Wakefield’s Australia Day Awards Announced for 2025
Wakefield Regional Council’s Australia Day Awards have been announced for 2025, with winners in Citizen of the Year, Young Citizen of the Year and Event of the Year.
Graham Duncan from Owen has been awarded our Citizen of the Year for his tireless efforts over 32 years as a leader within the Owen community.
Mr Duncan’s contributions to the Owen community include serving as chair of the Owen Community Centre Committee for 22 years, Chair of the Owen Silo Art committee and chair of the Owen School Council. Beyond chairing those committees Mr Duncan was President of the Harness Club, a member of the Owen Community Shed and for many years the master of ceremonies at the Owen Christmas pageant.
Representing his community on committees and groups, Mr Duncan has been integral to the construction of the harness club trail throughout the Owen Parklands, the Owen Community Shed and Lunchroom, Owen wetlands and has assisted throughout the township lending his valuable building skills to the community.
Our Young Citizen of the Year for 2024 is Hamley Bridge’s Ben Mann who has been a fantastic example of young leadership within his community.
Ben’s leadership has made an impact throughout his volunteering in the Country Fire Service leading the local cadet’s program to educate and guide cadets as they work towards becoming fire fighters.
Beyond the CFS Ben teaches kids self-defence classes as a part of the Barossa and Districts Freestyle Mixed Martial Arts program, leading kids in classes to encourage fitness, fun and the importance of self-defence.
Event of the Year was awarded to the Reunion of Blyth Football and Netball Premierships for 1974, 1984 and Blyth/Snowtown 2014 held on August 24, 2024.
The event reunited the premiership teams for 1974, 1984 and 2014 at the Blyth Oval where all past premiership players could watch Blyth/Snowtown play South Clare before heading to the Blyth Hall for a reunion dinner.
Past players returned to Blyth in droves from all three decades for the reunion with only a few past players unable to make the celebrations.
Netballers from the 1970s and 80s were also recognised at the reunion for their outstanding success throughout the decades.
Wakefield Regional Council Mayor Rodney Reid said this year’s winners were a testament to our community’s spirit for volunteering and supporting our wonderful communities.
“Each year we see great nominees receiving the recognition they deserve, as they continue to support and help our communities flourish,” Mayor Reid said.
“I’ve been lucky enough to work with Graham throughout my time in Owen over 26 years, working alongside him for 11 years on the Owen Community Centre Committee executive, he has made an enormous contribution to the community throughout his time in Owen which we are so grateful for.
“It’s excellent to see young people like Ben within our community ensuring our youth have great activities they can do after school to keep them active and engaging within our communities. I commend Ben for his efforts in activating the youth of Hamley Bridge with great programs like the cadets and Mixed Martial Arts.
“Fortunately, I was able to attend this year’s Blyth Premiership Reunion, and it is certainly deserving of the event of the year, bringing so many people to Blyth was amazing for the local community and I’m sure the memories all came flooding back throughout the day.
Mayor Reid encourages anyone thinking of nominating a community member or event for the Australia Day awards to start thinking about their nominations now, so they are ready to go when next year’s awards come around.