Community effort wins recognition
Former teacher and active member of her community, Wendy Hewitt of Warracknabeal, has been awarded an Order of Australia Medal.
Ms Hewitt was awarded the honour for service to the Warracknabeal community, and to education.
The former physical education secondary school teacher said she was involved mostly with sports administration and coaching tennis, hockey and golf.
Ms Hewitt returned to Warracknabeal in 1987, having grown up on a farm near the town before teaching in Melbourne.
“I knew I was home when I got back in the community, and that’s when I got more involved,” she said.
“I’m really happy to give back to sporting clubs because other people had put in the effort to help me — this is a thank you to them, and to help keep the best lifestyle possible in the town.
“I’ve always loved sport, and I have played at higher levels in Melbourne, but I never enjoyed it as much as here. Sport is needed to create relationships for a lot of people and it is a healthy way of spending leisure time.”
Ms Hewitt said she had been a Warracknabeal Rotary Club member for the past 12 years, taking on roles as president, secretary, bulletin editor and member of several committees.
She was named a Paul Harris
Fellow, which is a coveted award presented to a Rotarian who has made an outstanding contribution to the community.
“I had a few friends in Rotary, liked what it did in the community and I wanted to contribute in different ways,” she said.
Ms Hewitt said she was also Warracknabeal Community Garden’s inaugural president, which had operated since 2014, providing a public space for residents to boost connection.
“We also have gardening workshops to educate people and a food pantry that people who may be short of food can access,” she said.
“There are actually a lot of new people to Warracknabeal on our committee, which is quite
unusual. It’s a very welcoming group and flexible with commitments.”
Ms Hewitt said had also been involved in the Warracknabeal townscape committee, through the arts council and the town’s 150th anniversary celebrations in 2017.
She said another major achievement was bringing a State Department of Education literacy program called ‘Linking Learning’ to Warracknabeal.
“It was designed to improve literacy through community-driven strategies,” Ms Hewitt said.
“I was proud of that. It was outside my comfort zone and I believe it had a strong impact on literacy in the town.”