SOME of the region’s most outstanding citizens were recognised for their achievements in the Hastings Citizen of the Year awards on Saturday evening on Town Green in Port Macquarie.
The awards ceremony included speeches by Mayor Peter Besseling, Port Macquarie MP Leslie Williams, Member for Lyne David Gillespie, and Australia Day ambassador Prue Watt.
While their ages, backgrounds and interests varied, all the nominees and winners had one thing in common: a selfless devotion to their community and putting others first.
YOUNG CITIZEN OF THE YEAR
Winner: Ahlia Westaway-Griffiths (Port Macquarie)
Ahlia Westaway-Griffiths has been a key member of the Hastings Youth Workers’ Network for many years and has created and contributed to a number of community events including Youth Week events, Youth Homelessness Matters Day and Australia Day Port’s Got Talent.
Ahlia has also given generously of her time at night and on weekends to help support anti-violence campaigns, creating and co-ordinating Love Bites — an anti-violence program for young people focusing on relationships. She was one of the driving forces behind the White Ribbon Coastal Walk in 2012 and again in 2013.
Nominee: Aaron Patton (Port Macquarie)
Aaron’s Patton’s interest in youth affairs extends well beyond the local region. Aaron has been a dedicated and active member of the local Youth Advisory Council and was also chairperson of this year’s Luminosity Youth Summit. He is also a nominee for the NSW Youth Advisory Committee.
Nominee: Rhys Boreham (Port Macquarie)
Rhys Boreham is a multi-talented young man who continues to impress across a range of different fields. He was elected school captain for 2014 at Port Macquarie High School and has also been nominated by his school to compete in the election of the NSW Youth Parliament of 2014.
Nominee: Taylor Barton (Lake Cathie)
Taylor Barton may only be a teen but has already identified what she wants to do with her life. Taylor has spent time working in a special development schools and has her heart set on becoming a special development teacher.
Nominee: Jack Begbie (Port Macquarie)
Jack Begbie has been described as a born leader. He was elected school captain of St Columba Anglican School for 2014 or that he is president of the St Columba Youth Rotary Team. He boasts incredible people skills and is technologically brilliant.
CITIZEN OF THE YEAR
Winner: Allyson (Ally) Costanzo (Port Macquarie)
Allyson Costanzo is well known in the Port Macquarie region for her work with one of the most vulnerable sections of our community, those who are deaf and blind. Her efforts were praised in a speech in the NSW Parliament last year by Member for Port Macquarie Leslie Williams to mark Hearing Awareness Week.
In recent years, Ally has helped train more than 60 individuals and five businesses in Auslan – the language of the deaf and hearing impaired community in Australia. She has also organised the Deaf Business Forum, so local businesses can be trained in serving deaf customers and has organised social nights with the deaf community so that students have an opportunity to practice their sign language skills.
In addition, she has volunteered to visit deaf patients in hospital, she has mentored and interpreted for deaf students attending the local TAFE so they can graduate and she has provided on-the-job support for deaf employees and their employers.
Nominee: Rosalee Figgins (Port Macquarie)
Rosalee Figgins has been nominated for her work as a teaching aide for students with special/high needs. She is recognised as someone who, without fail, puts the welfare of the children first.
Nominee: Dr Peter Mayne (Laurieton)
Dr Peter Mayne from the Laurieton Medical Centre is considered a most courageous doctor who – through dedication to his patients – has become a leader in the field of Lyme disease diagnosis and treatment in Australia.
Nominee: Marie Paton (Telegraph Point)
Marie Paton was nominated for simply doing the best that she can on a day-to-day basis. She has been praised for demonstrating those qualities that we so often look for in others and strive to achieve ourselves.
SENIOR CITIZEN OF THE YEAR
Winner: Laurie Barber (Port Macquarie)
Laurie Barber is well known throughout the local region for his community work but particularly for his association with Rotary International. In November last year, he was elected to the board of Australian Rotary Health, the nation’s largest non-government funding body of mental illness research. Laurie has contributed significantly to Rotary’s local and overseas projects and leads by example.
He was one of the founders of Pacific Training Aid and together with wife Glenda helped raise $60,000 for research into motor neurone disease. He was also a voluntary basketball referee for about 50 years and also a patron of the Hastings Fellowship of Australia Writers, providing guidance and direction to its members and aspiring writers. He continues to write a weekly column for the Independent called My Word.
Nominee: Ronald Turnbull (Wauchope)
Ronald Turnbull has been a member of the Hastings Auto Restorers for more than 30 years. During this time, the Vintage Car Club has raised funds for a number of local charities. Ron is well known for his free repairs to wheelchairs for the frail elderly and the disabled.
Nominee Jack Begbie Pembrooke)
Vivian Watts has made an outstanding contribution with his devotion to the sport of woodchopping. In 1980 he received the Award of Merit from the Australian Axeman’s Association and has won many prized trophies including the Allan Neaves Memorial Trophy at Macksville on no less than eight occasions.
COMMUNITY GROUP OF THE YEAR
Winner: iKew Visitor Information and Community Hub
A group of volunteers came together with the re-establishment of the iKew Visitor Information and Community Hub in May 2013. These volunteers work tirelessly to provide a service from 10am to 4pm, seven days a week, to assist tourists and travellers source information about the entire local government area.
The group’s efforts enable those people involved in the tourism industry to get on with the job of managing their businesses all year round.
Nominee: Hastings Youth Advisory Council
Individually, council members have each contributed 400 hours to youth-related activities over the past year or a whopping 4000 hours as team. The Youth Advisory Council has created multi award-winning Youth Week programs as well as other youth events throughout the local government area.
Nominee: Port Macquarie Triathlon Local Organising Committee
The Port Macquarie Triathlon Local Organising Committee is a volunteer group formed over 12 years ago. Its function is to assist with the organisation and implementation of Ironman Australia, Ironman 70.3 and associated events. This has involved thousands of hours of volunteer time co-ordinating world class sporting events.
Nominee: Special Olympics Mid North Coast
Special Olympics Mid North Coast provides athletes with an intellectual disability the chance to be a part of the sporting community. It has been operating in the Port Macquarie area for the past five years and now looks after 48 athletes.
Nominee: Port Macquarie Lions Club
Port Macquarie Lions Club has been providing a service to the people of Port Macquarie since 1959 – a total of 54 years. Over this time, the club has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars, most of it going back into the local community. Club members have been involved in a range of different projects over the years.
