Brenda Vardanega was awarded this year's Braidwood Citizen of the Year at the Palerang Council Australia Day Awards at the Braidwood Services Club on Saturday.
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Brenda was chosen as an outstanding member of this community. She has been involved in various community groups, including the Braidwood Life Centre, Braidwood Cubs and Scouts, and the Braidwood Pony club. As a business owner she has supported many local events with donations and is always happy to have a chat and lend a hand to anyone in the community. Her encouragement for the local youth to develop their customer service skills in order to prepare them for adulthood is commendable.
Mayor Peter Harrison and councillors Paul Cockram, Trevor Hicks, Keith France, Belinda Hogarth-Boyd and the General Manager, Peter Bascomb attended the ceremony in Braidwood. The Mayor offered a special welcome to our Australia Day Ambassador for Braidwood, Sarah Garnett who will gave the keynote address. Sarah was the founder of the Benjamin Andrew Footpath Library which distributes free books to homeless people, refuges and prisons.
Braidwood’s Young Citizen of the Year went to is a well deserving Chris Bulloch.
Chris has always been as willing and enthusiastic member of the Braidwood Community even taking time off work to assist a local school. This person is well known at the ECLECTICA events.
This year's winning Community Event of the Year was ECLECTIA, which brought the community together in the most innovative way. A chance for the local community to learn about each other in a humorous and educational way. This event provided an opportunity for locals to mingle and make new friends. At the end of the event, everyone left with a smile on their face. Ben Gleeson and Annie Duke accepted the award on behalf of the Braidwood Literary Institute.
Earlier in the morning at Captains Flat, the Citizen of the Year was awarded to Wendy Hodgman, a dedicated community worker, active in the SES and Landcare volunteer.
The Young Citizen of the Year went to Samuel Hall, a young boy who has set a fine example within his community with his calm response to a situation that threatened his father's life and the assistance he provided to the emergency volunteers on this occasion. The Captains Flat Bush Dance was awarded Event of the Year.
In Bungendore five people received their Australian citizenship. ‘Home & Away’ Actor Sam Atwell was the Ambassador and the Citizen of the Year was Paul Fogarty, whose community involvement and thoughtfulness toward others is a credit to our community. He has made a significant contribution to the community through building facilities at the showground, helping with catering at the Bungendore Show, Country Music Muster and Bungendore Rodeo over the past 15 years. He is always ready and willing to help others, especially our elders within the community.
TheBungendore B & S Ball and Ute Muster was awarded Community event of the Year. The organiser of that event, Hanna Darmody received the Young Citizen of the Year.