WATTLE Range Mayor Peter Gandolfi hosted a civic reception at the Millicent Gallery on Friday night in honour of the five medal recipients who were named in the annual Queen’s Birthday Honours List.
Lasting two hours, the function was attended by the five recipients – David Snook, Mike Kemp, Dr Anne Johnson, Peter Brown and Gary Wyld.
Also in attendance was a large group of their friends, family members and colleagues, as well as councillors and senior council staff.
The mayor introduced each recipient, gave a snapshot of their community achievements and then invited them to respond.
All five recipients were proudly wearing their new medals, which had been presented to them at various investiture ceremonies over recent months at Government House in Adelaide.
These ceremonies were hosted by the Governor of South Australia Hieu Van Le.
It is a long-standing custom of Wattle Range Council to offer to stage such civic receptions whenever a local citizen is recognised in either the annual Queen’s Birthday Honours List or the annual Australia Day Honours List.
Mr Snook was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for service to the community of Beachport.
Mr Kemp is a Millicent volunteer fire-fighter and he now also has an OAM to go with the Australian Fire Service Medal which was awarded several years ago.
Originally from Adelaide, Mr Wyld is an Ambulance Service Medal recipient and has lived in Millicent for over 30 years.
Senior Sergeant First Class Brown is the officer in charge of Millicent police, a 41 year police veteran and he is now the proud holder of the Australian Police Medal (APM).
Penola’s Dr Johnson was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for her service to the community.
Guests at the reception were able to view the annual Wattle Range Council art show, which has been on display for the past month.
Meanwhile, the upcoming exhibition at the Millicent Gallery on Friday night is timed to coincide with the eve of Remembrance Day.
Work by former Millicent High School student and current national news photographer Gary Ramage will be displayed.
Mr Ramage has photographed conflicts for more than 20 years all over the world, including in Somalia, Bougainville, Bosnia, Kosovo, East Timor, Iraq and Afghanistan.
He is a three time recipient of the prestigious Walkley Award for photography and video journalism.
