Tea Gardens resident Helen Brayne has been recognised on the Queen's Birthday Honours List.
Mrs Brayne, who retired to Tea Gardens with her husband Rod at the end of 2006, was presented with an OAM (Order of Australia Medal) for service to the community of Griffith and the Riverina through a range of local government, civic, tourism and library organisations.
A relatively late bloomer on the local government front, much of the early parts of Mrs Brayne's life was dedicated to her library work.
Upon leaving school at 15, Mrs Brayne completed her library training in Sydney before becoming the youngest librarian in charge of a public library at age 17.
She played a big part in the design and erection of the Griffith Library, which opened in June 1971.
A member of various committee's, Mrs Brayne received the prestigious Community Merit Award 'in recognition of outstanding qualities of service, dependability and contribution to the community' from the Rotary Club of East Griffith in March 1982.
However, it was a threat to move the library from the centre of Griffith that would prove to be the real turning point in Mrs Brayne's life.
"I spent a lot of time trying to get people to stand for council in response to that threat," Mrs Brayne said.
"The council had become stale and the community wanted change.
"I was trying to lobby people to stand but ended up doing it myself."
Throughout her early years on council, Mrs Brayne was involved in numerous initiatives, which included key positions on the Griffith Visitors Centre Management Committee and Griffith Bicentennial Committee.
In 1988 she was awarded Citizen of the Year by Griffith City Council after her work on the Bicentenary celebrations.
"That was a special award, no doubt," she said.
"The Paul Harris Fellowship, which I received in 2001 was another, as I'm not a Rotarian, so to be selected for that was very special."
Mrs Brayne officially retired from her librarian duties in 1982.
In the years following Australia's Bicentenary, she would go on to become deputy mayor, then mayor for four years from 1997 to 2001.
She often refers to her years of service to the Griffith community as a member of council as her second career.
"I sometimes say I've had more retirements than Nellie Melba," she joked.
"The experience of being the first woman mayor of Griffith was quite exciting as not a lot of people had achieved that, even at a state level.
"My time on council was an unplanned, but extremely rewarding part of my life and there's no way I would have been able to succeed without enormous support from Rod."
Mrs Brayne officially retired from all forms of local government in 2004.
"The Order of Australia Medal, it's an incredible honour for me," she said.
"It's something I never would have expected.
"I think of all the people who do a lot of work in any community and to be nominated from that group is a real honour."
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