Locals braced the 44 degree heat to take part in the day’s festivities.

The morning began with a free barbecue breakfast provided by the Council.

The official ceremony was underway at 9am with Bogan Shire General Manager Derek Francis welcoming everyone to the day. 

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Amber Dutton led everyone in the Welcome to Country address and Tim Ryan with the help of the Nyngan High School led the ceremony with the national anthem.

Pastor Richard Milligan from the Baptist Church offered a prayer for the community.

Bogan Shire Mayor Ray Donald welcomed the 2019 Bogan Shire Australia Day ambassador Gary Dawson to the celebrations, and also welcomed new citizens into the shire.

He took the time to highlight of the importance of reducing train speed through the town and improving rail crossing safety. Present were copies of the petition for members of the community to sign, so the council can have this issues addressed by government. 

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“We hope with a number of signatures and other efforts we can have that rectified and changed for safety’s sake,” Cr Donald said. 

Australia Day ambassador Gary Dawson took to the stage speaking of the importance of communities and maintaining opportunities for youth in the town. 

The awards were then presented by the ambassador.

It was a three-way tie for the 2019 Australian Citizen of the Year.

Troy Richards, Tommy Ryan and Angie White were announced as winners of the award for their contributions to the community. 

Tara McDermott was named the Sportsperson of the Year for her dedication and commitment to the junior and senior rugby league clubs an the golf club. In 2018 Tara was awarded a life membership for her work with the Nyngan Tiger and was recognises at Group 11 level with a volunteer in sport award. 

Gemma Boland was awarded Junior Sportsperson of the Year. Gemm as achieved great success in athletics during 2018. 

The Nyngan High School Girls Open Rugby Team were named the Sports Team of the Year for their development in girls rugby. 

The Community Event of the Year was awarded to the Duck Creek Picnic Races. Their 2018 race meeting drew 6000 people to the community boosting the local economy. A highlight was the guest performer Shannon Noll who inadvertently managed to make Duck Creek and Nyngan famous with his performance replayed on social media and major news networks around Australia.

TROY RICHARDS:

Troy owns and operates the Shed, a boxing and fitness gym in his backyard, which has become Nyngan’s unofficial youth centre.

In his spare time Troy spends countless hours for no financial reward helping people of all ages learn to box and to engage in fitness. 

Through boxing he provides opportunities for young people to develop resilience, discipline, respect, sportsmanship and health and fitness. 

In 2018 Troy organised the Nyngan Fight Night which attracted a large crowd to Nyngan and enabled the boxers in his gym to engage in competition. 

He also accompanies his boxers to competitions in other towns at his own expense.

TOMMY RYAN:

Tommy has been actively involved in the local community for more than 50 years. 

In 1982 he helped set up the Bogan Aboriginal Corporation and was chairman for over 30 years. 

The Corporation now has 20 residential homes which are rented to families, enabling them to be part of the Nyngan community. 

Tommy has also been actively involved in other organisations including Local land Services and the Nyngan Local Aboriginal Lands Council. 

People throughout the Bogan Shire will remember him as a Census distributor for many years. 

Now in his retirement Tommy spends his time cooking his famous scones and Christmas cakes to help local schools and charities to fundraise. 

He also collects and delivers newspapers and magazines from the Nyngan Newsagency and delivers them to the hospital for elderly people to enjoy.

ANGIE WHITE:

Angie has been principal of the Western Studio of Performing Arts for the past 25 years, providing dancing classes to people aged 2-92 in Nyngan, Cobar and Tottenham.

In that time she staged concerts and fundraisers to help local youth, sporting clubs and other charities. 

She has also provided opportunities for many of her students and their families to travel the world through dance and given them a safe, friendly environment to make community connections, build skills and be inspired. 

Angie has also given her time to volunteers with many groups including Can Assist, the Bogan Day Out Committee.