MEMBERS of the Rosewood SES were thanked for their support of the community, in times of disaster and during celebrations last week with a gift of a handcrafted podium.

The gift was presented by the Rosewood and District Support Centre as a way of expressing their gratitude for the support the SES have provided at the Rosewood Christmas Festival over the last couple of years explained Tia Lancaster, the Community Project Worker with the Centre and also the organiser of the Festival.

“The SES crew help ensure the Rosewood Christmas Festival runs smoothly,” she said.

“They provided assistance with many things including traffic and crowd management, lighting plants and support to set up, run and pack up the Festival and we are extremely grateful.”

Tia added that no matter the weather conditions, if they are needed, the Rosewood SES are there.

The Rosewood Christmas Festival moved to the Rosewood Showgrounds in 2022 and will be held again on December 13, this year.

“We hope to make this an annual celebration for the community,” said Tia, “however our ability to do this is dependent on volunteers from the Rosewood District Support Centre and other community organisations like the SES.”

And she explained why the gift of thanks to the SES had taken the form of a podium.

“When we asked the SES how we could express our appreciation they informed us they were in need of a podium to deliver their briefing.

“We approached the Men’s Workshop, a group of local men who gather on a Friday at the Rosewood Community Centre Men’s Workshop where they work on projects, have a yarn and a sausage sizzle.

“I asked them if they would help us build a podium for the Rosewood SES.

“Without hesitation they helped out and made this wonderful podium.”