John Virgona — BEHIND THE BADGE
Posted by Peter Kavenagh on Aug 02, 2016
His grand-parents arrived from Salina (a small island near Sicily) in 1906.
Emigration was stimulated by the poverty induced by the vineyards being affected by Phylloxera in 1896-7.
His grandfather Giovanni opened a fruit shop at the T&G building in Geelong.
Giovanni’s brother opened the ABC Café in Moorabool Street which survived until the mid-1950s.
John’s father opened the Delphic Café and a sweet shop after his employment at the ABC Cafe ceased when it closed.
John worked in the sweet shop as a youth selling chocolates for the people enroute to the Cinema on Saturday nights.
John has four siblings and four surviving children.
He was educated at St Joseph’s College and The Gordon completing an electrical engineering diploma.
He began his working life with SEC in 1963 and worked for them and Alcoa until 1998.
Afterwards he entered a motel-ownership partnership for two years.
Then sweet retirement.
In 2001 he was invited by Trish Slack to join Rotary Bayside and has served as Secretary and President.