Two of Maitland's finest

I’d like to take time this week to officially congratulate the 2018 Citizen of the Year Belinda-Jane Davis and Young Citizen of the Year Kelci Brain.

Belinda-Jane is a local journalist who became a true drought crisis advocate last year. She wrote important stories of people on the land in a unique way that contributed towards building a strong, supportive community around our farmers. In 2018 she also won a Walkley Award for Excellence in Journalism for her drought campaign ‘The Big Dry’ and helped start the huge ‘Buy a Bail’ campaign. What a wonderful choice she is.

Young Citizen of the Year Kelci Brain has been a member of St John Ambulance (NSW) - Maitland Cadet Division for over four years. The 15 year old has proficiently climbed the ranks as a cadet, completed over 800 volunteer hours with the organisation and plans to study to become a qualified paramedic on the completion of high school. Congratulations Kelci.

I’d also like to formally congratulate all other nominees who have each gone above and beyond for their community. Your passion for Maitland and for what you do is something to be proud of.

The awards were presented at the official ceremony for Australia Day in Maitland Park on Saturday. Despite the heat, I thought it was a great event and it was also wonderful to see over 30 people become Australia citizens.

Big news for Taste

We also got the news this week that acclaimed chef Cory Campbell will be a special guest at Maitland Taste on Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 March. Cory has experience in some of the world’s best restaraunts including the two Michelin Star restaurant in Copenhagen, Noma.

Taste is always a great event so I’m excited to try some of Corey’s food and hopefully pick up some tips and tricks of the tradeFind out more about Cory on the Maitland Taste website.