At the official opening of the 2013 Great Pyramid Race, Member for Mulgrave Curtis Pitt today acknowledged the tireless community service work performed by two members of the Gordonvale community who have consistently given of their time so generously to benefit the local community.
Mr Pitt paid tribute to Mrs Margaret Hickey who is a Volunteer in Policing (ViP) at the Gordonvale Police station.
“For the past seven years Margaret has been a ViP and is well known to school children for her school visits,” Mr Pitt said.
“Margaret handles police and Queensland Transport counter enquiries, office work, maintains risk management portfolios and weapons and equipment registers.
“She maintains the Gordonvale key holder register, compiles information packs for men and women which are handed out by police at domestic violence incidents, as well as co-ordinating the hours of all ViPs in the entire Cairns police district.
“Margaret also liaises with the victims of crime and has built up a great rapport with the local businesses.
“She works closely with the elderly and provides advice on how to improve safety and security.”
Mr Pitt also acknowledged the community work of local teacher Sandra Charlton.
“Sandra is a member of Mulgrave Landcare, she participates in community tree plantings and promotes these within the school community and at Gordonvale school Sandra co-ordinates a lunchtime Junior Landcare Program,” Mr Pitt said.
“Sandra’s passion for the environment sees her co-ordinating Clean Up Australia Day events in the Gordonvale community and being part of the driving force to establishing an Environmental Education Network Group in Far North Queensland.
“Sandra also initiated and ran the Tilapia Terminators Fishing Challenge.
“More recently Sandra has become involved with fundraising to support Type 1 Juvenile Diabetes.
“She is also passionate about health and fitness and promotes sports and fitness within Gordonvale school, promoting local sporting organisations to students and encouraging families to become involved.
“Sandra also promotes fitness within the Gordonvale community. She established a group known as ‘4F’ representing ‘fun, fit feeling fantastic’. The concept of this group is for members to wake early on a Saturday morning, do some exercise and then meet for a casual breakfast at Julie’s Tasty Treats.
‘Sandra supports and offers assistance to people in need within our community. She also promotes community events and encourages participation through FaceBook, school newsletters, Gordonvale HUB and word of mouth.”
Mr Pitt said the weekend was not only about the Pyramid Race, but it was also an opportunity for the Gordonvale community to show why it’s still the envy of many others in Far North Queensland.
“This great race shines the spotlight on what is truly a magnificent part of Australia,” Mr Pitt said.
“The reason there is still such a strong sense of community in Gordonvale is because of the efforts of people like Margaret Hickey, and Sandra Charlton.
“I hope our younger generation will continue the tradition of putting their time into the community to make it a better place.”
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