Mark McNabb has been outstanding in his field, lawn mowing, mulching and weeding Nelson’s parks and reserves since 1976.
The 64-year-old Nelmac employee will put the final touches to his career and retire on 24 November after more than four decades keeping green spaces pristine.
Mark says he grew an interest in land care as a mini mower but didn’t expect it to be his life’s work.
“When the opportunity came, I took it quick, I first started with a walk behind mower, I did a lot of the edging work round the reserves and parks where the big tractors couldn’t get close,” he says.
“I did that for eight years and then the boss said, ‘I wouldn’t mind having you on the tractor and doing some mowing, would you like to do that’, and I said, ‘I would like to have a change from walking behind a mower’.
“Most of the time you’re working by yourself, so in the wintertime you enjoyed having a break from mowing because you get on with the other guys and you end up planting trees and mulching round trees, I’ve probably mulched half of Nelson two or three times.”
Mark says technology growth had provided a cut above, but it wasn’t always clean-cut.
“Later on [Nelmac] got sit-on mowers which are a lot easier and give a real cut, the [walk behind mower] was about a 20ft cut with one big blade, and the trouble was it made a neat job of cutting but if it hit a stone, it would knock them 100 yards quite easily,” he says.
“I probably put the odd dent in a car, but you didn’t always know you’d done that until [drivers] said ‘hey, you’ve put a dent in my car’.”
Mark says gazing across his freshly-cut grass gave him an edge.
“I had one guy when I was mowing at Fairfield Park who reckoned I was a professional because he said, ‘you keep this park like a bowling green’,” he says.
“When I first started, I was working near a reserve and this old lady came to me and said, ‘my husband’s too crook and he can’t mow the lawns anymore, would you like to mow our lawns, and I said ok then’. I ended up doing that for 18 years.”
Mark says he planned to spend his retirement restoring stationary engines and continue his long service at Nelson Vintage Engine and Machinery Club.
“I’ll also probably check up on the lawns to see that they mow them as good as I have after I’ve left,” he laughs.
Nelmac’s mowing team leader, Murray Thorn, says Mark has been an “extremely loyal employee” and that he would be “sorely missed.”
“It is a true testament and a tribute to Mark that he has put so much effort into keeping the sports fields looking great and more importantly, playable for all users to enjoy,” he says.
“When talking to Mark, you could feel the pride he had in maintaining the sports fields, while keeping his John Deere tractor looking sharp, performing all the maintenance checks that ensured the mower was always ready for work.
“Go well Mark, enjoy the well-deserved break, Nelmac has been a better place having you as part of the team.”
