Champion of country women recognised

Published: 09 Mar 2020

For more than 30 years Lyn Hackett has volunteered at trivia nights, sausage sizzles, cent sales and raffles.

She’s been a stalwart of the Sarina community and an integral member of the Queensland Country Women’s Association (QCWA).

Her service was recognised on Friday night (March 6) at the Sarina Women’s Week Awards, with Mrs Hackett being presented with the Mary Malone perpetual trophy.

Carman Plath, who nominated Mrs Hackett, said Lyn had been a member of the Sarina Range Branch and Pioneer Division of the QCWA for more than 20 years, and had held a position for nearly every one of those years.

“Lyn has spent countless hours volunteering her time catering for events, at fundraising raffles, cent sales, trivia nights, sausage sizzles and at functions,” Ms Plath said.

“She has been successful in applying for several funding grants for the branch and division to maintain their halls and assets,” she said.

Mrs Hackett has also been an active member of the Swayneville State School P&C and the Sarina Junior Rugby League Club.

Mrs Hackett has achieved all this while working on a liquid fertilizer haulage business and farm.

Community and Client Services acting director Angela Hays congratulated Mrs Hackett and acknowledged the 17 other amazing local women who were presented with awards.

“We had a full house at the Bob Wood Cultural Hall and everyone enjoyed a beautiful meal and some great music by Bella Mackenzie,” Ms Hays said.

“There was such an amazing feeling in the room and it’s a wonderful opportunity to get together and celebrate the hard work and generosity of many women in our community,” she said.

The awards are an initiative of the Sarina Neighbourhood Centre and council and are supported by the Queensland Government. They coincide with Queensland Women's Week, which runs from March 6 to 15. The theme for the week is “celebrating our diverse community of strong women”.

The Mary Malone Perpetual Award was created in honour of the contributions made by Mary Malone to the Sarina community.