Colin Ball: the bull rider, butcher, business owner and beach-goer of the Macleay

A Macleay man born and bred, Mr Ball has lived in only two homes during is 86 years; on the farm "the other side of Kinchela" and his current home in South West Rocks.

In 1951, at the young age of 14, Mr Ball's life's work as a butcher and decades-long involvement in Surf Life Saving began.

Mr Ball continues to help run the family owned business Balls Butchery in South West Rocks' town centre, recently buying cattle from his hospital bed. During his stay at Kempsey District Hospital, he was also awarded an Order of Australia Medal (OAM) for his service to Surf Life Saving in the King's Birthday 2023 Honours List.

Macleay Argus reporter Ellie Chamberlain visited Mr Ball in Kempsey hospital on June 8 to learn more about the life of the local legend.

Born on March 19, 1937 in East Kempsey, Mr Ball grew up on the Longreach farm which was in the family from 1862.

He rode horses to school and on the weekends and got into rodeos as a young teenager. "We used to ride the calves at home when we were little," said Mr Ball.

At age 16, he won a state title at Kempsey Showground and in the same year, 1953, took out the award for 'Best Stock Horse' at the Australia Bushman Carnival.

He had two horses, Zipper and Tax, who were forever winning him awards.

"Zipper was undefeated and Tax always came second to him" said Mr Ball. "If you saw [Zipper] on the street you couldn't take your eyes off him, he was unreal".

In 1960 he won the "the big Apex" in Armidale for bull riding. "Forty pounds was the prize money," he recalled.

Mr Ball has fond memories of his rodeo days, winning a number of medals. "I cleared up all the young fellas my age," he said. "I very rarely got bucked off".

While he spent his after school hours riding bulls and horses, Mr Ball spent his school holidays at the beach.

His Aunty Vera had The Heritage Guesthouse where the family stayed, spending their days sun-baking, body surfing and fishing at South West Rocks.

In 1951 Colin Ball's father Charlie Parnell Ball purchased the butchers shop in South West Rocks' main strip to provide employment for his three sons, Colin, Kevin and Charlie.

In that very same year, at the young age of fourteen Mr Ball left school to begin his work at the family's butchery, and was made a director of the business "straight away".

During the same year, Mr Ball began his involvement with South West Rocks Surf Life Saving Club.

He was part of the Boat Crew from 1956 spending years competing and winning awards. He went on to run Nippers carnivals, was president of the branch for ten years and in 2013 was made a life member along with his late wife Pam.

Mr Ball is also a life member South West Rocks Country Club. He was on the board for over a decade and after years of sponsoring the surf club, he recalls raising 3.5 million dollars for the Country Club over 19 years of Sunday meat raffles.

Balls Butchery has now been running for over 70 years, winning numerous awards over that time.

Mr Ball is still involved in the business and like his father before him, he has provided two of his own sons, Grahame and Geoff, with a full time livelihood. You can also find his grandson Billy behind the butcher counter.

The family ran a second butcher in Gladstone for 11 years from 1963. In 1974 they closed this store, but opened another in Kempsey until 2019.

Supplying all stores with their own cattle of the brand name Arakoon Beef, Balls Butchery also offers seafood, selling Ball's own shucked oysters since 2016 and expanding to locally caught prawns.

The surf and turf business model is a homage to the character of Mr Ball and his life as a butcher and beach-goer.

Over 50 years of marriage

Mr Ball met his wife Pam Benson in 1959. They remained life partners and "good mates" until she passed away in 2021.

The couple met at the Royal Hotel in Port Macquarie. Mr Ball was there with his boat crew after a successful Surf Life Saving Carnival. Ms Benson, a Kempsey girl, was out socialising with a group of girlfriends.

"We had won a boat race that day and so we went out for some drinks and saw the Crescent Head girls there," Mr Ball said.

"I didn't ever know Pam from a bar of soap, but she knew who I was".

The pair got talking that night. They continued getting to know each other for the next four years and in 1964 they tied the knot at a little church in South West Rocks.

Colin and his late wife Pam have four children; Dianne, Richard and twins Grahame and Geoff who help run the family butcher.

"I'm very proud of my family. Why wouldn't I be," says Mr Ball.

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