By KATH GANNAWAY
Awards recognise heart of the community…
UPPER Yarra residents Norman Orr and Lily Bell Hellicar are among citizens from across the Yarra Ranges to be recognised in the council’s Australia Day awards.
Volunteering was the common thread linking the 10 recipients with dedication, passion and commitment the overriding themes when Yarra Ranges Council presented the awards at Yarra Glen Memorial Hall on Sunday.
Mr Orr from Launching Place received the Ian De La Rue Award for Community Leadership in recognition of his contribution to the Warburton business and wider community, and Ms Hellicar from Millgrove was named Young Citizen of the Year in recognition of her extensive voluntary work.
Norm, who recently retired after 16 years as post-master at Warburton, told the Mail the award came as a great surprise.
“I’m very honoured, and especially delighted because of who the award is named in honour of,” he said.
He worked alongside the late Ian De La Rue, along with the late Don Vickers and others as part of the steering committee that establishing the Warburton Community Bank (Bendigo Bank).
He said he was a great friend and inspiration and the bank was now the life-blood of the town.
The community farewell for Norm in November reflected the value the community put on his contribution to both the commercial and wider community – it was a role they loved him for and one he says was enormously rewarding.
His commitment to the success of the Upper Yarra and broader communities, whether through individuals, community festivals, people in business or providing continuous support to young people, made him a driving force in the community and marked him as a community leader whose greatest contributions were often behind the scenes.
Norm held many executive positions over the past decade with the Warburton Chamber of Commerce (now Warburton Valley Community Economic Development Association) and is still involved.
He played an instrumental role in organising the more than 30 old Warburton murals which are now an important tourist attraction and addition to the heritage of the town.
“I think you do these things just to see your town or community stay in the forefront.
“I’ve said many times over the years, particularly in regard to tourism, the more people visiting and coming to live in the town, the better it is for all of us,” he said.
“I would recommend getting involved, but there is no doubt it can involve a lot of hours and I wouldn’t have been able to do it without the support of my wife Kerry, and the staff at the post office who had to carry me along when I was doing this or that with the chamber and other projects,” he added.
He was also a founding member of the Wesburn Basketball Club, and shares an avid passion for the Hawthorn Football Club with his family.
For someone who flies the Australian flag year-round, makes it a rule to buy Australian-made wherever he can, and says he likes to encourage others to do the same and be proud to being Australian, the Australia Day award is something special.
See Lily’s story, along with more of the Yarra Ranges Council’s Australia Day Awards and Australia Day celebrations in the Mail’s Proudly Local Australia Day features on pages 2, 8, 10 and 11.
