PATRIOTISM was in full display at the King George V Gardens on Sunday morning, with people waving Australian, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags.
Many locals attended events across the Rural City of Wangaratta to catch up with friends and reflect on what the day means to them, and also celebrate alongside the new citizen and project award winners.
Australia Day ambassador Caz Sammon coordinates the Big Brothers Big Sisters Youth Mentoring Program and she addressed the audience consisting of several hundred people.
She said the day is an opportunity for both celebration and reflection, a day to acknowledge the many wonderful things that are happening and to express our gratitude for this place and this community for which we are so lucky to live in.
"It's also a day to pause and acknowledge our shared history and then imagine what our future can be together and then make a commitment to being the best that we can be," Ms Sammon said.
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"Wangaratta is a truly special place to live and the community here has a huge collective heart, a connectedness and richness like no other."
Looking to the future, Ms Sammon said she envisages a community where no one is left behind and a place where everyone is able to feel a strong sense of belonging, regardless of their background.
"Where strengths are recognised and differences are celebrated, where everyone feels seen, heard and valued, where every individual has the same choices and opportunity to thrive regardless of their identity or their means."
The rural city's Australian Citizens of the Year winner's were Peter and Wendy Lester, with nominees Susan Fischer, Ken Daly and Kevin Felmingham.
Young Citizen of the Year winner was Felicity Camplin, with Lara Taylor another nominee.
Event/Project of the Year was Thread Together, with other nominees Sing Australia, and Wangaratta Rod & Custom Club.
Mr and Mrs Lester, owners of Quality Hotel Wangaratta Gateway, have been major contributors to events and projects, across multiple sectors in Wangaratta.
Through their business they donate financial and in-kind support with considerable volunteer hours of their own and their staff.
They are often the first to volunteer, ensuring that each event, irrespective of scale, receives the resources and backing it needs to succeed.
A few examples of projects they have assisted over the last 30 years, include Wangaratta Festival of Jazz, Galen College Wangaratta Care Packs, The Orange Door, Wangaratta Performing Arts Centre, Australia Day Tennis Tournament, and Wangaratta Rovers Football and Netball Club.
Felicity Camplin is a year 11 student at Cathedral College Wangaratta and she participates in leadership opportunities including being senior and junior house captain, student representative council, and several school sporting teams as an athlete, coach and umpire.
She has almost completed her Duke of Edinburgh Award undertaking a range of activities and challenges through voluntary service in the community.
Felicity volunteers at the St Vincent De Paul Op Shop sorting donations and working in the retail store.
She was selected for Wangaratta Warriors and North East Bushrangers representative basketball teams from U12 to U18 age groups competing all around the state.
Felicity has also been a domestic competition coach for junior athletes at Wangaratta Basketball, volunteered for Wangaratta Warriors and at football and netball clubs.
Last year she also spent two weeks volunteering in a school in Samoa.
Wangaratta Baptist Church’s Thread Together project collects brand-new unsold clothing from retailers around the country.
Then partners with them to operate the Thread Together Wangaratta Clothing Hub.
The hub distributes the clothing to people doing it tough and redirects it from landfill.
All clothing is offered at no cost and in the first year of operation, they clothed over 200 people in need.
They partner with service agencies who refer people of all ages for confidential shopping experiences.
Every person who attends Thread Together becomes a guest and can shop as they would in a retail fashion store, browse, select items, try them on, and then leave with new clothes.
Some 15 new Australian citizens from Iran, Philippines, South Africa, Ghanan, Turkey, India and Pakistan were celebrated and welcomed.
