The Australia Day 2020 ceremony held in Central Park was well attended by locals on a hot and steamy Sunday morning.
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The drought and recent bushfires were uppermost on people's minds, with all speakers expressing their gratitude and admiration for our emergency services personnel, particularly the local NSW RFS volunteers.
Wingham Rotary Club once again provided a free sausage sizzle, and free orange juice and cold water, for which many overheated people were thankful.
Wingham High School 2020 captains Dimity Bartlett and Billy Campbell delivered their Australia Day speeches, which will be published by the Wingham Chronicle later this week.
Wingham RSL Sub-branch president and RFS volunteer, Terry Gould, gave an inspiring speech about the value of volunteers to our community and calling for people to consider volunteering in Wingham (which will also be published at a later date).
The Wingham Rotary Club Australia Day Award recipients were presented by Rotary Club president John Woolridge as follows:
Citizen of the Year: Sandra Kwa, for her contribution to the arts in Wingham.
"This lady is a driving force in the arts community in Wingham," Mr Woolridge said.
Sandra Kwa owns Queen Street Hall and regularly provides it to community groups for events. She is the musical director of community choir Wingsong, and the newer choir, Sing on Q. She runs the Acoustic Fringe Festival from the Queen Street Hall to showcase local talent. She holds soirees at the Queen Street Hall for fundraising for various environmental and humanitarian organisations.
Sandra's daughter, Isobel Butler-Kwa accepted the award on her mother's behalf, as Sandra was conducting a choir at the Saltwater Freshwater Australia Day event.
Young Person of the Year: Jaimie-Lee Woolfe, for her cricket endeavours.
While attending Tinonee Public School, Jaimie-Lee was accepted at the State championships two years in a row, at the age of 11 and 12. Now at Wingham High School, she has been accepted to play in the Combined High Schools Hunter team to play in the State championships. She has been chosen to travel to the UK in July 2020 for the Girls' Cricket Development Tour. For the last three years she has been with the North Coast Cricket Academy. Jaimie-Lee has now been accepted to be in the ACT/NSW Country under 15s girls' team to play in the National Championships in February and March.
Contribution to Sports: Helen Cross for her involvement with Wingham Touch Association, the Wingham Swimming Club and the Wingham Junior Rugby League Club.
Helen has dedicated more than 20 years to working with young people. She has been a member of the committee of the Wingham Junior Rugby League Club since 2005, serving as secretary from 2007 to 2015 and from 2006 to the present day she has been the canteen supervisor, manning the canteen every weekend throughout the season.
From 2005 Helen has also been secretary of Wingham Touch Association. She was also involved with the Wingham Swimming Club for 11 years, where she ran the barbecue and took over as timekeeper.
Pride of Workmanship: David O'Donnell, captain of Wingham Fire and Rescue.
David joined Wingham Fire and Rescue and became captain of the brigade at the age of 38 and has earned numerous awards and recognition within the service. David is a peer support officer, trained to assist co-workers and their families with work related or personal difficulties. More recently he has led his team throught the Community First Responders course.
David accepted his award on behalf of all the other emergency services - the SES, the RFS, the local police and their families.
It has been Australia's lost summer. Drought, hail, floods and, worst of all, bushfires have ravaged communities all over the nation. But the selfless actions of friends, family, neighbours, strangers, local groups and volunteer organisations have inspired us and strengthened the bonds of community. Please join us in saying thanks to the heroes of the home front by sharing your stories of gratitude. To salute a person or a group, please use the form below.