ABOUT 200 people turned out to celebrate Australia Day at the Tenterfield Memorial Hall on Monday, which saw Ken Poulson presented with Citizen of the Year.
The day commenced with a church service conducted by the Tenterfield Minister’s Fraternal at 8am, followed by breakfast on the RSL Pavilion verandah for those feeling peckish.
The main ceremony started at 9am with the acknowledgement of country led by Roxanne Bancroft-Stuart, Citizen of the Year for 2014.
Following the welcome by mayor Peter Petty, members of the Tenterfield Light Horse Troop performed the raising of the Australian Flag in recognition of the Centenary of Anzac.
Australia Day Ambassador Alex Jones then addressed the gathering on the Centenary of Anzac, bringing the challenges faced by the Anzacs into a perspective of his own personal challenges.
Mr Jones was born deaf and using the assistance of Auslan interpreter Della Goswell, delivered his inspirational speech to the audience.
He spoke about the hardships and anxiety soldiers arriving on the beaches at Anzac would have suffered and went on to discuss the use of war as a tool to achieve peaceful outcomes for the majority of the population. He spoke of the discrimination which still exists in Australia today and called upon those present to take the challenge in preventing discrimination in all its forms.
Citizen of the Year 2015 was presented to Ken Poulson for his outstanding contribution to the Tenterfield community and Tenterfield Lions Club, which he joined in 1977 aged 40.
As a direct result of Mr Poulson’s activities in 2014, the Tenterfield Lions Club donated in excess of $15,000 to both local organisations and Lions Club projects.
The Award for Young Citizen of the Year was given as a joint presentation to Thomas Butler and Stacey Hayne, both Tenterfield High School captains in 2013/14.
With no nominations received for the Sportsperson of the Year, 17-year-old George Jones was announced as the Young Sportsperson of the Year for 2015.
The Emergency Services Volunteer of the Year in 2015 was awarded to long-serving Tenterfield Volunteer in Policing or VIP, Daniel Roex.
Mr Roex was appointed as one of eight VIPs inducted under a program initiated by the then Sergeant Troy Grant some 12 years ago. Today only two VIPs remain.
Despite personal hardships in running his own drought-stricken property, Mr Roex managed to accrue 1000 hours of unpaid volunteer work for the Tenterfield Policing Sector in 2014 and further, records show he has been the sole VIP to present for duty every single week over the last seven years.
The final award was the Community Event of the Year.
Two events, the Drake Community Day Market and Mingoola Community Fun Day, were chosen to share the award due to their importance to the community.
At the conclusion of the ceremony, Cr Petty said he felt extremely humbled by the extraordinary achievements of all the award recipients.
“We have such talented and devoted community members. Tenterfield should be very proud.”
