Alison Ryan is named Cardinia Citizen of the Year by Cr Kate Lempriere at the shire’s Australia Day celebrations.By Sarah Schwager
UPPER Beaconsfield community icon Alison Ryan has been named Cardinia Shire’s top citizen.
The mother of three, who has given nearly 30 years of dedicated service to the Upper Beaconsfield community, was named the Cardinia Citizen of the Year for 2006 at the Australia Day celebrations at the Cardinia Cultural Centre last week.
It completed a double for Mrs Ryan, who was named Upper Beaconsfield’s Citizen of the Year at Christmas.
“I’m in shock I guess. It wasn’t something I expected to happen,” she said.
Mrs Ryan works at the Upper Beaconsfield Community Centre as treasurer and coordinator and has served on the Upper Beaconsfield Kindergarten and Preschool Committee, the Upper Beaconsfield Primary School and Beaconhills College Parents and Friends committees and the hall committee and coordinated the Toy Library.
She also ensured inclusion of people with a disability into community programs, produced a book on the history of the Community Centre called From The Ashes, set up the Upper Beaconsfield Primary School yearbook in 1994 and has raised funds for the scouts, schools, kindergarten, community centre, maternal child health centre and village fairs.
Mrs Ryan moved to Upper Beaconsfield with her husband Dan in 1977 and had three children, Kate, 21, Zac, 20, and Sam, 18.
She said it was a combination of getting involved with the kids and meeting various people and groups through the community centre that had kept her so involved in the area.
“It’s just things that come up,” she said. “It’s what I like doing.
“And you get a lot more out of it than what you put back in.”
Mrs Ryan said she suspected a friend from Pakenham disability service provider Outlook had nominated her for the award.
She said she enjoyed doing work in the Upper Beaconsfield community and would continue to do so, as would her husband, who is involved with scouts and Neighbourhood Watch and does accounting work for local community groups.
“I couldn’t imagine living anywhere else,” she said.
“We’re really spoilt in a place like this. It’s a lovely place for the kids to grow up.”
Mrs Ryan congratulated all the other nominees and thanked them for all their work in the community.
She said it was a team effort among a number of people in the community.
“To be given recognition for things that I have been involved in that have given me so much pleasure is unreal,” she said.
