Douglas Shire’s senior heroes

SENIORS WRAP

Jamie Jansen

Journalist

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Gail Cockburn has put incredible efforts in volunteering for the Douglas Shire Historical Society. Picture: Douglas Shire Council

There is no age limit to being a genuine hero. These Douglas Shire seniors are dedicated to supporting our local community and their efforts have been awarded during the 2023 Australia Day Awards Ceremony.

VOLUNTEER OF THE YEAR GAIL COCKBURN

Gail Cockburn has always been interested in history and particularly in our Douglas Shire’s local history.

As a volunteer archivist for the Douglas Shire Historical Society she regularly delves into the archives to find a response to historical queries.

Accepting the Volunteer of the Year Award has been a real honour and thrill for Ms Cockburn.

“I felt privileged to have been nominated by Vivienne Ruffles who is the current President of Douglas Shire Historical Society,” she told Newsport.

“I didn’t expect to win, especially when I heard details of the other nominees and their achievements. So many people are doing good things selflessly for our community.”

Beats doing jigsaw puzzles

In 2016 Ms Cockburn became a member of the Douglas Historical Society and she has spent many hours setting up a database for all the artefacts which is now accessible via the Society’s website.

Being a past teacher, Ms Cockburn’s skills certainly come in handy as she spent many hours checking and rechecking the historical information on the website.

“I don’t think of it as volunteering,” she said.

“It’s enjoyable and I’m learning so much more about our local area and its history. Having a purpose sure beats playing card games and doing jigsaws on the computer all day.

“Fifty years have passed since we arrived in Mossman and so much history has occurred in that time and I love being able to help record and preserve it.”

SENIOR CITIZEN OF THE YEAR ELLEN ROSS

It’s fair to say Ellen Ross is a tough cookie.

As a volunteer rural fire fighter at the Wonga Beach brigade she attended many call outs driving the fire truck to location.

To this day, she still puts her hand up if there are no drivers for call outs.

Ms Ross said she was very pleased and proud to accept the Senior Citizen of the Year Award for the Douglas Shire Council.

Firefighter career

Her career as a volunteer firefighter started in 2002 when she joined the Rural Fire Brigade at Maryfarms.

“Back then we had the farm Landcruiser with three 44’s on the back and a pump and off we would go,” she told Newsport. “I was nearly always the driver with the men doing the groundwork.

“We retired to Wonga Beach in 2006 and joined the brigade there in 2007.”

Ms Ross has handled some large events during her time. Shemanaged the renovation of the old fire shed into an office, and the 50th Anniversary of the Wonga Beach Rural Fire Brigade in June 2022.

Her current role includes Community Volunteer Education Officer where she oversees the safety and wellbeing of her fellow volunteers.

“I am turning 75 this year, age is definitely catching up with me. Maybe I will serve as a volunteer for another couple before I call it a day, who’s to say.”

SENIOR SPORTS AWARD GREG MILL

With a big passion for hockey Greg Mill has worked tirelessly to promote the sport in the Douglas Shire.

“I was genuinely honoured to be presented with this award,” Mr Mill said.

“Many of us put a lot of our time into developing sport into the Douglas Shire, especially for the benefit of our local children, but to be recognised by the Shire Council and local community is a wonderful feeling.

“When we commenced Douglas Hockey Association in 2019, there was no hockey being played in the Shire. In our first year we grew our membership to 160 players including juniors, adults and seniors.

“In 2019 we introduced our first Beach Hockey event and from this humble beginning we now run an annual tournament with teams attending from around regional Queensland.

“We could not have achieved any of this without the amazing support of our local volunteers and dedicated committee members.

“I am looking forward to the challenge of continuing the growth of hockey and beach hockey in our local community.”

MEANTIME IN OTHER SENIOR NEWS…

A FESTIVE AUSTRALIA DAY AT KUBIRRI AGED CARE CENTRE

Residents recently celebrated Australia Day with a special meal prepared by the kitchen staff.

The delicious meals included meat pies topped with peas and the option of tomato sauce.

Kubirri resident Ramon said that the day itself “felt very important and significant” before going on to note that he was very impressed that the Catering Manager, Lainie, even sat at his table and enjoyed a meal with himself. He also noted that the pie was “the best pie he had that day.” 


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