He received his award for what amounts to a lifetime of community activities.

From 1983 till about five years ago, he taught at Braidwood Central School.

One of his concerns was the lack of activities for local young people. There was rugby league, but it was not a sport for everyone.

In the early 1990s, he was one of the people who established the Braidwood Soccer Club.

Girls were encouraged to join the teams ensuring enough players to make a local viable competition.

He ran the club with the assistance of other parents and interested people for about 15 years.

Back before networking of computers was common throughout schools, Mr Lang and the other maths/science teacher at Braidwood Central networked its Apple Macs. 

“This was before Microsoft PCs and you had to teach yourself how to do things because there was no one to come in and do it for you,” he said.

“We are pretty lucky here. Parents pitch in and help. It is a good community.”

Mr Lang used to drive the school bus, too, until he was medically retired because of ill health.

“Because of my health, I have surrendered my licence. Now my transport is a mobility scooter,” he said.

Mr Lang has also been a driving force behind the Braidwood Men’s Shed, including serving as its secretary.

His Monaro Service Award is also in recognition of this work and his helping out with greenkeeping and other volunteer jobs around the Bowling Club.

Scooting around Braidwood with his electric buggy has made Mr Lang aware of the number of people who rely on mobility machines to get around or aid others to get around.

He has also discovered that there are plenty of footpaths that come to an end and there is no safe way to get down onto the roadway to cross it.

“It is a growing problem in Braidwood that Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council needs to address,” he said.

“More people are using these mobility scooters or wheelchairs, and people pushing prams also have similar problems.

“The council needs to take a look at the access points including on the path by the river and ensure that people using mobility devices can safely use the paths.”