Lake Grace Citizen of the Year 2020

 Mrs Paula Carruthers

Paula is a valued member of the Lake Grace community and is involved in many organisations. Her commitment to these organisations is commendable. She spends many hours of her time working for them and nothing is too much trouble.

 Paula's office duties are always outstanding.

 Paula has been involved in the following organizations which make life living in Lake Grace a pleasure:

•      Chairperson of the Lake Grace CRC

•      Secretary of the Lake Grace Pingrup Football Club since 2013

•      Secretary for the Lake Grace Great Southern Colts Carnival

•      Valued Lake Grace St John Ambulance volunteer

•      Community Cropping

•      Jam Patch Rejuvenation Group

•      President of Lake Grace Land Conservation District Committee (LCDC) since 2013

•      The Lake Grace School has also benefited from Paula's involvement over the years while her children were enrolled at the school.

 Paula's knowledge and capability is always sort after by many groups in our community. Paula has carried out her roles in the above organisations in a professional manner which has contributed to them being well organized and a great asset to our community.

 We have much pleasure in nominating Paula for Lake Grace Citizen of the year.

Lake Grace Senior Citizen of the Year 2020

 Allan Zweck

Allan has been a major contributor to the local paper, the Lakes Link.

One of his major projects has been to research the history of many of all our war service men and woman and then write articles for the Lakes Link. Allan has spent many hours at the Battye Library researching for his articles for information.

 Allan's articles have educated the community about the service and sacrifice that many men and woman have made and of the loss to families when men and woman did not return home.

 Allan's research has been used at many Anzac Day services and he is always available for advice on the history of any of the wars.

Lake Grace Active Citizenship Award for a Community Group or Event 2020

 Lakes Women in Farming Enterprises (WIFE)

The Lakes, Women in Farming Enterprises branch hosted the 2019 WIFE Seminar on Tuesday 17 September which was themed Farming Towards Tomorrow.

The seminar held at the Lake Grace Pavilion attracted 120 women and 4 men from all over the WA’s cropping region from Dowerin to Esperance.

ABC Journalist and Presenter Di Darmody was MC, keeping everything running smoothly. Speakers included Belinda Lay, who shared her journey on becoming the first farm in Australia to track the movement of sheep using Sigfox Technology (Fitbit’s for sheep).

Cyber security expert Dr David Cook was one of the highlights for the day scaring us all into changing our passwords and disconnecting from Bluetooth.

The panellist session was on ‘Farming Communities Produce Resourceful Women’ included Tania Bray, Natalie Manton, Jordy Medlen and Fiona Palmer. Rosemary Bartle, Head of Succession with Rabobank taught practical tips how to communicate in family farming businesses and how to successfully run operational and strategic business meetings. Lake Grace local, Steve Curtin presented on Farming for Profit which included a comparison between 100% croppers’ vs mixed farming enterprises. The final speaker of the day was Kondinin Farmer and CBH Director Natalie Browning. Natalie shared her leadership story and journey to the board room. Finishing the day off with a powerful message on mindset and staying ‘above the line’.

The Event engaged with local businesses, local clubs and local organisations using and highlighting their services and products, prior to and throughout the day.

This event was run by the 20 Women in the local WIFE branch. Women in Farming Enterprises (WIFE) Aims to educate, connect and empower rural women who may not have been brought up in the farming community, through the pooling of knowledge between generations, and sharing of resources. The event was supported by local non-members as well as members from around the region. It was a well-run event coordinated by local women for the benefit of the community.

Lake Grace Citizen of the Year 2019

Geoff Sabourne 

Lake Grace Senior Citizen of the Year 2019

Elizabeth Carruthers 

Lake Grace Active Citizenship Award for a Community Group or Event

Lake Grace Kukerin Hockey Club 

Newdegate Senior Citizens of the Year 2019

Eileen and Barry Ness 

Newdegate Active Citizenship Award for a Community Group or Event 2019

Newdegate Active Precinct Committee 

Lake King Active Citizen of the Year  2020                                                                      

Courtney Toland

Courtney has been an outstanding member of the Lake King Community this year. She has volunteered countless hours to project manage the new Lake King Playground, including organising designs, quotes and tradesmen.

Courtney has also spent many, many hours in at the playground doing the manual work of moving soft fall sand, mulch and seeing to the running of the whole project!

Through Courtney’s active citizenship the community of Lake King has been able to gain an amazing new playground area.

Courtney has volunteered immeasurable hours of work for the community, through phone calls, emails, research, and many multiple trips to town per week, to oversee and work on the Playground project.

Without Courtney’s dedication to our community and her faithful volunteering, we would not be able to have the amazing area we have today!

Lake King Community Active Citizenship of the Year Award 2020

 Lake King Hall & Playground Renewal

We would like to recognise Kate Hetherington, Karen Richardson and Courtney Toland who were jointly the key members of this project.

As President of Lake King Playgroup Kate Hetherington along with Courtney Toland project managed the new playground area. Playgroup identified the need to replace the old outdated and damaged play equipment to provide a safer and fun environment for children of all ages and abilities to play, learn and socialise.

It was Kate along with Karen Richardson who co-ordinated the renewal of the Lake King Hall to coincide with the renewal of the playground. They organised the much needed painting, flooring and safety measures to make it user friendly, inviting and have the available for a greater number of community groups.

Both projects required grants to be applied for and when these were approved the coordination of other funding sources to complete the projects. Kate, Karen and Courtney all showed considerable drive and determination to ensure the continued momentum and completion of both projects.

They gained the support of local groups which has enhanced the sense of community oneness and a feeling of ownership of our town hub for the next generation.

Lake King now has a modern and inviting facility for not only locals but members of the wider community to enjoy.

Lake King  Active Citizenship of the Year Award for a Community Event of Group 2019

‘Lake Kingfest’ nominated by Lake King Progress Association