Passionate gardener George Hoad has been named both the Wingham Rotary Club Citizen of the Year and in Taree was also named the Greater Taree City Citizen of the Year.
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George has been president of Killabakh Garden Club for more than ten years and is regular contributor to the Wingham Chronicle with his popular column ‘Gardening with George.’
Both titles were a surprise for George who thought he was at the Wingham Australia Day ceremony to present an award. Fortunately he wore his tie.
George was born in the Manning Valley and spent many years in Sydney before returning in the early 1990s. Since then, he has made his mark within the wider community, mostly with regard to his willing and very capable volunteer work and his robust voice for singing and MC duties.
George has a national profile as senior vice president, events and functions manager and photo competition convenor of The Gardens Clubs of Australia. Together with his role as zone co-ordinator of the North Coast, he travels many thousands of kilometres annually and commits a huge amount of time in a voluntary capacity.
Over the past couple of years, George has also been involved with the Manning Winter Festival, and was president in 2014. He was keen to make this festival a little less Taree-centric and, in doing so, inspired villages all over the valley to participate. His personal contribution was to open the six acres of his Winchelsea Gardens at Killabakh to nearly a dozen different artists who presented their artworks and sculptors to more than 1000 visitors.
This Art in the Garden open day was one of many events the Killabakh Garden Club, with George at the helm, has hosted over the years. More than $30,000 has been raised for George’s favourite charity, Ronald McDonald House in Newcastle. From this first visit there with the Killabakh Garden Club more than eight years ago and during subsequent visits, he has been struck by the compassion, care and understanding this venue and staff provide to families of seriously ill or injured children in the Mid North Coast of NSW.
George is the first to admit that he could not achieve many of these events – especially the catering and ticketing aspects – without the tremendous support from his band of helpers: family (especially his mother Janice), garden club members and friends. But it is his ideas, venue and marketing abilities that make the events so successful.
His contributions as a volunteer within his community do not end there. Closer to home, George is also a trustee of the Killabakh Public Hall where, among other involvements, he leads sing-alongs of favourite carols and songs prior to Christmas. This latter role extends to other venues with the Manning including within aged care establishments, much to the delight of residents. He has been a willing master of ceremonies for anything from the concert for the Bonnie Wingham Scottish Festival to trivia fund raising events where he usually also researches the questions.
Congratulations George on a well deserved honour.