By LIAM DURKIN
BOAT building by trade, community building by extension.
Narracan local Michael Brennan has used his hands to build boats, all while providing a helping hand to youth in the Trafalgar community.
The boats will need a new captain, as Mr Brennan has disembarked on his mentorship with the Trafalgar Youth Resource Centre.
Mr Brennan was given a formal farewell recently, put on by grateful students and fellow volunteers from the resource centre.
The sprightly 85-year-old introduced a boat building program at Trafalgar High School, the result of which saw students learn practical lessons in mathematics, architecture and teamwork.
“We actually designed a 10-foot boat, small row boat and we did all the assembly at the school itself,” Mr Brennan said.
“It was a constant ongoing thing, the kids got very interested at it.”
Possessing an Irish tongue, which Mr Brennan admitted gave him the “gift of the gab”, students were eager to see their boat constructed from start to finish.
The finished product was tested on the waters of Lake Narracan, where sure enough, it floated safely.
The boat has since been donated to the Trafalgar Holden Museum, with Mr Brennan refurbishing it as a replica of a boat manufactured by General Motors.
Community has been a constant theme in Mr Brennan’s latter life, also serving the role of treasurer at the Trafalgar op shop for the last 15 years.
As Mr Brennan explained, the boat building program had a number of positive flow-on effects.
“I had one boy, today he is now a woodworker, he is so impressed with the woodworking that he came to be really good (at it),” he said.
“He’s now 23 years of age. I’ve been with him since Year 7. Every week he comes to the op shop and we are still great mates now. He’s gotten so involved with woodwork that he’s getting a lot of experience.”
The boat building program lent itself to Mr Brennan’s work as a mentor at the Trafalgar Youth Resource Centre.
As a mentor, he would partner with slightly disadvantaged students, helping them through their school years.
Mentors worked one-on-one with students in both social and formal environments, including going on walks around town together to check in on health and wellbeing.
“It is great for the kids, they love coming here,” he said of the youth resource centre.
“Quite a few we still keep in contact with. They’ve now progressed to different stages, different jobs and all.
“They are happy kids, they are really happy kids now more than when they first started.”
