For his dedication to the Bega Valley Regional Gallery over 10 years.

He started as a gallery “sitter” as the suggestion of a friend, taking his turn at the front desk answering inquiries, supervising visitors and providing valuable public contact.

Soon he found himself in charge of the sitters’ roster, co-ordinating the volunteer team and, as well as doing his own shifts, he ensured the gallery remained open by filling in when other sitters were unable to attend, often at very short notice.

He also maintained the visitor number statistics, so essential to funding applications.

He was known for his constancy and his willingness to take on any task as much for his organisational skills,

• Moira Collins from Bega.

Moira Collins is one of the great treasures of the Bega Valley Shire.

Since her arrival as a young bride more than 50 years ago, she has been involved in a broad spectrum of issues and interests.

She was a dairy farmer and an active player in dairying politics for more than 25 years which was acknowledged by her selection as the first ABC South East Rural Woman of the Year.

She was on the Mumbulla Shire Council and, in the 1970s, she and her husband Jim were instrumental in setting up the Tulgeen Group to provide services and opportunities for people with disabilities.

In the 1980s and the 90s, she was a very active campaigner to save the local forests from logging, in between her other community activities.

These included many years of service to the Bega District Hospital as a member, chair and vice-chair of the hospital board and as a member of various committees and action groups that has culminated in the announcement of a $100 million new hospital.

Five years ago the Collins committed their extraordinary energies to the improving the lot of the people of Timor Leste.

They were founders of the Bega Valley Advocates for Timor Leste and Mrs Collins is the secretary of that group.

The Collins have committed a great deal of time and money to this cause, selling their Bega Co-op shares to fund various projects.

In recent years, Mrs Collins has been honoured by Bega Rotary Club with a Paul Harris Scholarship, and by the Bega RSL Sub-Branch with a Spirit of Anzac Award.

• Joanne Jacobs from the Murrah.

Jo Jacobs is a hands-on member of the Bermagui community who, despite a busy working life as a nurse with community health and operating a native plant nursery with her family, has been a tireless member of the Bermagui Seasiders since its inception in 1998.

The Seasiders is a not-for-profit organisations that stages the Bermagui Seaside Fair each year, attracting thousands of visitors to the area.

Preparation for this one action-packed day takes about nine months.

As the chair of the committee for the past 12 months, Jo has been required to liaise with various organisations such as council, police, the RTA, insurance companies and the like.

She also arranges much of the entertainment, including carnival activities and helicopter rides.

• June Tarlinton from Cobargo.

June Tarlinton is a stalwart of the Cobargo and Wandella communities.

She has been a contributor for most of her adult life and has a long association with several organisations, including the Cobargo AP and H Society.

She joined the show society in 1993 and became a member of the management committee in 1994.

She has been a judge and steward in various categories and she is also a popular compere at local community and charity events.

She was elected president of the Show Society in 2006, only the second woman to hold that position in its 120-year history.

Mrs Tarlinton has also been a member of the Cobargo Co-operative Society for the past seven years and she is a foundation member of the Cobargo Horse and Trail Riders’ Association and a life member of the Quaama and Dry River Rodeo committee, having served seven years as secretary and event secretary.

She was also president, club captain, events’ secretary and instructor for the Cobargo Pony Club over a period of 10 years.

She is currently a member and former treasurer of the Wandella Hall Committee and a member of the local LandCare group.

• Gwen Robertson from Bemboka.

Gwen Robertson has been an active member of the Bemboka community for her whole adult life.

Over more than 40 years she has been a member of just about every committee in the Bemboka district.

She has been a member of the Bemboka Memorial Hall committee for more than 30 years and raised funds for the hall’s upkeep with the other ladies who catered for all the big occasions in the town.

She is also an active member of the Bemboka Garden Club, which is known throughout the shire for its annual flower show in the Hall.

Mrs Robertson has been awarded life membership by the Bemboka Show Society for her contribution over many years as a committee member, exhibitor, steward and worker.

She served on the Bemboka Meals on Wheels committee, was a member of Legacy and an active member of the Uniting Church congregation.

Among the sporting clubs that have benefited from her contributions of the years have been the Bemboka Tennis and Hockey Clubs and the Candelo-Bemboka Football Club.

• Lynn Mott from Bermagui.

Lyn Mott is someone who is committed to the economic wellbeing of the Bega Valley Shire.

She has given countless hours to helping people needing guidance in business and has served on many organisations where her efforts have been recognised as far beyond what is expected of the positions held.

As secretary of the Caravan and Camping Industry Association for the region she worked to bring together the various towns in the shire to work as a united body for the benefit of all.

She attends trade shows and shows to promote the shire as both tourism and residential destination.

As the secretary of the Bega Valley Shire Bbusiness Forum, Lyn took on the task of reforming the tourism industry in the shire, working tirelessly with council to ensure that a strong Sapphire Coast Tourism organisation was handed over to the new incorporated company.

In doing so, she made herself available to any small business operators throughout the shire who needed advice, guided the inexperienced through the difficulties of setting up in business and helped in developing websites.

Ms Mott genuinely cares about the future of the shire and dedicates a large amount of time and energy to ensuring it will become a strong regional area.

Paul Gersbach

Paul Gersbach was nominated for this award by the Nethercote Residents’ Association, with supporting letters from just about everyone in the Nethercote community.

Ten years ago Nethercote was little more than a scattering of dwellings with most residents being strangers to each other.

Then the Residents’ Association was formed with Paul Gersbach as its president and, under his golden touch, it has created not only a community of Nethercote but also a community hall.

