Peter Montgomery is flying the flag as the Yarra Ranges’ Citizen of the Year, and leader of an amazing team of community workers.
By Kath Gannaway
PETER Montgomery is the Yarra Ranges’ Citizen of the Year.
The Yarra Glen businessman turned community worker overnight in February 2009, taking on the role of president of the Yarra Glen Community Fire Relief Centre following the Black Saturday bushfires.
He has mixed emotions about the award.
“Although the award is ‘Citizen of the Year’, it is very much recognition of the cumulative effort of everybody involved in what has been done and continues to be done,” he said.
For someone for whom community work was not part of his life, it’s also about the tragedy which led to the award, and what he says has been a life-changing experience.
“I’ve had a lot of angst,” he says. “I have made some good friends and some awesome associations, but the difficulty in my mind is that it is only something as bad as the fires which has put us in a position to do that.
“You would love to be able to form those friendships and associations without the need for the devastation that came from the fires,” he said.
Nonetheless, the contribution of the YGCFRC, a massive logistical and emotional task, has been unprecedented, and appreciated.
The Citizen of the Year citation, delivered at the Yarra Ranges Council Australia Day Award ceremony today (Tuesday), pays tribute to Mr Montgomery’s leadership and commitment.
“He has demonstrated his ability to lead from behind, offering guidance and support for the many volunteers who assisted in the material aid centre following the February fires,” it said.
It paid special mention to the Adopt-a-Container project.
Mr Montgomery championed the project arranging the logistics, sponsorship, storage and delivery of more than 170 shipping containers for people who had lost their homes in the fires. That project is ongoing.
Mr Montgomery said being involved had been a humbling experience.
“In the first week I drove door to door delivering material aid – food and water, pet food and other necessities and quite often people would say ‘No thanks, mate – I’m all right’.
“That was the attitude – people were worried that others had been impacted more than they had and were reluctant to take help.
And, it has been an emotional journey he will never forget.
“I’ve been brought to tears on several occasions,” Mr Montgomery said. “I went through some of that (exposure to the tragedy) myself, and I tend to be over that, but when you hear other people’s stories, what they have been through, it’s very hard to be detached … you just can’t be,” he said.
“At the end of the day, it’s one of those things … it’s part and parcel of what you experience.”
