Boon, the 5ft 6in Tasmanian with the flared pants who fielded at short leg, was a cult figure with cricket fans for many reasons — the one we will focus on is his moustache.
“I just signed it and smiled,” Ken said.
“He walked up to me with a heavy accent and said, ‘excuse me sir, would you happen to be the Australian cricketer David Boon?’
“I just nodded and signed. It has happened a fair bit over the years.”
With November — and Movember — upon us, we felt it was fitting to recognise one of the area’s most famous moustaches.
Movember is an annual event staged during the month of November to raise awareness of men's health issues, such as prostate cancer, testicular cancer and men's suicide.
Such is the impact the facial hair on Ken’s top lip has had during his many years of attending sporting events and running his Ray White real estate business in the Campaspe region, that he was our go-to for the promotion of the month-long awareness program.
Ken has only removed the moustache twice in 49 years. The first time his own son didn’t recognise him and the second was when he agreed to take part in Movember in its very early stages.
“It was almost 20 years ago (Movember started in 2004) and I was convinced to shave it off. They did it in the main street of Rochester,” he said.
Ken was known as Pancho (another reference to the moustache, having Mexican connotations) on the football field in his playing days with Lockington.
He, and his moustache, adorn the walls of the clubrooms in 12 premiership photos. Ken played in two senior flags, nine reserve grade pennants and one under-16 flag.
He played until he was 43 years of age, so the moustache won its share of admirers in league circles.
As for his professional life, he ignored the early advice at the Ray White school for real estate agents.
“They were talking about facial hair on real estate agents in Melbourne at this event and recommended not to have any,” he said.
Ken worked on his Lockington farm before moving into real estate, and his wife of the past 56 years, Norma, has always been a fan of the 76-year-old’s moustache.
“She loves it,” he said.
Neither of his sons, Jamie or Travis, have attempted to grow a moustache.
Ken had an immediate response to the moustaches he admired most.
“Dipper, by far, and David Cloke wasn’t too bad either,” he said.
As for Movember, the message was clear.
“It’s a great cause and a great thing to create awareness,” he said.
“I support the program, but the moustache won’t be coming off.”
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