Citizen of the Year Nola Pinnuck. Photos by Berrigan Shire Council.
Berrigan hosted the Australia Day ceremony for Berrigan Shire on Thursday, and what a day of celebration it was.
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The morning kicked off with the annual CWA breakfast, after which guests headed to Apex Park to welcome new citizens and recognise the various award winners.
Making their pledges to become Australian citizens were Laxmi Giri and her daughter Aayusha, Munasingha Vindura ‘Panda’ Gunaratne, Laura Watkin Stewart, Thanh Thi Tran, Francois and Isabelle Piat and Hugo Canas Vanegas, his wife Dora Ventura Salguero and their children Clara and Hugo Canas Vanegas.
Australia Day award winners are as follows:
2023 Citizen of the Year winner - Nola Pinnuck: Nola has lived, worked and volunteered in the Finley district for the majority of her life. She has dedicated a huge amount of time to community organisations to ensure the betterment of the Finley township and surrounding areas through her involvement in many projects and organisations.
Other nominees were Stephanie Chappell, Patrick Kelly, Jude Lawrence, Lynne George, Tony Tranter, Neville Dalgliesh, Amy Batten, Gabrielle Florence and Don McKellar.
Young Citizen Sarah Bauer.
2023 Young Citizen of the Year winner - Sarah Bauer: Sarah is a student at Finley High School and her outstanding achievements in 2022 not only reflect what an inspiring person she is to the school community but also to the community at large.
Sportsperson of the Year MacKenzie O'Dwyer.
2023 Sportsperson/ Sports Team of the Year winner - MacKenzie O'Dwyer: MacKenzie is a dedicated netballer who is a representative in many teams, including school, netball club and representative teams in Victoria. This comes with some difficulties as many trainings are a long way from home. She is young netballer trying to fulfil her dreams under difficult circumstances, where she and her family are making huge sacrifices in turning this dream into reality.
Other nominees: Berrigan Netball Club under-15s team, Charlotte Ware-Dickins, Finley Netball Club C-reserve team, Berrigan Cricket Club B-grade team, Paul Glanville.
Winners and finalists for Organisation of the Year.
2023 Community Organisation of the Year - Berrigan Men's Shed: The Berrigan Men’s Shed began in 2010, and since then membership has grown to 38 financial members. They gather two mornings each week at the Men’s Shed in Chanter Street, Berrigan just to have a chat or to talk over a cup of tea, play a game of billiards or cards, whilst others build garden beds, restore furniture, collect donated items or attend any other jobs that come their way.
Other nominee: Tocumwal RSL Sub-branch.
Finalists and winners in the event of the year award.
2023 Community Event of the Year - The Berrigan Memorial Wall, Berrigan RSL Sub-branch: The Berrigan Memorial Wall was a five-year project with many challenges presented. It was the vision of the Berrigan RSL to publicly recognise its local war heroes who served our country and to honour their service and their memory.
Other nominees: 2022 Community Expo, Tocumwal War Memorial Hall; Audio Life Stories; Barooga Carols by Candlelight, Barooga Advancement Group.
Clara, Hugo snr and Hugo Canas Vanegas jnr and Dora Ventura Salguero.
New citizens Francois and wife Isabelle Piat.
New citizen Laura Watkin Stewart.
New citizen Panda Gunaratne.
New citizen Laxmi Giri and her daughter daughter Aayusha.
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