Australia Day celebrations were brought to Stratford thanks to Wellington Shire Council and The Lions Club of Stratford.
The event was held in the Stratford Mechanics Hall and over 70 people attended.
The event was opened by Lions Club President Lindsay Ross and Councillor Carmel Ripper. The Sale City Band played Advance Australia Fair whilst the Australian Flag was presented by the Stratford Scouts.
Councillor Carmel Ripper gave an address to open the event.
President Lindsay Ross gave a profile of the Stratford Australian Citizen of the Year Fred Lotten from Munro. He has been an active member of the Munro Fire Brigade for over 60 years. He has also been President of Munro Landcare Group, Delegate of the Victorian Farmers Federation and President of the Munro Hall Committee. Councillor Carmel Ripper presented him his award.
President Lindsay Ross gave a profile of the Stratford Australian Young Citizen of the Year to Ella-Rose Spence. She has been contributing to the Stratford Town Crier with over 60 articles and won a Community Newspaper Award in 2022 for the best article by a young person. In 2022 she captained Stratford Under 17 netball team and in 2023 became assistant coach and winning their best and fairest award. Ella-Rose has accepted an offer to study a Bachelor of Criminology and Psychological Science at Deakin University in Geelong, with the plan to join the Armed Services to assist with the mental health of personnel in the Forces. Councillor Carmel Ripper presented her award.
President Lindsay Ross gave a profile of the Stratford Australian Community Event of the Year to the Stratford Cemetery Trust, Stratford RSL and The Lions Club of Stratford. This event celebrated and remembered the lives of the men and women who enlisted and served in the Second World War and are interred in the Cemetery. There are 160 people interred and each had a flag and information about them. At the end of the day a flyover was completed by a member of the RAAF Roulettes team in his PC21 plane. Councillor Carmel Ripper presented the joint award.
After the completion of the presentations all the members of the Public were invited to share a BBQ provided and cooked by members of the Stratford Lions Club.
Stratford Australian Citizen of the Year was Fred Lotten from Munro (centre).
