CHAMPIONS of our community have been honoured at the Port Macquarie-Hastings Council Citizens of the Year ceremony on the Town Green last night.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Mayor Peter Besseling and our Australia Day ambassador Prue Watt presented certificates to the 17 nominees in the four categories of young citizen, senior citizen, community group and overall citizen of the year, at a ceremony on Town Green last night.
Winners were announced by councillor Adam Roberts as about 100 family and friends showed their support.
Our citizen of the year is Allyson (Ally) Costanzo of Port Macquarie - a tireless worker for the deaf and blind in our community.
She has helped train more than 60 individuals and five businesses in Auslan - the language of the deaf and hearing impaired in Australia; organised the Deaf Business Forum to train businesses how to serve deaf customers; mentored and interpreted for local deaf students attending TAFE so they can graduate and visits deaf patients in hospital to make their time there easier.
To make her Australia Day even more special, it also happens to be her 45th birthday."It is a great honour and I am truly touched," Ms Costanzo said.
In her brief speech she said no one person can achieve goals on their own and she was confident in speaking on behalf of all the nominees to say it takes a team effort.
"We work or volunteer in the community for the love of what we do," she said.
Young citizen of the year Ahlia Westaway-Griffiths of Port Macquarie is a campaigner against domestic violence in an effort to raise awareness, foster better understanding and facilitate change in the community.
She has been a driving force behind the White Ribbon Coastal Walk, created the Love Bites program focusing on the relationships of young people and has provided valuable insight to the Youth Advisory Council, helping to develop the first NSW Youth Services Directory phone app.
"I am incredibly grateful for the support I received from the community," Mrs Ahlia Westaway-Griffiths said.
She thanked her colleague at the Domestic and Family Violence Refuge Service (formerly the Hastings Women and Children's Refuge) Angela Hughes for nominating her and said the Hastings was the "ideal place" for youth to grow up.
Senior citizen of the year Laurie Barber thanked his wife Glenda and all those "who have done so much for the community but not been nominated".
Mr Barber is a past president of Port Macquarie Rotary Club and past district governor of Rotary District 9650.
He has worked tirelessly with Rotary to assist the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital, Rotary Lodge, and was involved with the building of the lifeguard towers.
In November last year he was elected to the board of Australian Rotary Health, the largest non government fundraiser for mental illness research.
Many would have heard his whistle during his almost 50 years as a voluntary basketball referee.He is also a life member of the Jaycees and a patron of the Hastings Fellowship of Australia Writers.
iKew Visitor Information and Community Hub was named community group of the year.
Spokesman Gary Carpenter gave some background into the re-opening of the centre which had been put up for sale when the Pacific Highway upgrade by-passed the community.
Barry Barr said tourists not only are welcomed to the region with a friendly smile, they can enjoy a cup of tea and chat with one of the 40 volunteers who man the centre.
"Long live the big axe," he said.
