Australia Day Award winners announced

MAURIE PUIATTI: Australia Day Citizen of the Year award winner for Wattle Range Council's Corcoran ward.

Kathy Gandolfi

LONG time community volunteer Mary Anne Stuckey, Mount Burr Football Club life member and President Maurie Puiatti and Millicent Gymnastics Club head coach Fiona McDonald are among the winners announced this week by Wattle Range Council for its Australia Day Citizen of the Year awards.

Mary Anne Stuckey, who will receive her Citizen of the Year award for Kintore Ward, has been a member of the Millicent Hospital Auxiliary for more than 30 years, Southend Progress Association for more than eleven years, along with volunteering with Meals on Wheels, Vinnies Op Shop in Millicent, St Alphonsus Catholic Church and the Beachport Ukulele Group.

She said she was shocked to get a telephone call from Mayor Des Noll advising her of the win.

“I said to Des ‘I think you have the wrong person’ and he said ‘only if you aren’t Mary Anne Stuckey’,” said Mrs Stuckey.

“I’m still coming to terms with it – it is a bit unreal.

“There are so many other deserving people but it is nice.

“My brother, sister and I had great role models in our parents; we were always encouraged to be involved in the community and to be mindful of people around us so we were brought up that way and it has flowed from there.

“Volunteering is a part of life for me, it’s who I am.

“You have kids so you get involved in their school and their sporting clubs, and on it goes,” said Mrs Stuckey who added that support from family and friends has helped her.

Maurie Puiatti, who will receive the Citizen of the Year award for Corcoran Ward, was an avid player of football, basketball and cricket but it was his movement into sport administration and coaching for these sports that was the foundation for 40 years as a volunteer.

“I guess it started with someone asking me to coach a basketball team when I was about 18, and I can’t say no,” said Mr Puiatti.

“Sports are a big part of my life, from a young age right through to now.

“It’s all about seeing the results of what you do, to see the knowledge you pass on turning into someone else enjoying the sport they play.

“To see them develop and get them to be able to play at their highest level, that’s enough for me, that’s where you get the satisfaction.

“Giving up your time to help others, whether they be groups or individuals, that’s what it is about.

“I feel honoured.”

In addition to his extensive commitment to sport, Mr Puiatti has also volunteered for about 20 years with the Leaning Assistance Program at Millicent North Primary School and also helps with Meals on Wheels when needed.

Carol Grbich of Glencoe will receive an Active Citizenship Award for Sorby Adams Ward.

Secretary of the National Trust Glencoe Woolshed Committee and co-author of the book ‘The Accidental Heiress’, Carol Grbich said it was nice to be nominated for her award.

An emeritus professor with the Faculty of Health Sciences at Flinders University, Carol usually writes books related to health but when she moved to Glencoe to retire, she was inspired by the history of the Leake family.

“It was nice to come and live in a place and discover, wow what a great story there is here,” she said.

“The book really started as a pamphlet for the Glencoe Woolshed but it grew legs of its own.”

‘The Accidental Heiress’ is a book about Letitia Sarah Leake, the daughter of Edward Leake who, with his brother Robert, moved to Glencoe in 1844 to establish Glencoe Station.

Young Citizen of the Year for Corcoran Ward is Fiona McDonald who returned to the south east from university in Adelaide and threw herself into the role of full time head coach and manager of the Millicent Gymnastics Club early last year.

It is the first time the club has had a full time coach and manager, with McDonald being the ideal choice, after studying Sport and Recreation Management, Bachelor of Business at university.

Despite being in her early 20’s she is described as being an organised and driven young lady with vision.

Community Event of the Year for Corcoran Ward is Millicent GeoVenture, which involved people using a Global Positioning System to find hidden containers, called geocaches, as a recreational activity, and the event is thought to have injected $80,000 into the community through people visiting the area to take part.

Other Australia Day awards for the Wattle Range Council are for Riddoch Ward including Citizen of the Year, Kathy Fennell, and Community Event of the Year, Stand Like Stone Fashion Market.

The awards will be officially presented at 9am at Australia Day breakfast functions which will begin at 8am on Wednesday, January 26, in Millicent at Jubilee Park, in Penola at War Memorial Park, in Beachport at Lagoon Reserve and at Kalangadoo in the Institute.

In addition, Tantanoola will have a community lunch at the railway lands from 12.30pm while Southend will have an Australia Day event on the western beach from 2pm.