Special feature: Volunteer Ken Bock awarded OAM

Fri, 23 February 2018

For more than two decades Ken Bock’s voice has been a part of the 2RPH broadcast, contributing as an Announcer and Presenter for programs such as Parish Pump, What’s the Buzz and People in Profile. It has been his remarkable commitment and dedication to giving back to the community that saw Ken awarded an OAM in January.

Ken’s significant service to the community follows a 40-year career with AMP, which saw him covering investments, unit trusts, insurance bonds and many others. He retired in 1997.

Here, Ken talks about his contribution to 2RPH and the public recognition of his service.

I joined 2RPH in… November 1995, after being accepted as a news reader when the 2RPH studios were in Marrickville and Tom Crozier was the Station Manager. I completed various live shifts for a year, in particular, the live Sunday evening reading of what was left over from the earlier daytime reading of the Sunday newspapers. I then trained as an Announcer under the tutelage of that colourful personality, David Rose, and in January 1997 became the Monday morning main readings announcer which, in those days, ran from 8.30am until 1.00 pm covering the Sydney Morning Herald, Daily Telegraph, The Australian and the Australian Financial Review. This covered two reading teams but the one announcer soldiered on for the full 4.5 hours! I continued in this role for some years before an eye health issue forced me to stop in 2005.

At 2RPH, I present… People in Profile, which began as a filler program and comprised many of the profile-type articles that were too long for Profile 8.30. I have since recorded just under 500 episodes of this program. This was a similar story with my other program, Kaleidoscope. It was also intended to be a filler with articles of general interest but was also made a permanent program and I have since recorded just over 450 episodes. I also regularly record Parish Pump, which I present on the second and fifth Sundays of the month, What’s the Buzz, which is the weekly noticeboard program and the Sunday morning and evening Radio & TV Guides. I also do one regular live shift, the Newcastle Herald, on Tuesday mornings and others, when needed and if time allows.

My involvement with 2RPH also extends to… having spoken about the station’s operations at Rotary, Probus and many other organisations when they have requested a guest speaker for their meetings. And, I have also been a 2RPH board member, but the pressures from other offices I hold in other organisations necessitated resigning from it.

Alongside 2RPH, my other commitments include… being a Churchwarden and Diocesan Reader in the Sydney Anglican Diocese, Treasurer of my local church, Treasurer and Immediate Past President of the Australia-Britain Society, a Life member of the Friends of St. George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, a 55-year member of the Masonic Order, and, over many years, I have appeared on the community theatre stage in plays and major musicals, and in pit orchestras. I also play sax and clarinet in big bands for balls and concerts.

I contribute my time to 2RPH because… I love my involvement at the station both from the viewpoint of helping others in need, but also from the satisfaction of performing on radio. I still enjoy it after all this time and on each occasion when I come to the studio to do my bit, I derive the same satisfaction as though I were doing it for the first time.