A minor softball umpire and soccer referee in Coquitlam for more than 40 years, 80-year-old Mike Orason prefers to talk about anything but himself.
In fact, his wife of 55 years, Eunice, had to coax him to put down the weed-eater with which he was grooming his lawn Monday to come to the phone to speak with a Tri-City News' reporter.
It's not that Orason's being at all flippant or dismissive. He's just busy.
Very, very busy.
To offer a clearer picture, Orason was honoured with a plaque recognizing his long-time service and dedication from the Coquitlam Minor Softball Association on Sunday at Mundy Park. Immediately after the ceremony, he scooted across the field to umpire a softball game, then followed it up by calling balls and strikes at a second straight contest.
Orason simply shrugged it off as happily doing his duty. "It's good for me," says the ever-spry Orason, who's also worked as a volunteer for the area food bank's Meals on Wheels program for 18 years. "I'm still in pretty good shape. It takes time, sure, and sometimes cuts into family stuff, but I just don't like to say no."
Orason said he didn't know what to think when CMSA president Marty Tilt called to invited him to the park to be recognized, and he certainly didn't know what to say when he was handed the microphone at one juncture.
"I didn't really think too much about it, but then I got tongue-tied when it came time to give my speech," said Orason, who worked much of his life as a log scaler with the B.C. Forest Service. "I've met a lot of great people along the way [umpiring and refereeing]... it's turned out to be a life-long journey. There are so many others out there who give so much of their time, too. More should get recognized for it."
Bill Sanderson has umpired with Orason for 15 years and believes there's nobody more worthy of a huge pat on the back than the latter. "Mike is a very modest man who has worked tirelessly without any expectation of recognition," Sanderson said. "I think he is a tremendous role model. I don't think I will ever know anyone in my lifetime who has done so much in our community."
Orason has learned to grow a thick skin when umping softball and whistling soccer games, which he still does -- but only on the lines and not in the often-frantic middle of the park anymore.
"A lot of the younger referees can't take the static so they stop doing it," he said. "I just show up to do my job and hopefully nobody complains too much. My thinking [in softball] is you can't change the umpire, you just have to learn to live with him."
