Awards 2018

Mrs Mary Olife - Roseberry

Nominated by Tony Sievers 

Seconded by Olga Dalrymple

Mary Olife is a very strong member of the Palmerston Community with a particular focus of supporting Palmerston seniors across many major Seniors Clubs and events.

Mary is a founding member and coordinator of the Palmerston 50+ Club, which meets every Tuesday at the Gray Community Hail. This club's members enjoy catching up, sharing local stories, organizing events, play a variety of games, conduct craft activities and provide a delicious morning tea for up to as many as 80 seniors in attendance.

Mary and the Palmerston 50+ Club, organise and celebrate local seniors' special birthdays as well, with surprise cakes, gifts, songs and games. A lot of fundraising is also done to help local seniors, charity groups or someone in need. Mary enjoys working hard to provide seniors with the best Christmas function, as Christmas time is when Seniors need a lot of support and at the 50+ Club, it is a grand occasion with live music, dancing, games, raffles, door prizes and every member is part of the big family and receives a special gift, all supplied by the hard-working Committee.

Recently, Mary was an instrumental member of a team that arranged for 40 seniors to take part in an overnight trip to Katherine. It included morning tea at Pine Creek, lunch at Edith Falls then on to Katherine RSL Club for dinner. Accommodation in Katherine that night and a lovely boat cruise on beautiful Katherine Gorge the next day was followed by a visit to the local Cultural Centre. A lot of hard work went into organizing this trip, but it was very rewarding for all who attended.

Mary is also a member of the Palmerston Rural Seniors Committee. This group get together each fortnight at The Hub for morning tea. Entertainment is provided and guest speakers attend to assist seniors with queries they might have with regard to available services. The group also conducts fundraising which helps with the cost of activities during NT Seniors Month in August. Mary is an active member of this group and ensures that all attendees are included in the discussions.

Further, Mary commits the time to be an important member of the Seniors Advisory Committee formed by the Palmerston City Council. Meetings are held to discuss a variety