scone.com.au2017 Australia Day Awards in Scone
WHILE Dr Veness already has a remarkable list of academic and community achievements to make him an ideal Australia Day Ambassador, but his passion for country Australia and good humour made him ideal for the ceremonies in Scone and Aberdeen.
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His opening address centred around the importance of prevention in health care.
“I came across a patient who had been bitten by his cat, what we realised about prevention in that case was how to hold a cat correctly at the vets to avoid being bitten and possibly to take cats to female vets who have smaller fingers,” mused Dr Veness.
But on a more serious note he praised the innovative work of the Where There’s A Will Foundation and implored the audience to participate in the upcoming online mental health first-aid training.
“A friend of mine died last Thursday of suicide, she had her whole life ahead of her as a young doctor and it made us all think about how we could have prevented it and how she could have felt more comfortable to reach out to us,” he said.
“I was honoured to speak with Pauline Carrigan yesterday, it takes special people to honour a life like Will’s and the work they are doing is incredible,” he said.
“A sense of community is so critical for well-being and something I see so strongly in country towns and is evident in this room today,” Dr Benjamin Veness said.
Lee Watts, Chair of the Scone and Aberdeen Australia Day committees said the day was the chance to celebrate what it means to be Australian, “a sense of a fair go, a sense of humour, our spirit and most of all our willingness to pitch in and help others less fortunate.”
New Australians Welcomed: Lou Mary from France, Sean Finan from Ireland, Michelle Mulcaky from Ireland, Karli Edwards from Canada and Sureeporn Daniles from Thailand. Pictured with Cr Lee Watts, Mayor Wayne Bedggood and Ambassador Dr Benjamin Veness.
Five residents who share in those sentiments became Australian citizens today: Lou Mary from France, Sean Finan from Irelandd, Michelle Mulaky from Ireland, Karli Edwards from Canada and Sureeporn Daniels from Thailand.
Wendy Brooks from the Upper Hunter Conservatorium of Music presented the Barry Rose Memorial Music Scholarship to Lucy McGrath.
Mike Pritchard, master of ceremonies noted Lucy’s grandfather had been great friends with Barry Rose and also mentioned Thomas McGrath had won the award previously.
Rachel Pittman from Scone High School and Mikaela Tilse from St Joseph’s High School received awards for Academic Achievement, both noting in their speeches the importance of education being holistic and the opportunities they enjoyed from local schools.
Hannah Beiboer was also awarded for Academic Achievement from Scone Grammar School, but was an apology.
Ebony Taylor and Issac Smith from Scone High School shared the award for Creative Arts Excellence, with Isaac noting, “it is great to see the arts still being supported as strongly as they are in this community.”
Nicholas Mossman was awarded a Creative Arts Excellence award from Scone Grammar School, but was an apology.
The Community Group of the Year was awarded to the Scone Support Group of the Westpac Rescue Helicopter.
Errol Bates said they felt the award was not for them, but for the community, “It’s for you guys, you contribute the money to help us fundraise and for us up here in the Upper Hunter it can be a lifesaving service, thank you, this award is for our community.”
The Young Achiever of the Year was awarded to Kirsten Smith and Campbell Jones who said, “this is a big surprise and it is a big adventure to cycle around Australia, one I could not have done without my parents.”
Scone and District Achiever of the Year: Ambassador Dr Benajmin Veness presenting the award to Gregory “Reg” Riley, with Mayor Wayne Bedggood.
The Scone and District Achiever of the Year was awarded to Reg Riley who thanked his wife Cath for being a late night taxi after his many community committee meetings and his children for understanding the time he spent doing community work, but thinks they may have worked out many of those meetings ended in a ‘few beers’.
Reg implored people to nominate others in the community, “I am no different to so many others who sat on community committees, there are so many deserving people, please nominate more people next year.”
The Scone and District Special Award went to the Scone RSL Pipes and Drums band which has provided a stirring soundtrack to community events for 20 years.
Charles Cook said, “It is amazing when you enjoy playing so much how quickly the time goes and now there are young drummers from St Joseph’s which has a pipes and drums band, so it’s great to see it growing.”
The Bates Family continue to sponsor the Young Citizen of the Year Award and Beryl Bates encouraged people to recognise the youth in our community.
‘There are so many beaut young people in our area, I encourage you to nominate these great kids in our area.”
The award was given to Rachel Pittman who said she was, “overwhelmed and thankful to be part of such a great community.”
Rachel was also honoured to receive the Upper Hunter Shire Council Young Citizen of the Year: read more.
The Hunter McLoughlin Memorial Citizen of the Year Award was given to a surprised and emotional Joan Manning.
Ms Manning had just recovered from accepting her first award when she was called back up to accept the award for the Upper Hunter Shire Council Citizen of the Year Award: read more.
The Scone Pipes and Drums band performing in front of the Scone Council building.
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