For 10 years Mr Gersbach has helped to plan, run and clean up after all the social and fundraising events in area and when the decision was taken to rebuild the Nethercote Hall he took on leadership of the volunteer team to raise the hall from a condemned shack to the beautiful, completed building it has recently become.

This was mainly achieved through fortnightly working bees with Mr Gersbach, hands-on, at the helm.

The task also required attendance at courses and meetings, liaison with Council, co-ordinating tradesmen and teams of volunteers - mostly in family time.

Enthusiasm, ability to inspire others, patience, gentleness, tenacity and willingness to accept newcomers were all listed as traits that Mr Gersbach has in large measure and which he has used not only to bring the hall phoenix-like from dereliction but also to consolidate a community.

Now the Nethercote community has annual markets, horse trail ride and art exhibition, four seasonal produce markets and a Christmas community get-together.

• Barbara Waddell from Tathra.

Barbara Waddell moved to Tathra in 1990 when she retired from farming in Victoria and proceeded to make her mark on her adopted community.

She ran a cottage plant nursery from her home for 13 years, happily sharing a love and knowledge of plants with others.

In 1992 she joined the Old Bega Hospital committee, which later became the Trust, and served as secretary from then until 2008.

She founded the Bega Valley Weavers, which met at the Old Hospital, and was co-ordinator until 1993, after which she continued as a teacher and mentor for the group.

When the Old Hospital was badly damaged by fire in 2004 she initiated the Old Hospital Fundraising committee, organised various functions and guided the fledgling monthly market project.

Mrs Waddell is a strong promoter of all local art and craft, attending exhibitions and supporting local artists.

She has been a volunteer sitter at the Bega Valley Regional Gallery for 10 years.

She has been a member of Valley Originals Arts and Craft Co-operative for the past 16 years as a weaver and has exhibited her weaving continuously in the Valley Originals gallery at the Old Hospital.

She is currently a board member and a member of the gallery’s display quality selection committee.

Barbara is 84 years old now but still she continues to work for her community, particularly through her dedication to the Old Hospital restoration project.

• Tom Blake from Bega.

There is nothing Tom Blake enjoys more than playing the piano, especially the old tunes, and it is this that makes him so popular with the older members of the community.

For the past 20 years he has been giving his time and his talent to entertain senior citizens, in aged care facilities across the shire and at functions and singalongs.

He has been visiting Hillgrove House for 20 years and more recently he added Casuarina Hostel and Bimbimbie to his schedule for regular happy hours.

Mr Blake has been involved with the Bega Baptist Church for the past 20 years and for 10 years has been organising a monthly singalong and friendship hour for elderly people in the community and people who find it difficult to get out much.

He co-ordinates other local musicians for these events and arranges transport for people who need it.

Mr Blake has also been delivering Meals on Wheels for the past 14 years.

He was president of the Bega RSL Sub-branch for two years and he has been the entertainer at a pre-Anzac Day barbecue in Tathra for the past 12 years.

• Barbara Lynn from Brogo.

Barb Lynn of Brogo is said to “immerse herself in the community” wherever she goes and that is certainly true if her engagement with the community of the Bega Valley Shire is anything to go by.

In the nine years since she arrived in the Valley, Barb has been a helper and a carer in many situations.

Her nominators first came to know her as a volunteer with the Home Visiting Service, helping families in need of practical support and respite.

She is a volunteer with the Bega Valley Seed Savers, cheerfully managing those jobs that many of the others avoid, and is involved with the Bega Eco-Neighbourhood Developers, supporting all BEND events and helping with the conservation work in the Bega River anabranch.

Ms Lynn was a member of Bega branch of Rural Australians for Refugees that successfully lobbied the council to endorse the concept of Welcome Towns in 2002 as an alternative to mandatory detention for asylum seekers.

She has been a member of the Environment Network for more than seven years and managed the shop in Church Street for several years until its closure.

She is an active member of the Bega Valley Local Exchange Trading System (LETS), a former treasurer and the current co-ordinator of the Brogo Community working bee group.

She was a volunteer at the recent Transition Town permablitz, turning a Bega backyard into a permaculture model.

Ms Lynn is also a keen knitter and some years ago she supported a project to provide warm clothing for AIDS babies in Africa, knitting jackets and encouraging other members of the Brogo knitting group to do so as well.

Now she knits for the Wrap with Love charity blankets, doing it as an all-year-round project and encouraging others to do the same.

• Julia Alcock from Bemboka.

Julia Alcock came to Bemboka in 1968 as a bride and has spent the next 40 years serving her community in a wide variety of ways.

A renowned local cook, she has exhibited, judged and acted as steward at Bemboka and other district shows and has been awarded life membership of the Bemboka Show Society.

Back in the 1970s, with two friends, she created the Bemboka Cook Book, providing her own recipes and soliciting others from people in the town as a fundraiser for the Bega and District Nursing Home.

She is also a member of the Bemboka Meals on Wheels, although it is now in a happy state of abeyance due to a lack of clients.

Mrs Alcock has been a member of the Bemboka Memorial Hall committee for more than 30 years, many of them as president.

For a long time she headed the group of women who catered for weddings, Lions Club dinners, balls and other Bemboka occasions to raise funds to maintain the hall.

She was a foundation member of the Bemboka Garden Club some 25 years ago and treasurer for 10 years.

She also headed the team of enthusiasts that created the garden around the Memorial Hall.

When her children (girl triplets and a boy) were young she was an active member of the Bemboka Public School P and C committee and involved with the local hockey, softball and tennis and junior football clubs.

Ms Alcock is also a devoted churchwoman and an active member of the Anglican parish. She has been a church warden for the past 11 years.