John Lawton’s long association with Paraparaumu Table Tennis Club recognised

John Lawton has been made a life member of the Paraparaumu Table Tennis Club.

The accolade was announced at a club night in the Kpiti Uniting Parish hall on Thursday.

It was a packed night as players, including some who hadn’t been at the club for a while, attended the special night.

Lawton was given a special Trophy by the club’s Andrew Schofield, who is taking over the treasurer/secretary role that Lawton has held for about 35 years.

“It’s a remarkable amount of time and it would be remiss not to acknowledge it,” Schofield said.

“The club has been running for a long time, since about 1967, and John has been a key part of it.

“Thank you for keeping everything going all this time.”

Lawton remembered being asked by a club member to take on the role because he was good with figures.

“I thought ‘that doesn’t sound too arduous’.

“Three and a half decades later is just unbelievable.”

Club member Grant Ashton congratulated Lawton on his commitment to the club.

“You’re an all-rounder and you’re really great with people.

“You really care for people, and make it a really nice family atmosphere, so I just want to thank you.”

Laurie Fay Touched is Lawton’s competitive side.

“John used to always beat me and it had been going on for years.

“He was getting older, or maybe it was on a bad day, but I reckoned I could get him.

“We had this grueling game and I managed to beat him.

“I could tell he didn’t like it so there was a rematch straight away and he thrashed me 11-0.”

Lawton, who is still sharp around the table tennis table, took up the sport in 1956 when he was a 15-year-old.

He had left college and was working at a safety glass company, which later became part of the Pilkington glass company, in Birmingham, England.

“At that time, and it wasn’t that long after World War II, businesses were very keen on providing Recreation stuff for their staff.

“The company I went to had facilities for sports such as football, tennis, snooker as well as table tennis, which I discovered for the first time.”

“I went in a few lunchtimes to play table tennis and eventually got in the company’s team, which played weekly competitions against businesses in the area.”

“One competition, which stands out, was on a Thursday winter’s night, and we were going to play the very healthy guys at the Birmingham fire station.

“It was the foulest day I can remember with ice and snow everywhere.

“The other guys from my company were going in cars or motorbikes and I was going on the bus.

“When I got there at the appointed time of 7.30pm, there was no one from our team there but there were five strong firefighters waiting to play.

“I ended up playing all five of them in a row.

“I managed to survive, and it wasn’t too arduous, but I do remember falling asleep on the bus ride home and having to be woken up when I got to my destination.”

By 1982 Lawton, his late wife, four kids and dog, had immigrated to New Zealand where he landed a job as advertising manager at Todd Motors in Porirua.

Before long he was a member of the Paraparaumu Table Tennis Club.

“The game was hugely popular in those days.”

His long association with the sport continued and continues.

“I just love the game and enjoy the company of the people who play it.”