As part of his official duties as Australia Day ambassador, Glenn Wheeler assisted in the presentation of Junee’s Australia Day awards and, with a large number of worthy nominees for each category, the decisions had been difficult for the local organising committee.

Selfless volunteer Denis Sullivan was named citizen of the year for his outstanding contribution to the community through a variety of organisations, including Junee Apex, Junee Lions Club and as a community transport driver.

A modest Mr Sullivan was shocked when his name was called and said he could never have predicted the outcome.

“I didn’t think I would get this award because when I look at the calibre of the nominees I just thought, yeah, there’s no way,” he said.

Donating countless hours of his time to those in need, Mr Sullivan joked that his wife Bev had considered declaring their home a charity so he would do some work on the house.

Junee’s young citizen of the year recipient was Adam Jacobson, a gifted public speaker, who last year made it through several rounds of the Lions Club Youth of the Year competition up to state level.

The town’s sports award went to passionate soccer proponent Noel Lawson for his years of dedicated service to the game as a player, coach, referee and board member of a number of regional associations.

Junee’s junior sports award went to Xenia Brookes for her exhaustive list of achievements in a number of sporting pursuits, including netball, soccer, football, tennis, basketball, swimming, athletics and equestrian to name a few.

Junee mayor Lola Cummins was thrilled with the level of interest in this year’s awards and said it had been a difficult task for those responsible for selecting the overall winners.

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