Mabel Quakawoot at has been named 2021 Citizen of the Year. Mackay Australia Day Awards Gala Dinner. Picture: Tara Miko  If he s the measure of our next generation of adults, Mackay is in safe hands.  Young Citizen of the Year Emmett Withers started his charity Emmett 4 Animals when he was five years old and has gone on to help thousands of stray animals across the region. The other heartwarming moment of the night was hearing from last year s Lori Burgess Community Volunteer Award Kathryn Andrews. Speaking eloquently and passionately, she talked about how the disability sector, like many of us, had to find a way to explain the lockdown to their clients and find ways to maintain contact while we were in isolation.
Russell McLennan has spent the past 44 years volunteering his time for something he loves with men and women he respects and admires.
So it doesnât feel like a job and when he accepted the Lori Burgess Community Volunteer award, it was on behalf of the team.
Itâs a credit to him personally, though, that the longstanding VMR Mackay volunteer was called to the MECC stage on Monday night at the Mackay 2021 Australia Day awards.
âIâm not in it for the awards, Iâm in it because I enjoy doing it,â Mr McLennan said.
âThis is not just for me; this is for the whole team of VMR Mackay.
Mackay s 2021 Citizen of the Year Mabel Quakawoot has been many things to many people - an active citizen, an educator, a mentor and volunteer. Her tireless efforts for the community were recognised at a gala dinner at the MECC on Monday night. Young Citizen of the Year went to Emmett Withers and the Lori Burgess Community Volunteer Award winner was Russell McLennan. Emmett Withers began his charity Emmett 4 Animals when he was five years old and has gone on to help thousands of stray animals across the region. Russell McLennan works tirelessly behind the scenes at Volunteer Marine Rescue Mackay, having been involved with the group since 1977.
Fellow mourners comforted Win Manning at her husband Rod Manning’s funeral at St Patrick s Catholic Church, Mackay, on Tuesday December 8. Picture: Zizi Averill
Rod Manning Former Daily Mercury editor Rod Manning never left home without a notepad and a pen in his breast pocket. During his 17 years in the role, and many years as a reporter before that, he thought of journalism as a noble pursuit of truth and justice. He was a news man, his son John Manning told the people who had gathered to bid the late journalist, historian, mentor, friend, husband, father and brother farewell on December 8.