Above and beyond tea and scones

NEIL Armstrong was taking his giant step for mankind about the same time Lyn Harris made a momentous step of her own into the Country Womens Association (CWA).

The year was 1969 and Mrs Harris had just moved to the Otways hamlet of Carlisle River with her new husband when she was encouraged to join the local branch.

“I was young in today’s terms when I married Terry. I was 20 and had just moved to town,” Mrs Harris said.

“I was a hairdresser from Timboon and knew very few people in Carlisle River, so I joined the CWA. The ladies were just wonderful. They went out of their way to be welcoming and it’s just the same for new ladies joining up today.”

The Barongarook resident has received an Order of Australia Medal (OAM) for service to the women of Victoria. Living on an Otways dairy farm and juggling four sons meant Mrs Harris was only involved at a branch level during the 1970s and 80s.

In recent time she has stepped up her participation, serving as CWA state vice president between 2005 and 2007 and is now the incumbent chief of the Victorian division.

“What I’d really like to see from this award is that women of all ages decide to get in- volved in the CWA,” Mrs Harris said. “We’ve had an increase in members in recent years because we’re not just about tea and scones. We have a social issues committee and a lot of our members work hard to highlight the important issues in country Victoria, like improving services and giving country people a fair go.”

Since her husband retired, Mrs Harris has also become a volunteer at Anam Cara House. Today, she will be one of several CWA members organising the catering at Melbourne’s Government House for state Governor Linda Dessau’s Australia Day celebrations.

“People still do expect scones when the CWA cater, so we’ve got more than 1000 for the day at Government House,” Mrs Harris said. “I’m more of an Anzac biscuit baker myself.”