Cardinia Shire Council’s annual Australia Day ceremony has pushed online following Omicron concerns.
The 2022 Australia Day award ceremony will be announced online instead of in person, next week on Tuesday 25 January.
Nominees for Citizen of the Year are Phil Anning, Binita Maskey, Rachelle Mechielsen, Shoheli Sunjida, Carol Thompson and Elise Turnedge.
The Senior Citizen of the Year nominees are Magda Lane, Geoffrey Pepperell, Jenny Reynolds, Graeme and Ann Taylor and Ian Wake.
The Young Citizen of the Year nominees are Jacynta Howden, Arshu Maskey, Selby McDonald, Annabelle Morton and Charlotte O-Sullivan.
The Community Event of the Year nominees are the Beaconsfield Australia Day Family Drive-in Movie Night, the Cockatoo Country Market, Eid Bazar in Cardinia, Eid Prayer in Cardinia Shire and the Vaccination pop-up clinic.
Cardinia Shire Mayor Jeff Springfield congratulated all nominees and thanked them for their valuable contribution.
“Congratulations to all of our nominees for our 2022 Australia Day awards,” he said.
“Thank you to each and every one of you for your amazing efforts and contributions.
“It’s been another challenging year, and I’m so proud of the resilience and community spirit that I’ve witnessed in action across the shire. This is particularly true of our Australia Day nominees whose dedication and commitment to the local community is so appreciated.”
The ceremony will be streamed at cardinia.vic.gov.au/australiaday from 6.30pm Tuesday 25 January and will be free for all residents to view.
Another event to be cancelled due to the current Covid-19 situation is the Lakeside Residents Group’s mini walk event.
The group was unable to find a sufficient number of volunteers that were not in isolation.
“We are very saddened to have to make this decision and hope to be able to resume our normal events within the next few months,“ Wendy Andrews from the group said.
Committees in Cockatoo and Beaconsfield are hopeful their events will go ahead as scheduled.
The Connecting Cockatoo Communities is promoting its Australia Day Event, taking place next Wednesday at Alma Treloar Reserve.
There will be a free coffee van from 8.30am and the event will feature performances from local musicians including Elise Turnedge’s ‘The Sound of Generators’.
Australia Day ambassador, Father Bob Maguire will be in attendance and local community awards including senior citizen of the year and youth citizen of the year will be awarded from 9.00.
The event is child-friendly and estimated to go for about two hours, after which complimentary/complementary morning tea will be available.
The Beaconsfield Progress Association has planned a free family drive-in movie night from 8pm on Wednesday 26 January.
Supported by Cardinia Shire Council, the movie ’The Dish’ will be screened at Holm Park Reserve.
The event is alcohol-free BYO food and drink.
