Australia Day honours
After nine years of standing by people in the South Australian outback, Flinders Ranges Council took the opportunity to say thank you to Parkin Patrol Minister Rev John Dihm.
John was presented with a Certificate of Recognition for his contribution to the people of the district. The award was presented to John and his wife Marilyn at the Hawker Australia Day celebrations in Blue Bert Park.
The council noted how John’s dedication and commitment ensured he was always accessible to people in good times and bad times. John said he was very humbled to receive the award.
John will finish up in the Parkin Patrol on 17 February and is moving
to Tom Price in WA to begin as the Pilbara Patrol Minister.
Meanwhile, Work Party Coordinator Gordon Hill was named Citizen of the Year in the Cobar Shire and his wife Therese was presented with the Bossie Mitchell Memorial Award for community service.
Both Gordon and Therese are tireless in their volunteer work for the local community as well as their work for Frontier Services in remote Australia.
Gordon coordinates teams of volunteers to travel to remote Australia and carry out important maintenance work for our services. Last year Gordon, with Therese, led two Work Parties to Charleville and Emerald.
In his local community, Gordon has started up a Men’s Shed, was recently appointed to a local Health Council, is the SES Local Controller, the President of the Rotary Club of Cobar and a member of the Rural Fire Service Critical Support Team having just returned from the bushfire recovery effort in Coonabarabran.
Therese was the driving force behind a new children’s playground on the former car park at the back of the Uniting Church in Cobar. She also played a big role in setting up regular meetings for young mothers and assisting women from non-English speaking backgrounds who were settling into the Cobar community. In 1994, their eldest son won the same award.
“I’ve always been involved in community things,” Gordon said. “You see a need to do things and you do it. There’s no point just talking about it.”
Congratulations to John and Marilyn and Gordon and Therese for their well-deserved awards!
Above: Flinders Ranges Mayor Peter Slattery (right) presents the award to John and Marilyn Dihm.