HEPBURN SHIRE’S Citizens and Event of the Year were announced at a civic reception in Daylesford on Friday night.
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Creswick’s humble family man Laurie Porter was named Citizen of the Year for the vast amounts of community work he undertakes.
Known for his role as Santa Claus and for putting on a mammoth Christmas light display each year, Mr Porter loves to bring joy to not only his 17 grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren, but also to the community in which he has lived all his life.
Mr Porter said he was “honoured” to receive the recognition but it was all thanks to his loving family’s support.
Mr Porter and his wife Dot pick up meals from Creswick Hospital before delivering them through the Meals and Wheels service.
They drop off the meals and have a chat with around 13 Creswick residents every week, and have been doing so every week for almost 10 years.
In addition, Mr Porter drives the community bus for Creswick’s senior citizens to get around town.
Meanwhile, Trentham’s Ethan Brown was named Young Citizen of the Year.
Mr Brown has been involved with Trentham CFA as a junior for five years from 2011 and as a senior from 2016.
He is also a first responder through Ambulance Victoria’s GoodSAM application, which dispatches first responders to nearby patients in cardiac arrest to prepare a patient for arrival of an ambulance.
Mr Brown has responded to three situations in Trentham and Kyneton since November last year.
He is also the lead campaigner for a Community Emergency Response Team to assist with faster response times to medical emergencies in the town and has been a medical trainer at Trentham Football Netball Club for three years.
“I was speechless when I was announced as Young Citizen of the Year for 2019,” Mr Brown said.
“I feel very honoured and privileged to have received the award, however, I don’t do what I do for the recognition – I do it to give back to the community of which I live in.”
Furthermore, Hepburn Shire Council awarded the Community Event of the Year to the Centenary of the Shire of Creswick Avenue of Honor at Kingston.
The event, a year in the making, saw a parade featuring the Creswick Light Horse Troop, veterans, school children and music by the Creswick Brass Band before a Remembrance Day Service attended by more than 500 people who attended to honour the region’s men and women who served during WWI.
But it didn’t end there, with an assortment of entertainers, historical displays and artifacts offering a day to remember.
Meanwhile, also at the civic reception, three new residents, Pasqualia, Roann and Halley, were welcomed by Mayor Don Henderson, Deputy Mayor Cr Kate Redwood AM, Ballarat MP Catherine King and Macedon MP Mary-Anne Thomas.
The following day, January 26, other events took place around the shire with a number of community events and services in Clunes, Creswick, Daylesford, Glenlyon and Trentham.