Ten community members have been celebrated for their contributions to Dubbo at the Dubbo Day Awards ceremony for 2022.
The recipients were awarded during a ceremony at the Dubbo Regional Theatre and Convention Centre on Wednesday, November 23.
Dubbo Day marks the anniversary of Dubbo’s gazettal as a village on November 23, 1849.
“Each award recipient has been nominated by the community they contribute to, so it’s very special for me being able to pass on this recognition and appreciation,” mayor Mathew Dickerson said. “Dubbo Regional Council commends all award recipients on their dedication to the City of Dubbo.”
This year’s Tony McGrane Award recipient is Dubbo Photo News' very own Geoff Mann, sports enthusiast, journalist, radio personality and avid volunteer. The award is named in honour of former mayor and later Member for Dubbo, Tony McGrane.
This year's recipients are:
Arunthy Paven – Arunthy joined the Event team of Dubbo Parkrun as a Run Director in November 2018. A run director involves organising your volunteer team before, during and after the event, processing results, organising the equipment and getting ready for the next week. Since joining the event team, Arunthy has volunteered at parkrun on 102 occasions.
Di Baker – Di has been, and continues to be, a dedicated volunteer at Emmanuel Care Centre for the past 18 years. Di sorts clothing for the Centres Op Shop, participates with clothing distribution for Northern Africa, selects and supports local organisations with quality clothing, such as Pink Ladies at the Dubbo Base Hospital, Mental Health Department, backpacks for people on release from Wellington Prison, and selects blankets for the Whelping Dogs organisation.
Greg Curry – Over the last 20 years, Greg has donated his time to the Dubbo Harness Racing Club. Some activities Greg has taken responsibility for are being a track assistant, completing grader duties and organising the family activities around the race meetings making it an event for the whole family to enjoy.
Len Clyne – Len is a valued member of the Dubbo Harness Racing Club, donating his time over the past 40 years. Len is an active member of the club and has held positions and completed tasks such as a director on the board, judging and time keeping at the race meetings and weekly trails.
Sarah Lucan – Sarah was one of the founding members for Orana Physical Culture in 2018. Sarah is an active committee member, teacher and secretary. Sarah has always contributed to the club by organising and running competitions and fundraising events, implementing strategies and plans for the growth of the club, and teaching the 13-16 year classes while also volunteering to help teach other age groups when required. Sarah has also held the secretary position since 2021. Sarah takes on this position with professionalism and a "can do" approach, always doing many additional hours to make sure all the big and little items and details are completed.
Peter Hargreaves – Peter has an amazing sense of common humanity and compassion which is continually giving to others, spending many days per week as a volunteer driver for the NSW Cancer Council. Peter is always available to bring the patients in for treatment when they can’t bring themselves due to illness, financial distress or social disadvantage. He will drive up to 200km one way to pick up patients and, regardless of how late treatments are or what is happening in his own life, he waits patiently for the patient to complete their treatment and then drives them home again.
Kellie Jennar – Kellie volunteers an average of 15 hours a week for the Dubbo Filmmakers, organising workshops, applying for grants and supporting volunteers and members with filmmaking questions and grants. Kellie has held and contributed to a variety of positions in a range of committees: President, Dubbo Filmmakers Inc; Treasurer, Dubbo Film Society Inc; Committee Member, Creative Assembly Inc; Workshop Coordinator, Dubbo Filmmakers Inc; Organising Committee, Latin American Film Festival; Festival Coordinator, One Eye Film Festival; and Volunteer Coordinator, West Words Festival.
Teena Allen – Teena joined Pink Angels in 2018 as a Patient Liaison Officer. In this position Teena liaises directly with Breast Care Nurses and patients to organise travel, accommodation, cleaning, fuel and food vouchers, and payment of consultation fees; to ensure their journey is less stressful. Teena is an advocate for getting mammograms. Whilst attending a pop-up breast cancer screening bus at the Dubbo Rotunda with work colleagues, Teena discovered she herself had breast cancer. After experiencing firsthand how the services of Pink Angels could make life easier, she threw herself into the role with a passion and understanding.
Neil Sturrock – Within Neil's 30 years in the Dubbo Rescue Squad, he has been involved in a number of rescues, including but not limited to Road Crash Rescue, Industrial Rescue, Domestic Rescue, Inland Water Rescue, Search and Rescue, Large and Domestic Animal Rescue, and Vertical Rescue, along with holding roles within the Squad as Deputy Captain, Captain and President. Neil has dedicated hours in training and mentoring new Rescue operators and raising the profile of the Dubbo Rescue Squad through fundraising and community engagement. Without the dedication and hours given by Neil, many projects would have gone unfunded and many hours of training not provided to new members had he not taken up that role.
Geoff Mann (Tony McGrane Award recipient) – Geoff is involved in Men of League, Touch Football where he is Patron, Rugby Union where he used to be Secretary for the Roos and would sometimes call games, cricket, Sister City Committee, Australia Day and Dubbo Day deliberation committee, and is involved in the CSU Tony McGrane annual fundraising dinner. He also takes every opportunity to emcee at fundraising and community events. Geoff has also been involved in a number of paid roles where he has gone above and beyond, including ABC, 2DU, Dubbo Photo News, and at St Pius X School.
Each year Geoff gets involved with various memorial events for the anniversary of the Bali bombings and always arranges to record the services and forward these to the family of Gerard Yeo who sadly lost his life in Bali. Geoff is also involved with the Catholic Church where he and his wife organise the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults classes, he is a volunteer Eucharistic minister and is on the parish council, and he is also on a committee with the Bishop from Bathurst where he mentors new seminarians.
- Words contributed by Dubbo Regional Council