We bring to you the biographies of those locals who were singled out for Australia Day honours.

Citizen of the Year 2022 – Adrian James
Adrian James, 37 has lived with his family in New Norfolk for 15 years.
In 1998 with encouragement from his high school brass teacher, Adrian joined the Derwent Valley Concert Band.
He has travelled overseas with the band on five occasions to represent the band and the community.
It is through the band he met his wife Amanda.
In December 2002, Adrian joined the Brighton Fire Brigade.
He then transferred to the Lachlan Brigade after moving into the area in 2008 where he is now second officer.
The role allows him to assist with mentoring members and the leadership of the brigade.
In 2019, Adrian was selected to fly interstate to help fight wildfires in Queensland.
In 2021 he put is hand up to be trained in remote area fire fighting.
This specialised training will allow him to represent the brigade and the state when called upon.
In 2012 after attending a car crash with the fire brigade, Adrian was able to witness the local SES members rescue a person and decided to register.
Adrian has assisted the community in this capacity by attending car crashes, community events and storm damage and now is a team leader.

Citizen of the Year 2022 – Kerry Kievit
Kerry moved to the Derwent Valley in 2016 after retiring due to symptoms of multiple sclerosis.
Kerry and her husband Michael fell in love with the Valley during visits to their children who moved a couple of years earlier.
Kerry was already involved with volunteering with MS Limited and continued this when she moved.
She soon became a facilitator for several peer-based support groups, including one-on-one support.
In 2017 Kerry and Michael joined the Lions Club of New Norfolk.
They both decided that it was a good way to get to know the community while giving back.
Because of her tenacity and passion Kerry soon found herself with a leadership role within the club, first as secretary and for the last 18 months as president.
Kerry has been a big advocate of collaboration between the different community organisations in the Valley.
It is her belief that in some instances community organisations can achieve more by working together.
Kerry makes herself available for most of the Club’s projects, from cooking a sausage to cooking breakfast on Fathers or Mothers Day.
Her can-do attitude and passion for the Valley can be infectious.
She’s always prepared to listen to anyone who may need assistance.

Young Citizen of the Year 2022 – J’Khobi Bone
J’Khobi is a 15-year-old local boy who began playing basketball at the age of seven.
In October 2021, he represented Tasmania at the U16 Australian Junior Championships.
The team went on to win the bronze medal, a huge achievement.
Of the 10 boys on the team, only two were from the south of the state.
In the previous two years, J’Khobi has coached two teams of young students from St Brigid’s Catholic School.
He is also heavily involved in various basketball clinics at the Derwent Valley PCYC, this includes young children from all backgrounds of the community.
In the past, J’Khobi has assisted his Nan in running a “movement to music’’ program at Corumbene Nursing Home.
He was also a past school captain at St Brigid’s, which involved assisting the community through school fundraisers and programs such as the Vinnie’s Food Drive.
J’Khobi is involved in a multitude of basketball teams, all of which have had great success.
These include National U16 Bronze Medallists, U16 Southern Tasmania Championship Premier player, St Virgil’s College Division 1 Premier player, State League Men’s Player as well as social rosters.

Sports Person of the Year 2022 – Ailie Morgan
Ailie is a student at New Norfolk High School, in 2021 she won the grade 7 girls cross country.
If there is sport happening, Ailie is there and pushes herself to be the best that she can be.
Ailie was invited to join the youth travelling team to compete at the Cheer and Dance Nationals.
Ailie was 11 years old at the time and her youth team placed fourth in the country.
Ailie returned from nationals and competed with her quarter horse and was awarded by the Australian Quarter Horse Association Runner Up High Point Youth of Tasmania.
Winter rolled around and Ailie competed with the New Norfolk Basketball Association and was named best and fairest for her team and played excellent basketball at the Launceston Classic.
This was despite not playing basketball the previous year due to competing cheerleading commitments. Ailie also plays football and was loaned from the New Norfolk Junior Football Club to Claremont Junior Football Club where she impacted all season.
The division 1 team made the U13 Grand Final at North Hobart and finished as runners up.
Ailie was named best on ground for Claremont.
Ailie loves that she has the opportunity to play multiple sports in New Norfolk and is an excellent sporting role model for all ages.