By Cindy McLeish, Eildon MP
This coming weekend our community will join together to enjoy Australia Day and to celebrate our great country.
Australians celebrate in many different ways, but no matter where you are, Australia Day is a time when we acknowledge and reward volunteers for the work they do in our community.
In the Yarra Valley we are so very lucky to have a host of volunteer organisations who make our community the special and treasured place it is to live in and I greatly appreciate the opportunity Australia Day gives me to thank our volunteers.
Volunteers provide support and care for the elderly, they look after our beautiful natural environment through Landcare groups, they are responsible for running our local junior and senior sporting clubs and at the times when the community is at its most vulnerable, our emergency services volunteers in the CFA and SES are there to protect us.
It is our emergency services volunteers who are particularly in our minds during these summer months, especially at a time when we are remembering the most devastating fires to ever tear through our communities.
Earlier this month we marked 80 years since the 1939 Black Friday fires that wiped out much of the Upper Yarra Valley and Yarra Glen, leading to the formation of the CFA.
While few people today remember those fires, I know our community will never forget Black Saturday and we will never forget those people who lost so much and those who were there for our community in its greatest time of need.
Ten years ago a total of 153 people from the Eildon electorate perished defending their homes or trying to escape the fires.
Looking forward, our community continues to regrow but our lost friends and family members will continue to live on in our hearts and minds.
Local commemoration events to be held over the coming weeks will provide an opportunity for those community members who wish to take part and reflect on the events of February 2009 in their own way.
A State Commemoration event will be held on Monday 4 February at the Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne, while Yarra Ranges Shire will host community event on Thursday 7 February at Mackenzie Reserve in Yarra Glen.
All community members are welcome to attend both these events.
