Pictured above: Laura Bartram receives Australia Day award on behalf of Dumbleyung Events Committee
On a sunny Sunday morning, 26th January 2020, Australia Day was celebrated at the Dumbleyung Swimming Pool with a delicious cooked breakfast. Over 70 adults and children attended the event, with the children enjoying the inflatable pool toys and Shire President, Julie Ramm announcing the Australia Day Celebration Awards for 2020.
Congratulations to Dumbleyung local Beverly (Bev) Bracknell who was awarded the Shire of Dumbleyung Citizen of the Year Award for 2020. Bev Bracknell is a strong independent individual and an incredible community member. Bev has been a wonderful contributor within Dumbleyung, involved with a variety of community groups including St John Ambulance (from 1982), President of Dumbleyung Swimming Club 1998 and Dumbleyung Shire Councillor 1999-2003.
Thank you to the Shire of Dumbleyung for supplying the food at the Australia Day Breakfast and to the following Councillors – Grant Lukins, Amy Knight and Julie Ramm for cooking a delicious breakfast for the community. Thank you to everyone that attended the event and further thanks to the new Pool Manager, Heather Bartram on a successful morning at the Dumbleyung Swimming Pool!
Please see below Shire President, Julie Ramm’s speech from the Australia Day Celebration and Awards for 2020.
I would like to acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land and pay my respects to Elders past, present and emerging.
Good morning everyone and welcome to the 2020 Shire of Dumbleyung Australia Day Celebration and Awards breakfast. My name is Julie Ramm and I represent the Dumbleyung Shire Council as their Shire President.
I wish to extend an especially warm welcome to the new residents who are here today to join us, please make them feel welcome everyone. I hope your time here in our Shire is fulfilling and enjoyable. Our towns of Dumbleyung and Kukerin may be small, but we have plenty to offer in facilities, community groups and best of all – our warm-hearted people! Please join in the community in as many ways as you can, your help will be appreciated and welcomed.
Peter started with us in September and is an experienced CEO bringing his wealth of knowledge into our Shire. We thank you Peter for joining our team and hope you enjoy your time with us. Welcome Peter.
I’d also like to thank our Shire staff for organising the food and setup here today, and to the Councillors for cooking breakfast, hopefully it has been much appreciated?
The year gone: 2019, what did it bring for our Shire?
- Dumbleyung Events Committee held its most successful Taste of Dumbleyung, attracting over 1000 people. People enjoyed the many events, music and crafts available. A credit to the volunteers who helped make this newly tweaked event work to benefit the community of Dumbleyung.
- Kukerin runs an annual Creekbed and Burnout weekend. This day is also completely volunteer run and is a credit to the Kukerin Ag Society and to those in the community who volunteer to ensure it's always a successful weekend for the participants and for the community.
- Sport is a major part of our Shire:
Along those lines, funding was obtained for Pool heating to be installed, which is now finalised. The heating will prolong the usage of our pool facility.
- Our Shire is in the fortunate position to have been left funds by the Bain Family. The successful applicant to the Bain Estate Fund last year was:
Please note that the applications are now open all year around for Bain Estate, closing date is first week of April.
- Water or lack of, is a hot topic and hopefully the Town water harvesting project in Dumbleyung will help alleviate this in the future. The project is nearly finalised, waiting on Western Power to connect electricity to the site.
- Theatre Club successfully produced an original work titled “3 weeks in December” written by our locals: Jacki Ball, Michele Brown and Pip Gooding. An amazing treat to be able to watch a production written, produced and acted by locals about Donald Campbell and his boat the Bluebird. Fantastic effort.
- The Shire had a diverse year with the changeover of 4 CEO’s, an interesting challenge for both staff and Council, however I can honestly say we have gained a lot from their varied experiences and ways of doing things. Now we have Peter, who has already identified areas we can improve upon. We appreciate your efforts Peter.
Small towns - yes we are - and as just outlined, we proudly have a lot going for us. What a great community to be a part of and to celebrate this in Dumbleyung on Australia Day is a wonderful way to recognise how fortunate we are.
The Shire of Dumbleyung annually invites nominations from within our community for their annual Citizen and Community Group of the year Awards and the winners are announced today. Congratulations to those who were nominated; Barbara Atkins, Barry Clarke, Bev Bracknell, Hanna Chiswell, Helen Gooding. It's an honour to be recognised for your positive attributes and we congratulate you all. However, there can only be 1 recipient of the 2020 Citizen of the Year Award and that person is: Bev Bracknell.
We congratulate you Bev and award you the Shire of Dumbleyung Citizen of the Year Award for 2020.
Bev Bracknell is an outstanding individual and community member who has spent the majority of her life in the service of others. Her volunteer roles and achievements are truly incredible, with a staggering list of involvements, most often in a leadership capacity.
Bev has been an incredible contributor to the local community with vast involvement over many years, with roles in a large number of community groups including (but not limited to and in no particular order): St John Ambulance (from 1982), Gymkhana President 1995 - 2000; President Dumbleyung Swimming Club 1998 +; Involved in Tennis (adult tennis coaching 1990), Badminton; Hospital Board and Management Committee 2002 and previous; Dumbleyung Shire Councillor 1999 - 2003; Dumbleyung P&C; Nippering Cemetery Researcher 1999; an integral part of the Stubbs Park Pavilion upgrade including the drawing up of the plans; Garden Club; Townscape Committee, Dumbleyung Dunny project and involved in creating the Duck at the town entrance (mural).
All of these positions have been in a voluntary capacity! Bev has also been a very popular Bus Driver for the Primary School, Road Mail deliverer 1989 on and has previously run a popular Garden Centre.
This is just a snapshot of what Bev has accomplished in her time at Dumbleyung. Through all of these Bev has demonstrated active citizenship and greatly enhanced community life in Dumbleyung and beyond.
Congratulations Bev.
Community Group of the Year: only 1 nominee – Dumbleyung Events Committee
In 2019 the Dumbleyung Events Committee (DEC) hosted their largest Taste of Dumbleyung event to date. This is due to previous years success and development of the event, but they also assisted the Shire in hosting the Sandgropers RV Club Annual Rally.
Stubbs Park, the caravan park, local accommodation and the Town Hall were jam packed with tourists all weekend with an anticipated 1,000 attendees. Other community groups also got the opportunity to cater for the RV group. The event received a lot of positive media coverage and attendees visited from all over Australia. The event itself included local entertainment, local food and market stalls, a BBQ cook-a-thon, free sideshow alley for the kids, local fashion parade and a bar area. It was a great way to showcase what Dumbleyung has but also to provide the community a fun and high quality event to attend after harvest and before seeding. The 2019 event was a huge success that involved a high level of organising, coordination and volunteer hours due to the larger nature of this year’s event.
DEC wanted to promote Dumbleyung in a positive light and showcase this community to be a wonderful, worthy and unique place to live or visit. It allowed a large group of volunteers to come together for a common cause and work together for the benefit of the community. It also allowed community members access to a free and high quality event with similar aspects to those in larger cities helping reduce the isolation and distance issues. DEC, you should be very proud of your achievements.
Councillor position open. Nominations open 29 January close 5 February. If you are interested in joining our vibrant and proactive Council, please talk to one of the councillors or our CEO.
Thanks to everyone, especially our new residents and award nominees for coming this morning to share in our Australia Day Celebration and to share in the Citizen of the Year Awards.
I hope you all enjoy the rest of your 2020 Australia Day.
Article by Ella Grundy and speech supplied by Shire President, Julie Ramm
Pictured above: Many enjoy the cool of the Dumbleyung Swimming Pool post the Australia Day Speeches and awards
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