Women of all walks of life were celebrated at the International Women’s Day civic function in Daylesford last week, during which five women were inducted to the Heather Mutimer Honour Roll.
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The first induction was a posthumous acknowledgment of Daylesford woman Bessie Harrison Lee (1860-1950), who was a suffragette, activist for gender equality and public speaker for the Women’s Christian Temperance Union.
Maureen Corbett was inducted for her involvement with a multitude of organisations, including the Hepburn Relocalisation Network, Local Exchange Trading System, as a Hepburn Windfarm member, Sustainable Hepburn Association Committee Member and treasurer of Sustainable House Days.
In addition to these roles, she is also a teacher, trainer and tutor in permaculture and sustainability.
Rose Wilson was inducted for her work for a women’s health clinic in the Northern Territory’s East Arnhem Land and as a counsellor for the Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation Centre in Katherine.
She volunteered with ERIGO in Vietnam, where she taught English to underpriviliged children.
She continues to support local and international charities with exhibitions at her Trentham art gallery and through the sale and donation of her art.
Innovative chef, restaurant owner and gardener, Annie Smithers, was inducted for her career’s work, during which she has taken in female apprentices and excelled within a male-dominated industry.
Founder of Sprung Circus in 1996, Mara Macs, has been teaching circus skills to children and adults of the Daylesford community for the past 21 years.
She also coordinated the acquisition and donation of a substantial midwifery kit to the Balep Health Clinic on Ambryn Island, Vanuatu.
The women’s honour roll was launched in 2005 at the Hepburn Shire Council’s inaugural Women’s Day celebration. The roll acknowledges the contribution, strength and courage of the region’s women whose actions led to social change.
It aims to provide a forum to celebrate those who have made a difference to the shire and its townships and to make them role models for future generations.
The women’s honour roll was re-named after former councilor Heather Mutimer in 2014, whose idea it was to create a forum to recognise women’s achievements.
