Eve Lamb
Countless tough hours of volunteer work has seen local wildlife carer Kerry Reid celebrated as this year’s Mount Alexander Shire Citizen of the Year.
Enterprising young local secondary college student, keen volunteer and Young Makers’ Market regular Billy Lister took the Oz Day gong for Young Citizen, while stalwart of the Newstead Live annual music festival, musician and funeral celebrant Kelly Skinner is this year’s Senior Citizen of the Year.
And the shire’s new three-day Gold Sounds Music Conference has clinched this year’s title of Community Event of the Year with the event’s Fionna Allan happily accepting the award on behalf of the event’s organising team.
A COVID-aware crowd joined local dignitaries and MPs, council officials, musicians and local Indigenous community representatives at Castlemaine’s Victory Park to mark Australia Day-Survival Day in style on Wednesday.
Mayor Bill Maltby formally welcomed new citizens Charles Morse, Malgorzata Rybicka, Alison Francis and Eli Tavares.
Addressing the crowd, the shire’s newly named Citizen of the Year, Kerry Reid urged others to step up as volunteer wildlife rescuers, a role she said was both needed and expected by the wider community.
“The calls we receive come every day, every week, all year,” Ms Reid told the Australia Day crowd gathered in Wednesday’s humid conditions in Victory Park.
She said that while the work of being a volunteer wildlife carer and rescuer was frequently stressful, demanding and financially draining it was also incredibly rewarding.
“I love what I do and I’m part of a network of volunteers,” Ms Reid said.
“I would encourage anyone who is considering it to join our team. We need you. Please don’t hesitate to call me and I will help you get started. It’s for our wildlife and our community.”
MC for the official program Mount Alexander CEO Darren Fuzzard particularly paid homage to both the local and national First Nations Peoples as well as the nation’s first line responders.
And, performing the traditional Welcome To Country, local Indigenous elder Uncle Rick Nelson noted the well established part that the community’s Indigenous community has in Mount Alexander Shire’s annual Australia Day – Survival Day celebrations.
“We’ve been doing it for ten years now so we’re sort of cemented in,” Uncle Rick said.
Mount Alexander Shire is also proud to boast four community members which were named in the 2022 Australia Day Honours List by the Governor General. For more coverage on the local Mount Alexander Shire Australia Day-Survival Day Awards, our newest OAM’s and AM turn to pages 7, 8, 9, 10 and 14.