Mr Edmonds was awarded the Murrurundi district Citizen of the Year on Australia Day and although he was very shocked he was also excited.

The father of three has been strongly involved in the Murrurundi community, however he says “it’s only what any father would do”.

As well as two major community groups, Mr Edmonds was nominated for his tireless energy devoted to running camps, fundraising and providing different activities for young people in the area.

Mr Edmonds was one of the key players in reviving the Murrurundi Pony Club, which has seen numbers grow from about seven children to at least 20 in the past 12 months.

As the former president in 2011, Mr Edmonds and his hard working volunteer committee held a Junior Stockman’s Challenge as well as various rally days that steered away from the regular riding classes and sporting events to also include polocrosse education, stock handling, show jumping and more.

Mr Edmonds said the pony club had experienced a large growth and was quite a strong club now.

The local identity is also heavily involved in the 1st Murrurundi Cubs and Joeys being the cub leader.

With the risk of the cubs folding due to an increased need for volunteers, Mr Edmonds took on the role of assistant leader of the cub group two years ago and was the sole leader last year.

He operates the cubs group every Wednesday night where about 22 children enjoy activities and education in preparation for scouts.

Mr Edmonds, along with Murrurundi Scouts leader Ron Tuckwell and Joeys leader Dot Whitby also take the children on camps and have continued the strong association with a lot of fundraising, including catering at functions at the Vietnam Veteran’s at Scotts Creek.

Mr Edmonds said he loves what he does, as he enjoys having fun with the children and he believes that is what it is all about.

“I love being there for them, giving them something to do and seeing them have fun,” he said.

Mr Edmonds was also involved with events at Blandford Public School, such as the Blandford Horse Sports and other sporting carnivals.

He said he was very surprised to have been named Citizen of the Year, as he felt a lot of the nominees deserved to win the award.

“I shouldn’t have got the award, the two committees deserve them.

“It’s a whole lot easier to do the front job if you’ve got a good committee behind you and I had two great committees and a lot of community help.”