On Wednesday, May 19, the Narrabri Shire joined in with the rest of Australia in celebrating our local State Emergency Service volunteers by wearing orange.
The Narrabri command, headed up by Ronald Paix a number of years ago, has been hard at work helping residents in times of natural disasters like floods.
Wear Orange Wednesday – also known as WOW Day – saw locals dress up in orange, the colour of the SES uniforms, to say #ThankYouSES for their efforts.
Beyond the Narrabri Shire, famous landmarks like Sydney’s Harbour Bridge and Opera House, The Dish in Parkes and the Glen Innes Town Hall were lit up orange to mark the occasion.
“We’d love to see a Narrabri landmark lit up too, one day,” the service’s media officer Tanya McDonald said.
“Maybe the town clock or something.”
The celebration also took place in the middle of National Volunteer Week, which acknowledges the hard work of volunteers every year.
Two members of the local SES command received special recognition as part of this occasion.
Father-daughter duo, Tony Battam and Sarah Rushton, travelled to Moree on Tuesday, May 18.
Here they received congratulations from Minister for Agriculture and Western New South Wales Adam Marshall, Minister for Police and Emergency Services David Elliott and NSW SES Commissioner Carlene York.
Lower Namoi local commander and Narrabri local, Mr Battam, was awarded a certificate for his 35 years of service in the SES.
“He was really shocked by the award because he didn’t know it was coming,” Mrs Rushton said.
Meanwhile Narrabri unit commander, Mrs Rushton, officially received the keys for the new, fully-equipped truck Narrabri was assigned for emergency purposes earlier this year.
“It was a really good morning,” she said.
“Moree had the official opening of their unit on the day too.”
It’s not uncommon for the Narrabri and Moree SES commands to collaborate in this way.
Earlier this year, the Narrabri team supported Moree during the floods by transporting grocery orders to choppers for them to take to stranded residents.
Read more stories like this:
- Narrabri SES designated a new, fully-equipped truck for emergencies
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