By Dongyun Kwon
A lifetime Montrose resident was recognised for his love for the township on Australia Day.
Eddie Tichelaar received the Ian De La Rue Award for Community Leadership selected by Yarra Ranges Council.
The award winner said receiving an Australia Day award was something he had never expected.
“I never even thought that I would get (this award),” he said.
“I thought there were more people in our community more deserving than me.”
Mr Tichelaar has devoted himself to the local community by volunteering for community groups including Montrose Township Group and Montrose CFA where he has shown strength, leadership and grit.
As a member of Montrose Township Group, the award recipient has been actively involved in two projects; Montrose Intersection Upgrade and People’s Garden Reinvigoration.
He has worked hard to engage with the community and VicRoads, acting as a conduit for community information, building rapport with contractors, VicRoads representatives and community stakeholders, to ensure locals are across every bit of relevant information.
The Montrose resident said he became involved with the Montrose Intersection Upgrade in 2017.
“As a member of the Montrose Township Group, I took the opportunity to understand the project through its entirety,” Mr Tichelaar said.
“I had an interest in engineering, and I wanted to understand what was going to happen.
“I’ve been to all the meetings that have been held, and that’s how I got involved.”
Mr Tichelaar said reinvigorating the People’s Garden is another project which Montrose Township Group has been focusing on.
“There’s a gentleman named Kevin Heinze who lived diagonally across the road from me. He was a garden presenter on ABC for 21 years,” he said.
“He donated half of his garden to Yarra Ranges Council, and I along with other members of Montrose Township Group have been working with the council to reinvigorate the garden.
“We’re working with the council to create a master plan for the People’s Garden.”
Besides Montrose Township Group, the Ian De La Rue Award winner has dedicated himself to a local fire brigade.
He has been a CFA volunteer for more than 45 years.
Mr Tichelaar has contributed to the Resilience Committee and established a broad network in the community through his work.
Mr Tichelaar joined the Montrose CFA when he was 14 and a half as a junior member inspired by his father who had joined the brigade during the 1962 bushfires.
“When I was a young child and my father would go to the fire station whenever the fire siren went off, it just drew me to being interested in what my father was doing,” he said.
“Later on, I remember being at Montrose Primary School one day, and the fire trucks were parked outside near the primary school, and I thought to myself ‘I’m going to drive a fire truck one day’.”
Along the journey, he has served the fire brigade both as a firefighter and community engagement coordinator.
During the 2021 storms, he negotiated to set up a communications centre at the Montrose CFA.
“Because the fire station has a generator and they would be dealing with an emergency, I asked the captain of the brigade if we could use a part of the meeting room for the township group to utilise, so we could get power and access to the internet to gather information that we could pass out to the community through our Facebook page but also through talking with people in the streets when they came down to the shops,” Mr Tichelaar said.
“What would happen in the future if something similar happened, the opportunity is there that we could utilise part of the CFA to hold where we can gather our information and get that information out to our community.”
The smoke alarm and fire preparedness signs in Montrose were initiatives of Mr Tichelaar’s more than 20 years ago, as was the first Montrose Fire Brigade Open Day in 1984, which continues to this day.
“We did have a few open days before 1984 but nothing consistent,” he said.
“Back in 1984, I started an open day, and most years, we would have an open day, now we do it normally every second year.
“It is to invite residents to learn what the fire brigade does but also to educate children about fire safety as well.”
As a keen historian, the award recipient has also curated a dynamic history room in the Montrose Community Cottage with books, photos and memorabilia for the public to enjoy.
He shares stories on his public Facebook page, created a guided history walk around town and has hosted history talks with the local library, with the most recent talk attracting more than 70 attendees.
Mr Tichelaar’s nominator said, “I don’t believe there is a day that goes by when Eddie isn’t working on one (or many) tasks or projects to benefit our community.”
