Awards 2014

Mrs Nola Smith - Tiwi Gardens NT 

Nola, a member of the Australian Women's Army Service and her husband Lloyd, also an Australian Defence Dept employee, arrived in Darwin in the early1970's after a brief posting to Malaya and then new Guinea. In 1974 Nola commenced working with the Department of Education as a clerk at the Darwin Community College of Education. The Smith's home like so many others was destroyed in Cyclone Tracy and went to Canberra until 1977 when they returned to Darwin to pick up their lives. Nola returned to the College's Student Administration section where she was in charge of TAFE students.

Nola's life at this time, like many other women in Darwin, revolved around her family. As the children grew, she became a 'hockey mum' and was soon co-opted into fundraising for touring teams. This entailed selling soft drinks and ice cups from the Coke van. The products soon worked up to hot dogs which did a roaring business and raised thousands of dollars for the hockey teams.

Nola was quick to call upon interstate relatives to send warm clothes for athletes in touring hockey teams whose families could not afford or provide that kind of clothing. She also cooked innumerable meals for progressive dinners and other fund raising events and often volunteered her home as a venue.

Finally the time came when the kids had grown up and flown the coop to pursue their own interests. She quickly became involved in the National Trust, the Northern territory Council of Ex Service Women and after Lloyd's death in 1989 she joined the Darwin Legacy Widow's Club.

Nola was secretary of the Council Of Ex Service Women for many years and secretary of Darwin Legacy Widows Club since 1999. She remains a member of the National Trust of Australia, served on the committee of Friends of the North Australia Railway from 2003 until 2012. She regularly attend that organisation's events at the Adelaide River Railway heritage Precinct and has until this year, been responsible for the monthly Devonshire Teas during the dry season.

Nola has been volunteering at the Tiwi Gardens Nursing Home since it was opened in 2003, initially doing a 'trolley run' through the home on a weekly basis, now taking a weekly shift in the Coffee Shop and coordinating the annual fete as a member of the Fund Raising Committee. The committee raises funds to improve the amenities for the many aged and frail residents of the Home.

Nola also has two beautiful teenage grand-daughters and so of course she has been engaged in fundraising activities to support the Play Groups, Kindergarten school and the various sporting activities the girls undertake. Nola continues her selfless, generous hard work as a volunteer for the Legacy Widows group and the Tiwi Gardens Nursing Home.

I wholeheartedly support this nomination of Nola Smith as a recipient of a Seniors of Excellence Award.