DUBBO'S recipient of a Medal of the Order of Australia in the Queen's Birthday 2015 Honours List is not quite sure where to put his OAM.
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Graeme John Board, 58, of Brocklehurst, is known to all and sundry by his forever nickname, "Boardy".
"I don't know if you can say Boardy OAM or not," he said.
"I like to be known as Boardy. I don't think it fits with Boardy."
The married father of four, community stalwart and cancer-prevention advocate is cracking jokes as he hesitantly steps into the limelight.
Mr Board would like to share it with the people who have mentored and supported him in business, volunteer organisations and trying times.
"I've always said the easiest job in any organisation is to head it up, because you've got smart people around you and they make it all work," he said.
A "very humbled and overwhelmed" Mr Board is among 519 recipients of awards in the general division of the Order of Australia.
They are being acknowledged for contributions and service to their fellow citizens in Australia and internationally.
Chairman of the Council of the Order of Australia, Air Chief Marshal Sir Angus Houston, said the awards reflected service across a broad range of fields.
He said awardees demonstrated the qualities of positive role models and were "not only worthy of respect but encourage emulation".
"These awards also recognise the quiet achievers in our midst," the council chairman said.
"They are people who serve the community, but do not seek accolades."
Mr Board's award is for service to "primary industry and to the community of Dubbo".
Born in Sydney, he arrived in Dubbo at the age of four when his father took up a job in the city as a wool classer.
At the age of 15 Mr Board left school and headed to the saleyards where he filled various positions including sales clerk, yardman and stockman. "I learned my trade as an auctioneer in the pig yards and the calf yards, just watching the experienced auctioneers who were in Dubbo," he said.
"I learnt from the best."
After a stint "chasing rodeos" in Queensland, a young Mr Board returned to Dubbo where he found life-long love and a career path as a livestock and property agent.
He owned and ran Graeme Board and Company for 20 years before a breast cancer diagnosis in 2006 shifted his focus to family made up of "wonderful" wife Corrina, and children Kerra, Lucy, Lachlan and Sophie.
Health concerns and a need to "get out of the elements" prompted the stock and station agent to "move into real estate" in 2013.
His auctioneering skills have remained in demand, at work and in the community.
Mr Board has lost count of the number of times he has stood in front of a crowd as a volunteer auctioneer, helping to raise money for a charity or good cause.
It's just one of the ways he has made a mark on the community.
President is a title that "Boardy OAM" has often worn.
From 1996 to 2000 he was president of the organisation now called the Australian Livestock and Property Agents Association, of which he is a life member.
Mr Board was also president of the Dubbo Livestock Agents Association for many years.
He led the Dubbo Show Society from 2001 to 2010 and currently serves as its vice president.
Showground signage suggests the society's affection and regard for the man who calls its members "family".
Mr Board has held the position of president of the Dubbo Rugby Club since 2001 and the Dubbo Outback Dragon Club since 2010.
He was introduced to the Kangaroos by his father-in-law and expects the connection will "never end".
The Outback Dragon Club has a "nucleus of breast cancer survivors" that includes Mr Board.
Whenever possible he helps the Western NSW Local Health District encourage men to "get checked".
In 2014 Mr Board was named Dubbo's Citizen of the Year.
The OAM recipient enjoys his community commitments and the chance to "put something back" into the city.
"In all the areas I have been involved in, people have been wonderful," he said.
"While ever I can be involved in the community I will be."
Mr Board does not know who nominated him for an OAM, which may be for the best.
"I'd like to ring their necks if I could find them," the jokester said.