By LOTTE REITER
Ask Hopetoun’s Olive Wellington to describe herself, and she’ll tell you she’s a bit like salt and pepper – she’s in everything.
From the Hopetoun Red Cross Australia branch to the, formerly, Hopetoun Football Club, the 86-year-old admits she likes to ‘keep her finger on the pulse’ of her community.
And it is this lifelong love for and dedication to the southern Mallee town that saw her awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia on Sunday.
Mrs Wellington, a mother of seven, grandmother of 18 and great-grandmother of 30, said family was the driving force behind her community participation.
“My family has been here forever as they say,” she said.
“If we’re talking 50 years ago, I had two aunts who were very involved in the community, and they dragged me off the street to be part of Red Cross.
“And I had seven kids, so I have had to be pretty involved because of them too, with their sport and school. Probably kinder was the first thing I got involved with; I was secretary there and that sort of grew.