Harden’s Les Cameron has been volunteering his time for others and the community for decades.
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On Australia Day he was recognsied for that service but also for his continuing efforts with young people and at Murrumburrah High School.
Mr Cameron said the phone had been ringing hot since he was named Harden’s Citizen of the Year.
While surprised, he said it was nice to have recognition from the community.
At one time Mr Cameron was a honourary ambulance officer, State Emergency Service and a volunteer firefighter.
“I didn’t know which cap to wear out on a job,” he joked.
In 1968, he was one of four people, including Bruce Bonham, Jack Elliott and Col Keogh who became volunteer paramedics.
“You didn’t know where you’d end up on a call,” he said.
They did everything from patient transport to helping players injured at the footy field on the weekend.
Mr Cameron who worked near the ambulance station would often only get enough notice to grab a pair of gloves and jump in the back on the way to help.
When Cyclone Tracy devastated Darwin in 1974, Mr Cameron was among several volunteers ready to help but despite being packed and ready with 20 litres of water the team wasn’t deployed as the army took over.
He was also part of a team which went to help the recovery following the Thredbo landslide disaster in 1997.
In 2005 a health issue meant he had to change what sort of volunteering he did.
So Mr Cameron has been in the Harden Lions Club for seven years, has operated a youth group for three and still finds time to help students at Murrumburrah High School with industrial wood and metal work.
He’s also a Men’s Shed member, Rotary Paul Harris Fellow and mentor for the Community Justice Service.
Mr Cameron said he wanted to see more people volunteering in the community.
“We had 20 people in the SES many years ago and now there’s six or seven,” he said.
He encouraged people to get involved as it was more than the act of simply helping someone else.
“The cameraderie is great when you get a good group.”