His name is Green, but his heart is made of gold.
For most of us, an ideal Sunday morning would involve a sleep-in and a cuppa in bed, but that’s not the case for Johnny Green. He’s up at dawn, lugging heavy wooden games into his van, bound for Auckland’s Central Flea market.
It’s pretty tough mahi for a man who is 94 years old and shows no signs of slowing down.
“I used to be a dance teacher. I used to be a wrestling coach. I’ve been to three Commonwealth Games as a wrestling judge. I was a bricklayer’s labourer for years, and I was a chef,” he recalled.
“I’ve always had bags of energy.”
These days, Green is focusing his boundless energy on collecting.
At his home, he has more than 11,000 egg cups and a smaller but no less impressive collection of vintage games. He brought three of these from England when he immigrated here in the early 1960s and made the rest himself.
Green’s games don’t look like much at first glance. There’s the classic ring toss game, Quoits. There’s also a rudimentary version of pinball, where the player uses a mini pool cue to fire a marble around a large wooden board.
Some of the games, though, are fit for royalty. When Seven Sharp met Green, he proudly showed off his game of bagatelle, a kind of tabletop snooker, which he said was played by Queen Victoria.
The games bring smiles to the faces of children and adults alike. Green encourages everybody to try the games and prioritises having fun over playing by the rules.
“I know it’s cheating, but who cares?” he said with a smile.
“I love playing games. I’m not competitive; I just love interacting with people.”
People can play the games for free and donate to Mercy Hospice or the Cancer Society if they wish. Green’s mother and two sisters were affected by cancer, and he has seen firsthand the vital work that these charities do. In the past two years, Green has raised more than $4000.
It’s not just the games that light people up; it’s Green himself. He regularly visits the Mercy Hospice shop in Blockhouse Bay, where he raises money, and is well known to the shop manager Laura Murray.
“He’s quite the character. He’s passionate about everything he does. He comes on in, tips his hat to you,” said Murray.
“Throughout the years, anything interesting that comes in, we put aside out the back for him.”
Green is an endless source of joy and energy for everyone he meets. He shared a simple philosophy when asked what motivates him and drives his fundraising efforts.
“I enjoy doing it. It’s as simple as that. And that gets me the energy, I suppose.
“If you love doing something, you will find the energy to do it, whatever it is.”
