With a love for riding, stock work and helping others with their rural functioning, it was no surprise when Mr Wharton was recognised as the 2012 Scone and Upper Hunter Horse Festival Very Important Person (VIP).

As the organising committee puts the call out for nominations for this year’s esteemed member of the local equine and general rural community, Mr Wharton encouraged people to nominate and give other worthy people a pat on the back. 

Mr Wharton said he thoroughly enjoyed his year as the VIP, as he and his wife Dorothy were able to get around to a lot of the events and enjoy the festivities. 

“Although I was a bit surprised to be named VIP, it was a great honour and a great privilege.

“Overall it was very memorable and enjoyable,” he said. 

The highlight was a very fitting reward as Mr Wharton is a well known member of the local community having lived in the Scone or Gundy districts all his life.

Born at Brancaster Hospital, Mr Wharton and his sisters Beryl (Rowney) and Enid (Garland) were raised on their family property at Gundy.

The property ‘Hillgrove’ has been in the Wharton family since 1854 and these days is run by one of Mr Wharton’s two sons – John. 

Apart from a short time of dairying, ‘Hillgrove’ has predominantly been a beef cattle enterprise covering about 1200 acres between the townships of Gundy and Scone.

Back in his younger years there was an operational Gundy Public School, which is where Mr Wharton started his education before packing his trunk and heading off to Farrer Memorial Agricultural College for secondary.

However, the country man believes his real education started when he left school at the age of 15 and came home to help his father work the place. 

From that point on Mr Wharton has worked as a stockman, horse breaker, fencer, contract hay baler, carted cattle and any other jobs around the place. 

Although he is supposed to have retired a few years ago, at 82-years-old he still carts cattle today to help out John when needed. 

Mr Wharton recalls the days where he and Jack Rea and their children, drove 1928 head of cattle out of Glenrock Station, which he said was one of the biggest mobs he has ever taken.

Another predominant job was trapping and clearing out the rabbits, as often he would catch up to 25 pairs a night. 

Mr Wharton can’t remember learning to ride as he just always did it, they even rode to school and had a lot of fun riding to gymkhanas and rodeos to compete. 

“It was always good if you had a horse with a bit of buck in him, because you could have that out of him by the time you got to the event,” Mr Wharton said. 

After winning his first ribbon when he was just four-years-old there was no stopping the competitor in him, as he went on to compete in sporting events, rodeos and campdrafted until he was about 79-years-old. 

Throughout the years, Mr  Wharton has been present and volunteered his time on many committees, including the Scone and Gundy rodeo and campdraft committees, being president of Gundy’s committee for several years. 

He has been a regular parishioner of St Matthew’s Anglican Church at Gundy, and although they now live just north of Scone, Mr and Mrs Wharton still regularly attend services at Gundy.

Mr Wharton said he has always been more than happy to help out at all local events, as he was the president of the Gundy Public School P&C, a member of the Gundy Fire Brigade, and a trustee and past chairman of the Gundy Recreation Grounds and Gundy Soldiers Memorial Hall trusts. 

“I pretty much became involved in anything in the local community, and I loved it as I was carrying on a family                 tradition that my Dad had started. 

“He was on the committee that first built the hall after he returned from World War I,” he said. 

His son and grandsons now carry on his legacy by always taking part in Anzac and Remembrance commemorations in the district.

Mr Wharton was one of the driving forces behind the establishment of Shorty Cribb’s dream – the Roughriders and Campdrafters of Yesterday and Today. 

The group formed back in 2010 to recognise local roughriders, campdrafters and pick-up men who have passed, from the region spanning the Hunter River and have formed a memorial park in Coronation Park which will have additional plaques added to it in May.

 “I really enjoy being a part of this group as I feel we owe a lot to past riders and organisers of events and they deserve to be recognised,” Mr Wharton said. 

Another commitment Mr Wharton enjoys, is being a member of the Scone Masonic Lodge. 

He was the master of the lodge in 1970 and 1971, and has           fulfilled the role of master of ceremonies for several years, as well as holding many other office positions. 

Mr Wharton said he believes he has been very lucky to have a good wife throughout the past 57 years in which time they have had two sons – John and Andrew, and they now have three grandchildren.