April 22, 2016
Nanango volunteers Daun Clapperton and Robyn Peterson have been chosen as one of the seven national winners of this year’s Anzac Of The Year Award.
The pair won the rare honour for their work constructing the South Burnett’s World War I veterans database “Every Man Remembered – South Burnett Heroes.”
The award is one of only two national awards given by the Australian Returned Servicemen’s League.
It is made annually to recognise the efforts and achievements of up to seven Australians who have given service to their community in a positive, selfless and compassionate manner.
The two women officially launched “Every Man Remembered – South Burnett Heroes” at a function held at Taras Hall last April.
The project was the culmination of six years work researching and collecting data on 1268 South Burnett men and women who served in WWI, and it is now linked to the South Burnett Regional Council’s website where it is used by genealogists for research.
The pair began the project in 2009 with the idea of just researching Nanango’s WWI veterans.
But when then-Mayor David Carter suggested it would be nice if their research included the whole South Burnett, the pair agreed.
The project won a 2014 National Trust Heritage Award prior to its public release, and in this year’s South Burnett Australia Day Awards the two volunteers were also recognised with a Senior Cultural Award.
Today Daun told southburnett.com.au she and Robyn were delighted to have their work recognised nationally.
“We received a phone call from Canberra about two weeks ago to tell us the news, but we were sworn to secrecy until the official announcement was made today,” Daun said.
“I’ve been volunteering for 15 years at the Nanango Visitor Information Centre, and it’s really wonderful at our age to find our work has drawn national attention.”
South Burnett Mayor Keith Campbell said the duo were very worthy winners and deserved to be congratulated.
“Council has supported the development of the “Every Man Remembered – South Burnett Heroes” database behind the scenes,” Mayor Keith Campbell said.
“It is wonderful to see this national recognition of Daun and Robyn’s tireless efforts.
“Council supports the project by providing access to the database through our website, and it’s proven to be very popular with genealogical historians.”
Related articles:
- Anzac Database Wins Senior Cultural Award
- Volunteers Receive Long Service Awards
- Every Man – And Woman – Remembered
