Australia Day In Our Small Country Town

Small country towns work hard to stay viable and our little local town is no exception. There are many various volunteer groups that  are always working tirelessly  to make our town a great little place to live and as a rule they do a wonderful job.
On Australia Day there is always a breakfast ceremony held at the local park in the main street.
On the evening before a group of  local men, Brian included band together to transport all the metal tables and benches from the local school to the park in ready for the next morning's activities.
This year there was  a storm just after the job was completed and we were  worried that the ceremony may have ended up being washed out but we were lucky, Australia Day  morning weather was perfect.
The ceremony began  at 7.00AM with the raising of the flag by the two local school captains.

The Orbital Swing Band  always provides us with the music for the morning and  for The National Anthem.

  The local shire mayor  then introduced  the visiting Australia Day Ambassador Jo Carter, a former Australian Olympic ice skating champion who gave a very interesting and heartfelt speech on what she felt it meant to be Australian and what the day meant to her personally.

She is pictured above with our shire mayor Peter Shinton as he presented her with a book on the history of  our local community.
Jo then proceeded to  help with the presentation of the awards to various hard working individuals who willingly give their time for the betterment of our community.

Phil Richie who volunteers with our local Progress association, and works hard   with the campgrounds,

Glenn(Doc) Halliday who has been a long term volunteer acting in many positions in various  volunteer group around town including, Progress, Junior Sports Club, Lions Club,Jockey Club and The Binnaway Show group.

Malcolm Leader who has lived in Binnaway his entire life, began his voluntary involvement as a teenager with the Jockey Club, and was made a life member a few years ago.He is a volunteer member of the Bush Fire Brigade and has been  for over 50 years, along with other  great service to the community.

And last but by no means least, our very own  Rail Heritage Society received a group award for hold the event last April of "The Centenary of Rail in Binnaway", where we  organised a display of historical rail items  , had market stalls, morning tea, lunch and  had a rail motor taking  trips . It was a wonderful day  and we were very honoured to be awarded for our efforts.
It is lovely to see all the people who give up their time so freely to help out  in their various ways all  thanked in this way for their continued dedication and service to their community.
Once the official part of the morning was  concluded, the local Men's Shed as  industrious as always cooked up a storm on the BBQ,

They only ask a small  coin donation and  the hearty  breakfast is always greatly enjoyed by the attending crowd .

The Progress Group also  serves tea, coffee and juice  and  everybody sits, chats, eats and catches up and discusses how much rain did or didn't fall on each others properties the night before.

It is wonderful to see small country towns in action, they have so much to offer, if only you take the time to see that.
Our town  has highs and lows and sometimes the   light that is community spirit flickers and nearly  extinguishes and then a breath of fresh air comes along  and the light brightens and  glows and  along with it the spirit of the people.
We love our small town  and we along with all our other volunteers  will continue to strive to make it the best little town we can . Happy Australia Day ( albeit a little late due to the over booked schedule of this retired couple)
If you are ever thinking about volunteering, then just do it,
You will never regret it,
you make great friends ,
and it enriches your life and your towns .

Take care,
Cheers
Jane and Brian.