group of 15 students from Germany to come to Deniliquin on a Group Study Exchange program, supported through the Rotary Club.
‘‘The group of students were young people between the ages of 20 and 25, who were organised to study their profession hands on in Deniliquin and immerse themselves in the community for a few weeks,’’ he said.
Since then, the club has received students from Brazil and Canada through this program.
In his second stint as president in 2005 to 2006, he supported the Rotary Student Exchange initiative, which saw Brazilian student Bruno hosted by the club and attend school for a few weeks in Deni.
During his many years of service, Mr Ladson has also manned the Ute Muster gates with the club, has been the ‘face’ of Carols by Candlelight and more recently led the revision of the club’s constitution and by-laws.
Of all the initiatives Mr Ladson has been involved with, he said the biggest and most welcomed change he has seen in his time at Rotary was the admission of women to the club.
He joined when the club was still a ‘men only’ institution.
While Mr Ladson is ‘‘slowing down a bit’’ with his work in the community, he said being a part of Rotary has been ‘‘good fun’’ and encourages new people to join.
‘‘It is great to be able to help the community and also help yourself develop as a professional,’’ he said.
‘‘The networking and social side of it is really great too.’’
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