Volunteers are the lifeblood of any community and Port Stephens is fortunate to have a significant number of people eager to help out whether that be through hands-on contribution, by sharing knowledge and experiences, or showing strong leadership.
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Nelson Bay's Warwick Mathieson would qualify for all of the above and more.
The 72-year-old retired builder is a prolific volunteer who says he likes to give his time to give back to a community that his family - wife Chris, two children and two grandchildren - has been an integral part of for more than four decades.
"I do it because I love it. And I get a lot of satisfaction when I see things come together for the betterment of the wider community, or to support a particular charity or organisation," he said.
"Two good examples are the Australia Day committee and the postie bike dash.
"More than 25 years ago, Australia Day celebrations in Port Stephens were confined to Raymond Terrace. So a group of us fought tooth and nail to start up our celebrations in Nelson Bay after John Nell became mayor, and it has grown from that."
A keen motorbike rider for some 50 years, Mathieson entered his first Variety Club postie dash five years ago, riding his trusty 110cc Honda and raising funds for underprivileged children living in country NSW.
"I decided in that first year to wear one of my more colourful bow ties and jackets, which has become a bit of a novelty, but more importantly we have managed to raise close to $200,000 to support sick and disadvantaged children across NSW," he said.
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"Our next dash will be in March heading off from Mudgee to the Snowy Mountains and back, calling in to schools delivering much needed equipment."
His volunteer work does not end there. Supported by his wife of nearly 50 years, Mathieson's list of community service is impressive.
He was with the Corlette Rural Fire brigade for 15 years (including 10 as captain) before it was abruptly closed down by the council.
"I was the captain and I found out about it through the Examiner. I did not even get a phone call."
He sat on the committee of the [now defunct] Real Futures Foundation for a some years in its early stages, has served more than 20 years on the Harbourside Haven management committee, and has joined the committee of the new-look Tomaree Museum Association.
Then there's his untiring work with Nelson Bay Rotary. A member for 25 years including a stint as president, Mathieson has chaired a range of programs including the conference in 2018 and the Gan Gan Lookout project in 2012.
Most notably, the volunteer extraordinaire has for 22 years sat on the board of the Tomaree Community College, the past 10 years as chairman.
"It is pleasing to see the college performing well under the circumstances and that's primarily because of our highly proficient manager, Linda Drake," he said.
"In fact, that is quite true of many of the organisations I have served with ... you can achieve much more by being able to work as a team with like-minded people."
Growing up in Sydney, Warwick never knew the identity of his grandfather, so earlier this year he decided to get a DNA test and coincidentally learned that his grandfather, a Harold Henry Rigby, lived in Nelson Bay and is buried in the Nelson Bay cemetery.
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