2023 Certificate of Merit Awards
Port Pirie Regional Council is proud to announce four deserving locals as recipients of the prestigious Certificate of Merit for Outstanding Community Service in 2023.
The Certificates of Merit awards members of the community who have contributed significantly to Port Pirie and the region, demonstrated a history of community involvement or performed a single action of significance.
Council would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the worthy recipients of the 2023 Certificate of Merit for Outstanding Community Service:
Johan Ahola
Johan’s contributions to the Port Pirie community have been many and span over half a century. She is a 50 year founding member of the Embroiderers’ Guild of SA mentoring and tutoring a large number of local people including children in embroidery over the years. Johan held the positions of President, Secretary, Treasurer, Branch Librarian and Exhibition Coordinator in the branch. She has also volunteered in community roles with various organisations including the Port Pirie Music Club & The Florence Singers Choir, Uniting Church Card Group, Lealholme Aged Care, Port Pirie Golf Club, Christmas Tree Festival and Flower Show. Johan has many achievements and is a very committed community member always helping out wherever possible.
John Baldwin
John (Chesty) Baldwin has been actively involved in the annual Paul Gianoni Toy Run, acting as Santa’s helper each year to hand out lollies to children along the way. John also collects donations, delivers toy boxes to charities as well as donating toys himself. John volunteers his time to dress up and participate in the Port Pirie Christmas Pageant and has done a lot of volunteer work for the local community to help those less fortunate.
Claire Conaghty
Claire is well known and recognised through her positive and active presence in the Port Pirie region, both personally and in her professional roles as Pastoral Associate for the Catholic Parish of St Marks and Clergy Care Person for the Diocese of Port Pirie. Claire has selflessly and inclusively dedicated herself to the betterment of the lives of others. Claire always makes time for other people and puts in extra effort to help others overcome challenges. She visits and supports house-bound, frail and elderly people and residents of nursing homes and provides comfort and support to bereaved families when planning funerals. Claire also supports the church and families in happier times such as weddings, baptisms, celebrations and church events. One of Claire’s many achievements was to help establish the Community Christmas Night Tea in Memorial Park, which has become a popular annual event supported by the local churches and community volunteers.
Bev Argent
Bev has mentored many people over the years through her work at Uniting Care Wesley (now Uniting Country SA) with the low income program, helping people overcome barriers with struggling debts and creating budget plans. Bev also does a lot of volunteer work with her local church and is a selfless and helpful person.
“Congratulations to our four Certificate of Merit recipients for 2023! Each of these winners represent selflessness, generosity of time and a willingness to give back to the community in many different ways. We are thankful to these special individuals for the many contributions they have made to our local community and I am pleased that they can be recognised in this way.” said Mayor Leon Stephens.
This year Mayor Stephens has announced a new Award, the Outstanding Achievement Award. This new Award is to recognise excellence in our youth. Three aspiring young stars have been awarded this year to recognise their dedication, hard work, talent and achievements in their chosen passions.
Recipients of this year’s Outstanding Achievement Award are:
Leo Johnson & Sally McKay (joint winners)
Leo (15yo) and Sally (17yo) have a long dance history with Hip Hop Bounce, with Leo dancing for 7 years and Sally receiving her 10-year jacket in 2023. Both share their love of dance with others, Leo as a student teacher with the Port Pirie campus and Sally as a teacher at the Jamestown campus. Their dance doubles relationship began in 2022 as they were both worthy recipients of a duo-dance scholarship, leading the pair to continue the partnership in 2023 with a great friendship, a shared passion for dance and on-stage chemistry. Both Leo and Sally train many hours each week at their respective campuses, are positive role models to younger students and are well-respected by their peers. They both volunteer their time to join in with working bees at the HHB HQ in Port Pirie and do odd jobs around the studio at other times. Sally is also completing a Certificate III in Dance as part of her SACE studies. Leo and Sally enjoy participating in community events as part of HHB, such as the Smelters Picnic, local shows and Christmas Carols. The talented pair have achieved many great things, including taking out first place in prestigious dance and cheer competitions such as All Things Cheer, Count Me In, the AASCF Virtual Dance Battles and most recently the ASSCF Nationals.
Rikki Henry
Rikki is a 14yo talented local motorbike rider with a promising future ahead of him. So far, Rikki has achieved the title of Australian MiniGP Champion and has competed in the Oceania Junior Cup, the Malaysian MiniGP 2x round with top 5 finishes, the Asia Talent Cup selection event (chosen for the 2024 team) and the MiniGP World Series Championship held in Spain where he finished 17th in the World. Earlier this month at the 2023 Motorcycling SA Night of Champions and Rising Star Awards Rikki was nominated for the Rising Star Award.
“I would also like to extend my congratulations to the three 2023 Outstanding Achievement Award recipients. These three young people are fine examples of finding a passion, working hard towards their goals and achieving amazing results in their chosen fields, they are a great role model for our youth to look up to and be inspired by.” said Mayor Stephens.
The 2023 Certificates of Merit and Outstanding Achievement Awards were presented at the Port Pirie New Year’s Eve celebrations at the Port Pirie Foreshore on Sunday 31 December 2023.