Ashford’s Australia Day celebration was very much focused on future generations as community members gathered at Walter McRae Park.
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After a delicious barbecue breakfast, cooked by the Ashford Lions Club, the 2019 Young Citizen of the Year Award was announced.
Ashford Lions Club president Rachael Rogers said each year locals were encouraged to nominate youth doing magnificent things for the community.
“This year we received a beautiful letter nominating a well-known local boy by the name of Raymond Binge. We are happy to announce Raymond as our young citizen of the year,” she said.
As a member of the Ashford Leos, Raymond is always available for duties, regardless of the request, the letter read.
“Whether it is serving on the gate at the show or doing time at the driver reviver. He is always friendly and asks to help in any way he can, nothing is a bother to him.
“He is a polite and respectable boy who has a heart of gold. Raymond likes to do community work for his town. This is a bonus as today, not many young people will work for nothing but he doesn’t think twice and steps up when he can.”
Raymond is known for his hard work and has even won awards at school for service to the community of Ashford.
Unfortunately, due to family commitments Raymond was unable to attend the Australia Day gathering however, Leos Adviser Helen Hilton accepted the award on Raymond behalf.
Helen also had some exciting news to share with the crowd after a project she’d been working on for around five years became a reality.
“Ashford have received $55,000 funding to build a skate park at the Walter McRae Park. It should be built by the end of June.
“I’ve been knock, knock, knocking on council’s door for a very long time. This is for the kids because there isn’t much for them here,” she said.
Community members cheered and applauded Helen’s efforts.
