2012-Hidden-Treasures-Honour-Roll

norma garment [Parkes]
Norma is a tireless volunteer. Since retiring she
has volunteered for the Parkes Elvis Festival
coordinating the annual street parade which
requires lots of consultation and an ability to
work with a broad range of different people. The
street parade needs to be safe for the community
and participants and Norma attends several
meetings to ensure it is always such a well run
event. She is also Treasurer for the local Parkes
Horse and Pony Club. Her daughter instructs and
her granddaughter is a riding member. Without
the assistance of Norma keeping the finances of
the Club in check, the children would not have the
beautiful facilities that they currently have. She
also instructs the small children as the Club does
not have enough instructors to help out on rally
days. Norma’s positive vibe is contagious and we
are very lucky to have her amongst us.
elaine gilbody towner
[Armidale]
Elaine is a tireless worker for our community as
the Local Controller of the Armidale Dumaresq
State Emergency Service. She has served our
local community for over five years and has been
qualified in all areas of rescue including Road
Crash Rescue. The State Emergency Service is a
volunteer service that requires someone to be
on call 24/7. As Controller, Elaine is responsible
for operational and administrative management;
planning and emergency risk management;
volunteer and liaison with local community
14 | NSW HIDDEN TREASURES HONOUR ROLL 2012
organisations; dealing with challenging situations;
problem solving and decision making. She has
been an exemplary leader with respect of service
members and the local community. Elaine
regularly contributes over 500 plus hours a year
to our local State Emergency Service and has
managed to do this originally as a single mum
and over the past year maintained her service as
a married mum and committed wife. I recently had
the honour of supporting Elaine as her Deputy
and have continued to be impressed with her
leadership qualities and commitment to the task.
On top of her volunteering Elaine is a Clinical
Nurse Specialist at our local hospital’s Intensive
Care Unit. She has contributed so much to our
community and continues to do so even now that
she is soon expecting a baby. Elaine is worthy of
recognition for her volunteering and continues to
go above and beyond what is expected.
robyn gill [Lovedale, near Cessnock]
Robyn moved to Lovedale over eight years ago.
She has led by example in both her business
and as President of the Lovedale Chamber of
Commerce. Robyn’s passion is the environment
and she has launched a number of great
initiatives – most notably the Greening Lovedale
Campaign, which is an innovative campaign
bringing the environment to the forefront of
the Lovedale community. A Green Business
Directory was launched in December 2009 by
Ian Kiernan of Clean Up Australia. Robyn is an
active participant in the annual Clean Up Australia
Day activities. She has worked tirelessly raising
funds for many community initiatives such as the