Fifty years of getting the church on time, and other Honours recipients

Time flies when you’re a church clock winder, and it’s been 51 years since Paul Birch started his near-weekly tending to a Malvern church’s timepiece.

But he still finds it a pleasure, rather than a chore. Once every eight days, Birch climbs rungs inside the St Andrew’s Gardiner Uniting Church tower to grease and oil the clock mechanism and manually wind it.

For his unusual volunteer role, inherited in 1975 from his father, William, Birch has been awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in the Australia Day Honours.

Birch’s OAM also recognises his 30 years of volunteering for Southern Dandenongs Community Nursery in Belgrave Heights.

Tony Marchesani

When he was young, Tony Marchesani’s grandmother said he should help others if he could.

It helped inspire him to spend 19 years, so far, volunteering with not one but two organisations on the Mornington Peninsula.

For sacrificing his time to save lives at sea with Southern Peninsula Rescue Squad, based in Blairgowrie, and on land with the Sorrento State Emergency Service, Marchesani has been awarded the Emergency Services Medal.

Marchesani has taken part in more than 600 marine rescue incidents, from people washed off rocks to victims of sunken boats, and more than 2600 SES operations including fatal house fires and road crashes.

Debbie Holmes

They say charity begins at home, and for almost 40 years Debbie Holmes has helped vulnerable people from her Malvern East house.

Thanks to donations, Holmes’ charity, the Avalon Centre, has purchased 16 houses or flats which are leased, at social housing rates, to the homeless.

For her unpaid efforts running Avalon, Holmes has been awarded the OAM.

Avalon Centre hosts drop-in sessions, makeover days and runs a van that gives out clothes, toiletries and bedding to the homeless.

Holmes says she was overwhelmed at the honour, but says Avalon could not run without its “wonderful” dedicated volunteers.

Jenelle Hardiman

In 2019, when a car struck and killed a blind pedestrian and his guide dog near Wedderburn in western Victoria, police initially believed it was an accident.

But Victoria Police collision investigator Dr Jenelle Hardiman proved the driver was to blame.

In her 30-year career, it’s the case of which Detective Sergeant Hardiman is most proud. “I worked so hard to determined what had happened,” she says.

“Ultimately, that’s why I do this job. To find the truth, whatever that is.”

Hardiman, who has analysed more than 1500 fatal and near-fatal collisions, has been awarded the Australian Police Medal.

Marcus Crook and Nick Pearce

Eleven years ago, Marcus Crook and Nick Pearce came up with a way to do more for the homeless than making a donation to a charity.

They started the not-for-profit HoMie streetwear label, which now runs two stores, in Emporium in Melbourne CBD and in Brunswick Street, Fitzroy.

For their community service, Crook and Pearce have each been awarded the OAM.

Sales of HoMie garments and accessories fund education and employment programs for disadvantaged people aged 18 to 25.

Crook says the OAM recognises his entire team, indicating “that what we’re doing really matters”.

Renton Millar

He fell in love with skateboarding as a child, and turning 50 hasn’t dented Renton Millar’s passion for the sport.

He still practises four or five times a week, and for our photo, was happy to perform a string of heart-stopping aerial tricks on the Prahran skate park half-pipe.

Millar, who has been awarded an OAM for service to skateboarding, was a professional skateboarder for 16 years and still travels the world as a competition judge, including at the Paris Olympics. He also helps design skate parks.

“It’s been an incredible ride,” he says. “I’ve loved every second of it.”

Cedric Mason

Tennis has been his life and so even at 92, Cedric Mason has vowed to resume playing soon, after a pause due to injury.

Mason, a member at Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club for more than 70 years, was made a member (AM) of the Order of Australia for service to tennis.

Mason still helps run weekend competitions at Kooyong, and has also been a member of Royal South Yarra Lawn Tennis Club since 1953.

Having trained under Harry Hopman at Kooyong, Mason competed at Wimbledon in 1955. Today he describes Kooyong, in particular, as “a home away from home”.

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