With a love of words and mathematics, Mrs Lanyon is always researching, organising quizzes and doing cryptic crosswords to keep her brain and mind active. 

It may be her interest in words, but more likely her passion for helping others that has driven the grandmother to organise several trivia nights for community groups in Aberdeen and the Upper Hunter. 

An Aberdeen resident herself, Mrs Lanyon is extremely motivated to ensure progress in the town and is willing to help community groups in their goals to achieve this. 

It doesn’t bother her how many volunteer hours she spends sitting downloading 10,000 quiz questions from the internet, researching magazines and books and listening to the radio for points of interests. 

Once she has collected enough questions, she then categorises each question into a section and tailors the questions to the group of people who will be at the trivia night. 

Recently, Mrs Lanyon organised a fundraising trivia night for the Aberdeen  Treasures which raised about $700 for the not-for-profit organisation.

She is currently organising another trivia night to assist the Aberdeen Public School and she has started preliminary work to organise one for the Upper Hunter Riding for the Disabled  Association and the Aberdeen Pre-school.

Mrs Lanyon said she has a real interest in learning and working with words, so she carries a little notepad and always jots down ideas when she hears them. 

“I don’t mind doing it at all, it’s my way of putting fun back into fundraising and it also increases patronage at the venue wherever that is,” she said. 

“It’s good to be able to bring people together for a common goal and I enjoy doing it.”

Mrs Lanyon’s love of learning started when she was a child growing up at Goulburn and then in Sydney when her family moved to Wentworthville when she was 15-years-old.

When she was just 19-years-old Mrs Lanyon met the love of her life, Bob, and they later married when she was 21 in 1967.

Sadly, Mr Lanyon has now passed, however Mrs Lanyon has many special memories that she can share with her two sons, daughter, their partners and nine grandchildren. 

The young couple lived in Sydney for about six years during which time Mrs Lanyon worked as an accounts clerk in the motor industry.

Due to Mr Lanyon’s work commitments, they made the move to the country city of Tamworth where Mrs Lanyon continued working in the motor industry until she had the children. 

Although she couldn’t work during the day while she raised the children, Mrs Lanyon was going to let it stop her, so she started working at night as a kitchen hand in motels, which eventually led to her becoming a commercial cook. 

Mrs Lanyon said she still remembers the night the chef didn’t turn up so she had to fill in as cook for the night, and this led to her staying on as the commercial cook for a number of years. 

After six years in Tamworth, the Lanyon’s moved to the Hunter and   settled in Muswellbrook.

Mrs Lanyon continued working, first at the Blackhill Restaurant, then the Prince of Wales and the Valley Hotel. 

In 1998, Mrs Lanyon retired and being a real people person, she initially missed the interaction, however volunteer commitments soon took over and she was back out there in the community. 

Mrs Lanyon said she loved working in the hospitality industry and working with people.  

For the past 15 years Mrs Lanyon has been a dedicated member of the Lions Club of Aberdeen, a passion she shared with her late husband who was the secretary of the club for 26 years, president, and the zone and region district chairman. 

A plaque recognising Mr Lanyon’s commitment to the club exists in Jockey Club Park, which Mrs Lanyon is extremely proud of. 

Throughout the years, Mrs Lanyon has been the president, secretary and zone chairman and she is the current first vice president, keen to take on the role of president again in the future. 

Her interest in education and young people saw Mrs Lanyon take on the role of the Lions Youth of the Year chairperson for about four years.  

With other Lions, Mrs Lanyon is proud of the contribution they make through initiatives such as the Grocery Grab, cooking many barbecues, operating the football gates at the Aberdeen Tigers home games, and creating and maintaining the Aberdeen Rose Garden and Jockey Club Park.

Mrs Lanyon said she enjoys the companionship of the Lions Club and the fact that they can do so much good where it’s needed. 

In the past, Mrs Lanyon has volunteered as a penciller and announcer at the Upper Hunter Eisteddfod and she has also volunteered at Overton House where she takes pleasure in mentoring the young adults. 

Another venue you may see her is the Aberdeen RSL Club, as Mrs Lanyon likes to help out with any events such as Anzac Day – organising flowers and helping to cook and serve breakfast.

During Mr Lanyon’s later years he was a resident at Strathearn and Mrs Lanyon spent a lot of time helping out with trivia days, calling hoy, and craft and cooking activities with all the                       residents. 

When she is not out and about volunteering, Mrs Lanyon loves spending time with her grandchildren, as she said she is very family minded. 

Whether she is teaching them to cook, knit or do handicraft, it doesn’t matter as it is all quality time. 

She enjoys passing on her own interests of reading, knitting, crocheting and handicraft to the next generation. 

Mrs Lanyon said she is busy, but she wouldn’t change a thing as she wants to be a part of the local community.

“The Upper Hunter is a great place, it’s a great place to raise children as ours have had a lot of opportunities here that they wouldn’t have had in Sydney,” she said. 

“I’m very proud of what Bob and I achieved together.”