HEPBURN will celebrate Australia Day this week with awards and a citizenship ceremony.
This year's Hepburn Shire Citizen of the Year nominees are Clunes' residents Doug Garth and Jane Lesock, and Creswick's Joy Whymark.
Doug Garth has lived in Clunes most of his life .
The floods of 2010 and 2011 saw many people helping out and Doug was no exception. He sandbagged, swept, cleared and used his tractor to clear up wood chips from the Clunes Caravan Park during the creek clean-up.
He has been the president of the Clunes Football Netball Club and provided not only financial but moral support to many of the young players. Since the floods he has spent around 1300 hours working with various governments and local clubs to get the grounds back up and ready for the 2012 season.
He has been involved with rebuilding the kindergarten playground and the mentoring program with Wesley College in Clunes. His commitment to and love for Clunes has been evident for a number of years, but no more so than the last 12 months.
He has led by example and always with a smile. Doug was male citizen of the year at the 2011 Clunes Community Dinner.
Jane Lesock moved to Clunes in 1993. She and her husband run a boutique winery which, for the past five years, has included a cellar door.
Jane has never hesitated to support any event in Clunes. She has been involved on committees and organisations in Clunes, including the Clunes Tourist & Development Association (16 years), Clunes Community Dinner Co-event coordinator (12 dinners), Clunes Australia Day Celebration coordinator (six years), Meals on Wheels (seven years), Clunes Back to Booktown and many more.
She continues to provide benefits to the Clunes community and was named female citizen of the year at the 2011 Clunes Community Dinner.
Joy Whymark, a senior citizen of Hepburn Shire, has been secretary and/or treasurer for the Creswick Youth Alliance and Creswick Light Horse Troop for in excess of 13 years. For the past 10 years she has assumed both roles.
Joy provides invaluable behind-the-scenes support to these organisations and gives her time willingly and freely. Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of Joy's contribution to the Hepburn community is that the majority of the work is done from her bed. For many years she has had a severe and debilitating illness that prevents her from normal capacity to move around unhindered.
She requires the support of a full-time carer ? her brother Colin. Despite the nature of her illness, Joy's work is meticulous and completed with grace. She is respected inordinately and well liked by members of the organisation. Most importantly she relates well to the younger members who form an integral part of the alliance and troop.
The Hepburn Shire Young Citizen of the Year nominees are Hayden Harvey, Nikki Cody, Steffany Lendrec, Tim Courtney, Tara Ford, Matthew Stephens, Stephanie Coleiro, Brendan Blake, Chelsea James, Jasmyn Ragatz, Mia Kelly, James Leigh, Vincent Baelde-Miller, Grace Rowbotham, Jessica Williams, Michael Yanner, Toby Bell, Ben Hull and Francessca Titchener.
This week Hepburn will join towns and regions across the nation in welcoming our newest citizens as part of Australia Day 2012 celebrations.
Nine people from the Hepburn region will become Australian citizens in a special ceremony at the Daylesford Town Hall on Wednesday, January 25.
In addition, the Hepburn Australia Day Awards will be announced.
On the most popular day of the year to become an Australian citizen, the ceremony will be one of some 365 across every state and territory, with about 13,700 people scheduled to become citizens around the nation.
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