Northland Field Days sound system maestro marks 40 years on the job

The 72-year-old tradesman has been setting up the sound system at the field days for 40 years.

Finlayson holds the distinction of being the only person to have served on the committee from day one. The first field days was held at Dargaville Racecourse 40 years ago.

For Finlayson, the biggest change has been the way the venue is set up for the annual event.

"Well, the infrastructure is easier to set up on our ground, because out at the old ground, the racecourse, you had to run all the pipes on the ground," he told Rural News.

"All the power and stuff, we had to leave it flat, so we had to put all the posts in and take them all out.

"It was much harder work back then because nowadays all the power, all the posts just stay in the ground where they are."

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Finlayson feels proud to have served on the organising committee for the past 40 years.

He says buying a greenfield site to run the field days was a turning point for the Northland Field Days committee.

"Back then, there was discussion that we had overgrown where we were.

"Also, we had to pay a sort of a lease thing to the racing club, which went up every year, as things do.

"The then president, Dave Phillips, elder brother of the current president, suggested that we just buy our own, and put the money into that."

Finlayson is looking forward to the 40th field days this month.

He's also looking forward to playing his part in the organising committee - putting up the poles and getting the speakers going.

Finlayson's task has been increasing over the years.

He recalls putting up eight speakers during the first field days. This month, he will be putting up 32 speakers at the 33ha site.