Trafalgar names its top citizens
The town’s citizens of the year were announced last week and will be officially presented with their awards next week at the annual Australia Day breakfast.
This years’ citizen of the year recipients are Glenys and Michael Brennan, and Billie Pilch, with William Hornstra receiving the youth award.
Glenys and Michael Brennan have both worked tirelessly to help others.
Glenys was nominated and received an award earlier this year from Andrew’s House for her volunteer work.
Both Glenys and Michael have volunteered at Andrews House and at the Trafalgar Op Shop, where Glenys is currently president. Michael and Glenys also volunteer at the Holden Museum.
The couple also help at the Trafalgar Youth Resource Centre. Michael has been running a mentoring program at Trafalgar High School, which involves a boat building project.
Billie Pilch is a busy mother, yet over recent years has been dedicated to serving the community.
Billie was a member of the Trafalgar Community Development Association, and assisted with the Red “Welcome” Bag project. Billie established the Trafalgar Facebook page in 2013.
Billie also has served on the Trafalgar Kindergarten committee and the Trafalgar Playgroup committee, where she is currently secretary. She also has been an important part of the Battle of Trafalgar committee.
Billie’s specialty is fundraising, raising thousands of dollars, through trivia nights and markets, for local community groups.
A long list of achievements saw William Hornstra awarded the youth citizen of the year.
William has been on the Trafalgar High School Student Representative Council (SRC) for two years and gone on to be the regional representative at the state executive SRC.
In 2015 William represented Trafalgar Rotary club in the Model United Nations Assembly, and received the Long Tan leadership award.
William represented the state Youth Congress in both 2015 and 2016. In 2016 he was named the Trafalgar Lions Youth of the Year.
William represented the Trafalgar district in the Baw Baw Shire youth of the year awards, along with Trafalgar and Victoria in Canberra at the Nationals Schools Convention in 2016.
William also represented Trafalgar as a regional amb-assador in 2016 at the Regional Youth Council Summit. He is the incoming school captain for 2017 at Trafalgar High School.
In announcing the awards on Thursday, Chandelle Brien said it was a great achievement to have so many amazing volunteers in the community of Trafalgar.
“It highlights what a great town Trafalgar is, with a wonderful sense of community, and so many willing to lend a hand as the need arises,” she said.