Community members and visitors across Murrindindi Shire celebrated Australia Day with nine different events taking place throughout the municipality, co-ordinated by community groups.

Four Ambassadors attended events run in Alexandra, Eildon, Kinglake, Marysville, Flowerdale, and Strath Creek as part of the Australia Day Ambassador Program. Ambassadors included Tim Conolan, Robin Daubeny, Claude Lombard and Bill Horman. There were also Australia Day events held in Glenburn, Murrindindi-Woodbourne and Yea.

The ambassadors addressed audiences, spreading a message of national pride and what being Australian means to them.

Murrindindi Shire Council Mayor Charlie Bisset attended celebrations in Kinglake and at the Murrindindi-Woodbourne Hub, and acknowledged that Australia Day has many different meanings for individuals and communities, providing an opportunity to come together and share experiences, memories and traditions.

“As part of the Australia Day celebrations, four awards were presented to members of the community. Awards were presented for Citizen of the Year, Young Citizen and Senior Citizen of the Year. Recipients received these awards in recognition of their inspiring volunteering in Murrindindi Shire,” Cr Bisset said.

“To reinvigorate the Awards in 2018 the award categories were changed slightly, with ‘Senior Citizen of the Year’ replacing ‘Event of the Year’. We feel this decision has provided the opportunity to recognise another important demographic within our community.

There was a Citizenship Ceremony held for Astrid Bathen in Kinglake.