Australia Day - 2025 - Boolarra

Another great Australia Day celebration at Railway Park in Boolarra with around 120 people turning out to enjoy the mild weather, an egg and bacon sandwich and a chance to have a chin wag with friends they do not run into often.

The volunteers on the BBQ started at 7.30 to ensure the hungry masses were very well catered for. Big thank you to members of Boolarra Development Group for feeding everyone breakfast. Well done also to Juliett and Denise for bringing the Koffee Kart along and providing free coffees to the masses.

The kids had fun with the games of cricket under the trees.

The older crowd members were kept on their toes by Australiana Trivia, with questions provided by Robert Franssen.

There were 18 nominations for the Community Recognition Awards this year. This reflects the enthusiasm people have for being able to have their friends’ efforts formally acknowledged in front of an audience of their peers.

Once again it was a terrific range of recipients this year, with a number of the quiet achievers acknowledged, along with a number of people who have been closely involved.

Councillor Leanne Potter arrived from her prior commitments at Churchill and Yinnar and spoke of the significance of Australia Day, and the values it represents, and how these are reflected in our community and the strength of the community spirit within Boolarra.

We then had the raising of the flag

Congratulations to the following recipients in recognition of their significant contribution to the Boolarra community:

Michael Gleeson - Boolarra Cemetery Trust

Matthew Gleeson - Justice of the Peace

Margaret Gleeson - Boolarra Wool Group

Sue Clutterbuck - Boolarra Wool Group

Colin Brick - Boolarra Community Development Group

Brock Mack-Matthews - Boolarra Community Development Group

Doug Black - Boolarra Community Development Group

Margaret McKay - Conference of the Birds

Gilbert Douglas - Conference of the Birds

Cameron Alexander - Storm clean up

Laughlan Alexander - Storm clean up

Kyle Alexander - Storm clean up

Roslyn Carstairs - Boolarra Memorial hall

Robern Lubawski - Boolarra Memorial hall

John Lubawski - Boolarra Memorial hall

Kat Kershaw - Boolarra Memorial hall

Liz Black - Boolarra Memorial hall

Cooper Stanton - Jeeralang Boolarra Panthers Cricket Club

Diana Billingsley AFSM

Australian Fire Service Medal (AFSM) id awarded in recognition of a persons’ exceptional service, leadership and dedication to CFA, the fire services and Victorian community.

As the highest award in the fire services in Australia, the AFSM is prestigious recognition for those who have made an extraordinary impact in their communities and the broader emergency service sector.

Diana is known for her proactive, solutions-focused approach; someone who is willing to roll her sleeves up to help drive positive change. She has attended more than 200 incidents in the 20 years she has been an operational volunteer with Boolarra brigade. In addition, she performed the role of crew leader during the 2009 Black Saturday and 2019-20 Black Summer fires. More recently, Diana has taken on the role of deputy group officer and group training officer for the Merton Group, where she plays a larger role in supporting volunteer training within her district.