KILLABAKH'S George Hoad had two reasons to celebrate on Australia Day.
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Within hours he was named Wingham's Citizen of the Year and then the Greater Taree City Citizen of the Year.
He was one of four nominations for the Greater Taree award, with Margaret Lewis, Peter Baker and Belinda Robertson being the others.
George has made an outstanding contribution to the community for many years. A number of local charities have benefited from his work and he has also raised more than $40,000 for the Ronald McDonald House Northern NSW facility at Newcastle. He was also president of the highly successful Manning Winter Festival this year. He has been heavily involved with the Killabakh community for the past 14 years.
"It's an honour just to be nominated,'' he told the crowd at the Manning Entertainment Centre, the venue for the Australia Day ceremony.
"I'm proud to be a citizen of the Manning Valley.''
He thanked all the organisations he works with for their support, especially the Killabakh community. George added that working to raise funds for Ronald McDonald House is a something he enjoys.
"You work for something because you want to,'' he added.
"Awards like this are the icing on the cake.''