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A great turn out attended the Georgetown Memorial Hall from 7.30am on Sunday 26th January to celebrate Australia Day with a delicious breakfast and a great morning of presentations recognising the efforts of volunteers in our council region.
The winners of the 2020 Australia Day Awards were:
Don Smallacombe (Georgetown) – Citizen of the Year
Molly Noonan (Jamestown) – Young Citizen of the Year
Jamestown Agriculture and Horticulture Society for the Jamestown Show (Jamestown) – Community Event of the Year
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Don Smallacombe
Citizen of the Year
Don Smallacombe has freely donated his time to not only the Georgetown District, but the wider community for well over 50 years, very much a quiet achiever.
Across this time he has been a CFS volunteer for over 30 years, serving as an active fire fighter for the Georgetown Brigade from 1987 to 2010, holding various leadership positions, while he was still actively involved currently, as Brigade Operational Support, Communications Operator and Brigade Communication Co-Ordinator. Don’s local knowledge has been vital across the years in helping co-ordinate responses to critical situations. He still donates his time for testing of Radio Communications for the Bundaleer Groups once a fortnight during fire season and once a month during winter months.
Don was an elected member of the District Council of Rocky River for 10 years as the elected member for the Georgetown Ward. He has also been an active member of the Georgetown Community Development Association and its predecessor since 1988. He has overseen the maintenance of the the Georgetown Memorial Recreation Grounds for many years and was recently involved with the replacement of the former toilet and amenities block at the park.
Don is very well known in the sporting circles, having been an avid player and volunteer in cricket, where he as a member of the 1969/1970 Georgetown/Caltowie premiership side, served as club secretary from 1971 – 1974 as well as President from 1976 – 1977, before serving as Secretary of the Rocky River Cricket Association for several years.
Don was a player for the Georgetown/Caltowie Football Club, during that time he was well known as the local “taxi Driver” transporting younger players in his famous blue ute. Following amalgamation with Gladstone, he was a player with the Gladstone Combined Football Club, before going on to serve as Team Manager for the B Grade.
He is also very well known for his involvement in bowls, having been a member of the Georgetown Bowling Club for over 30 years in which he won the club championships 9 times whilst his playing fears have also extended to Association Level. Don has served on the club committee for three decades, serving as secretary from 1988 to 2004, as well as green keeper from 1983 to 1988 and again from 2010 to 2013. Don can often be found at the club as the club handyman volunteering many hours doing club maintenance.
He also has donated many hours to the Gladstone High School as a member of the School Governing Council and is very well known for his time as farm manager at the school.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1580005924557{padding-bottom: 40px !important;}”][vc_column width=”2/3″][vc_column_text]
Molly Noonan
Young Citizen of the Year
Molly has been a pivotal member of the Jamestown Show Committee in addition to several other organisations.
Molly Noonan has been a key contributor in the re-invigoration of the Jamestown Show, in particular the Wool and Sheep section, for which the show is very well known. Molly has served as the Secretary of this sub committee of the show. This has kept her particularly busy across the past year with the show committee completing the Heiniger Shearer Training Centre in time for the 2019 show, as well as already hosting shearer training sessions.
Molly is also well known in local sporting circles as a player and Junior Netball coach within the Jamestown Peterborough Football and Netball club, as well as canteen co-ordinator, social committee member and is one of the first people to arrive at any working bee, and ofter the last one to leave. She also serves as the Junior Score Recorder for the Northern Areas Netball Association.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”15156″ img_size=”full”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1580005256473{padding-top: 40px !important;padding-bottom: 40px !important;}”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”15246″ img_size=”full”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]
Jamestown AH&F Show Society
Community Event of the Year
2019 was a highly successful event, culminating in the opening of the Heiniger Shearer Training Centre. The enthusiastic vision of the committee to reinvigorate the show has seen the event grow significantly since it reverted to a two day event in recent years.
Since reverting back to a two day show, the event has featured many added activities including the Ag industry Q&A, expanded shearing competitions and many new stalls. The success fo the event is evident with over 7000 people attending the recent event.
The vision of the group has extended beyond the annual event to now include other activities such as shearer training, which has already started in the newly opened Heiniger Shearer Training Centre.
Photo Courtesy of Clive Palmer
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