LOCAL action to feed the Inverell community pride in heritage and our older citizens has been noticed on a state-wide stage.
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Inverell Pioneer Village and the BEST Employment BEST Food Garden have been nominated for the 2015 NSW/ACT Regional Achievement Awards.
The Pioneer Village is on the nominee list for the Department of Primary Industries Crown Reserve Trust Community Manager's Award.
News of the nomination came as a bit of a surprise.
“I got a phone call from the people who run it telling me that the Department of Lands had nominated the Pioneer Village for the category,” Village committee secretary Les Moulds said.
“It would be a wonderful achievement if we are able to get this award, and get the recognition for the way the reserve has been managed, and the way it has been put together over many, many years.”
He said the award was about managing the Pioneer Village as a community asset and the Crown reserve on which it sits.
“It was all put there by very hard work by a group of people and it’s continued to grow over the years,” Les said.
He said the attraction was first conceived in 1957 or 1959 with David Sommerlad, Jess Cutler, John Littlewood, and Wynne and Charles Fuller.
“It has a unique situation in NSW that it’s one of the very few places that has the collections and the buildings that are there at the present time,” Les said.
The BEST Food Garden was nominated for the Prime Super Community of the Year- Population Over 15,000 Award.
BEST’s chief executive officer Penny Alliston-Hall said the project has married a range of groups, from seniors, residents using disability services, preschoolers, high schoolers, community volunteers and those in work-experience.
“You cannot even begin to quantify the value of the garden in meeting Best Employment’s vision, which is to see our communities free from disadvantage,” Penny said.
Best Food Garden took root from a concept of former Best Tree Tenders nursery manager, now Best’s social programs co-ordinator Danny Middleton.
“Just the energy and the heart that is within the project, and Danny is so passionate about it,” Penny said. “He’s been passionate about it from day one, and we did not anticipate the growth and the depth of the project, and that continues.”
The 2015 NSW/ACT Regional Achievement Awards finalists will be shortlisted on Thursday, September 24. Winners in all categories will be announced at a gala dinner in Dubbo on Saturday, November 14.
