Ready to celebrate community volunteers

The City of Mount Gambier has unveiled its 2025 Citizen of the Year award recipients ahead of this Sunday’s Australia Day community event and presentation at the Cave Garden/Thugi.

Citizen of the Year will be awarded to Trudi Shelton, Senior Citizen of the Year will be presented to Rodney Summers, Young Citizen of the Year will be awarded to Brad Hann, the Community Event of the Year will be presented to the Mount Gambier Family Truck Show (pictured) and the Active Citizenship Award will be given to Mount Gambier Breast Cancer Awareness Group.

The awards celebrate the contributions of individuals and community groups who go above and beyond for the community.

City of Mount Gambier Mayor Lynette Martin OAM said this year they were recognising some outstanding community members who so generously provide their time, resources and goodwill to benefit others.

The January 26 event will commence at 7.30am with breakfast provided by the Lakes Rotary Club of Mount Gambier which is available to purchase for $10 for adults and $7 for children, with all proceeds donated back to the community.

Entertainment begins at 7.30am with family friendly activities such as a jumping castle, henna and eco glitter tattoos and wildlife demonstrations by Australian Bush Buddies.

The event will be interpreted on stage in Auslan, the language of the Australian deaf community. In addition, accessible matting will be laid on the lawn, allowing better wheelchair access for attendees.

For those unable to attend the event, the City of Mount Gambier will livestream the proceedings at facebook.com/cityofmountgambier