General News
26 January, 2023
Top notch Dunolly citizens awarded
A great crowd settled into Gordon Gardens in Dunolly for the town’s Australia Day awards, with Melanie Schodde awarded citizen of the year. Melanie received the award for her work around the community, which includes her beloved Dunolly Football...
A great crowd settled into Gordon Gardens in Dunolly for the town’s Australia Day awards, with Melanie Schodde awarded citizen of the year.
Melanie received the award for her work around the community, which includes her beloved Dunolly Football Netball Club, of which she has been a long-standing player and coach at junior and senior level.
“I was shocked. I was a little bit overwhelmed, but I was honoured as well, because there’s so many fantastic people in this community that do some brilliant things. I feel like I wasn’t the deserving one, but I’ll take it,” she said.
“I’ve been here since about 2009, and ever since I’ve come in, it’s been a community that has welcomed me with open arms. I grew up in a small community in Inglewood, so I wanted the kids to experience that as well. It’s a privilege to be able to walk away with this.”
Melanie reflected on her standards that have helped her gain Citizen of the Year.
“I think it’s just listening to everyone’s opinion, working together as a community and getting their thoughts,” she said.
“No one is perfect, so there’s always a step to learn and someone can always teach you something new. I like to lean on the ones who’ve been in the committee before, get their guidance and learn new ideas along the way.”
It was also a double delight for the Schodde family, with Melanie’s daughter Mia Schodde earning an honourable mention for her exploits in athletics, netball, and in school.
The Dunolly Fire Brigade were awarded the Community Group of the Year for their work keeping the community safe during the devastating spring floods.
“It’s good for the brigade [to be recognised]. We put a lot of effort into the floods, as there is no SES here, so it was up to the CFA to run both. It proves that the community appreciates what we do here,” Brigade Captain Greg Humphrey said.
“There was a lot of hard work to prepare sandbags where we had the community come along and help us, and supplying some of the local businesses with food. It was pretty full on.”
Greg said the reach the fire brigade has within the community contributes to their success.
“We do the community market, we do catering for a lot of different clubs. We depend on the community — we got our new vehicle, which was paid for by the community. We like putting a lot back into the community,” he said.
Thang Nguyen was awarded Young Citizen of the Year, taking in his exploits both in school and in sport, where he recently made selection for Country Week, while also representing the Laanecoorie Dunolly Cricket Club and Dunolly Golf Club with pride.
“I didn’t expect it, but I am pretty happy with my achievement,” he said.
“I normally always practice my cricket, which I’m doing every day with friends by going to the nets. I like watching the Tests. But at times, I’m also helping my dad in the garden, trimming back some trees that need doing, getting out into the community as well.
“I’m very passionate about cricket and I want to go very far in that. The training and games can be very hard on me, but they’re also fun. My golf is done for my club at Dunolly. It’s a fun sport to play in my spare time. I also try to work for my team, not for myself.
“It’s a big thing to be a part of the Dunolly community. I’m very happy to be in it, all the people are great and fun to be around. Nothing bad happens here and I wouldn’t leave it for anything else.”