Over 160 people attended the Australia Day Breakfast at the Peterborough Town Hall, hosted by the District Council of Peterborough, in conjunction with the local Rotary and Lions Clubs.

One of the primary attractions in the celebration of our nation’s birthday was the presentation of awards to local citizenry and events, nominated by well-wishers and supporters.

As usual for Peterborough’s Australia Day celebrations, the winners were a closely guarded secret, known to no one but the selection committee until presentation – adding an ‘Oscar Night’ touch to proceedings.

This year’s celebrations also saw the creation of another Australian, with former New Zealander Heather McDonald becoming a citizen in a public citizenship ceremony.

Mayor Ruth Whittle opened the event by giving a speech.

“Australia Day 2010 - 10 years into the new century and the start of another decade,” she said.

“Things change and yet things remain the same. It does us good to gather once a year to commemorate our country, its history and the people who live here,” she said.

Mrs Whittle expressed the opinion that Australia was a relatively young country, a good, strong, rich country and we have many dedicated community members and organisations that continually make sure that we remain vibrant and alive.

“We’ll shortly hear about some of the people and events who have worked for us and we have enjoyed,” she said.

Mayor Whittle proceeded to read out a lengthy list of events that had entertained, amused and enthralled the community from January 2009 until Christmas - beginning with the swimming pool’s fiftieth anniversary celebrations, and culminating with Carols in the Park.

Admitting that the list of events was probably not complete, with events accidentally omitted, Mrs Whittle stated that everyone would get the idea that Peterborough is ‘Open for Business.’

Citizen of the Year: Henry Crossley

Young Citizen of the Year: Lucy Mercer

Community Event: Steamtown Opening Weekend

Appreciation Award: Judy Evans of Peterborough TAFE.

Deserving nominees also received certificates and their community’s thanks.

Other Citizen of the Year nominees were Mary Martin, Janet Fielding, Heather Parker, Kenny Krueger, and Anne McKay. The other nominee for Young Citizen of the Year was Kyle Slattery, and the other nominee for Community Event of the Year was the State Carriage Driving Championships.

Described by Mayor Whittle as “an amazing group of dedicated people who chose to live and work in our community,” the ceremonies highlighted once again how fortunate Peterborough is to have such high-caliber citizens and events.