Marie Tame received the Cootamundra Electorate Woman of the Year award for 2024, which is part of the NSW Women of the Year Awards for 2024.
Since 2012, the annual NSW Women of the Year Awards have played a key role in recognising the women and girls whose determination, bravery, skill and passion has inspired their communities and others to achieve great things.
Steph Cooke MP was delighted to present the award and a certificate to Marie for her decades of service to residents not just in Young, but across the Cootamundra Electorate.
I asked Marie if she had any idea that she was receiving an award.
“I received an email prior to the award being presented and that put me on guard. I certainly wasn’t expecting this award and I don’t really feel I do anything special and I’m sure there are a lot more people out there that do amazing things as well.
“It took me a while to get my head around it I must admit.
Why do you think you were nominated Marie?
“I believe it is because of the work I do in the Lions Club. I have been with Lions since 2011 and I have received a number of awards through that time,
all of them unexpected.
“I just got out there and did what we needed to do. It’s not just me, it’s the whole Lions Club of Young team. It is a team and they are a great group of
people to work with and they always have your back. We are a very busy Lions Club. The amount of work Lions Clubs do in their communities is unbelievable.
“Around the world we have 1.4 million members. In our District 201N4, we have 43 Clubs and in the past couple of years I have been a Zone Chairperson for that District and that takes in local clubs in and around where I am situated.
“This year there has been a couple of changes and I am looking after nine Clubs at the moment. That includes West Wyalong, Canowindra, Boorowa, Forbes, Manildra, Grenfell, Young and Cowra.
“I usually travel to those Clubs once a year with the Executive or District Governor and there is a couple that are moving through the process to introduce them because the Clubs know me and they may not know the person I am travelling with.
“I will go and have an individual meeting with these clubs at least once throughout the financial year and I also hold three Zone meetings throughout the year and that includes being present for another lot of Cabinet meetings for the District.
“The District is bigger than our Cootamundra electorate.
I asked Marie if Lions Clubs were finding that they had dwindling numbers and she reported that “we are having a hard time getting new members, although Young is quite lucky with the members we have, even though we have lost some because of their passing and that is because the age is increasing around the clubs. We still manage to find people that are interested and willing to do work for the community.
“I think I got the award because the electorate is a similar size to our District, and over the years I have held a number of positions in the Club and I still hold about three, besides the Cabinet position that I do now.
“One of the things that stands out for a lot of people that see my face is our local Lions Club of Young Quilt Show.
Our mentor Lion Carmel Price passed last year. For the past few years, when she had been very unwell, I had to stand up and take the reins a bit and that brings in a lot of people to our community and they will shop, they will stay for weekend. They will go to coffee shops, Clubs and there is a lot of money in our community besides people walking through the front door at our town hall. We can have between 260 and 300 people attend our Quilt Show.
“All of the money that is raised from that goes back out to our community, as does every other project that we do.
“The Quilt Show has been running for 15 years.
“I have been involved in Youth of the Year. I haven’t run the project, but I have been a part of that.
“We are going out to the Trots, I’m a regular attendee, but tonight we are raising money for the McGrath Foundation. There will be lots of pink weird outfits and we are hoping the public will get behind us.
“We do the Farmer’s Markets, the Community Markets and the Youth of the Year, so we are very involved with the youth.
“Another one of our members has been getting great results with another thing we do with the youth is the Peace Poster.
“We are very grateful to the students and the teacher that took time out of their school work to do these posters for us.
“There’s a lot of things that our club does. Lions Eye Health is another part and two of our members are the chairpeople of that and we go into local schools and do eye screening for the children free of charge.
“I don’t run that, I’m just part of the team and that’s what happens a lot, because sometimes you don’t have enough members you tend to be doing more than one job and that is where the teamwork comes in.
“We do Meals on Wheels, that is part of our area and I do that as well with my husband.
“I’m very dedicated to Lions. We are not always seen, but we do support all of our local little organisations, the Girl Guides, the Scouts, up at the Hospital we have done a lot of things in the past, we help out with Margaret House, the Conservatorium of Music has been an ongoing thing we donate to every year. We also present Indigenous awards to the Young High School every year. Four students get an award and monetary help with their studies or their equipment.
“There’s one thing that another member of our team is very brilliant at is called ‘Linked with a Lion’ where we have the older members of our community and it started in COVID, where they lost a lot of contact with people coming and seeing them and so forth.
Our team member Heather would ring them and get a few of us on side and there would be a number of calls made to different people we knew through Meals on Wheels, and we take them to morning tea once a month and we go through different topics for their memories”.
All this work deserves applauding for you Marie, and your team.
Congratulations on your personal award for your commitment to your community and most of the Cootamundra Electorate.
– Robyn Atherton