By Mikayla van Loon
After pulling together the first major street fair event for Lilydale in 2022, Bec Rosel has now been named Citizen of the Year by Yarra Ranges Council for her incredible feat on 26 January.
“I was blown away. You see what people do out there in the community and I honestly didn’t think what I did was that momentous. It felt big to me but the fact it obviously meant a lot to other people was really nice,” she said.
The Fair happened on 3 December and brought together schools, scouts, 65 market stalls, roaming entertainment, local sporting clubs and thousands of people to the Main Street of Lilydale.
Having originally brought the idea to the Lilydale Township Action Group (LTAG) in early 2021, unfortunately it couldn’t go ahead as planned with the pandemic still enforcing restrictions.
But reigniting the idea for 2022, Bec, alongside some helpers and volunteers from LTAG was able to get the Fair up and running for its inaugural year.
Hopeful the Street Fair can only grow and develop into an iconic Lilydale event, Bec said after the event in December she would like the parade to be a highlight.
“I would really love the Lilydale Street Fair to be known for its parade and to grow on this because we don’t see parades much these days,” she said.
Waiting patiently for the outcome of a grant application with Yarra Ranges Council to help fund the Lilydale Street Fair, Bec said hopefully the recognition from the community nominations for the award helps the council see the benefit.
“Fingers and toes crossed we receive that grant and that’ll be for the next four years,” she said.
“For one, it was a great success and two, it’s been talked about and people have recognised it as something that the community needs. So we’ve got some really great backing there and definitely a reason to continue but I just want it to get bigger and better.”
Aspiring to use the Street Fair as a way to bring people together, Bec said she has already had people interested in being involved this coming year, something that means she is on the right path in achieving that goal.
“It’s important because Lilydale, it’s a great community but it lacks the bond other communities have.
“It’s very spread out, it’s a big area, Main Street is very long. There’s a lot of businesses and services and individuals that make up Lilydale but we need to be even more united.
“At least the Street Fair gave people a day to come together in a location in the heart of Lilydale where it can be recognised as the centre of Lilydale and come to celebrate what we have.”
Yarra Ranges Mayor Jim Child said this year’s recipients share a passion for improving the world around them and have dedicated time, skill and effort to bring people together.
“Our awards this year celebrate a fantastic variety of people – people of all ages who regularly put the effort in to make the Yarra Ranges the best it can be – and I’m so pleased we can pay a little recognition to these wonderful leaders in our community,” Cr Child said.
“Congratulations to this year’s award winners and our certificate recipients. Each one of these people is someone who we’re proud to have in our corner of the world, people that inspire others to do better, try harder and live with more empathy and kindness.”
Bec said it only takes one person to inspire an idea and having the confidence to network with others can bring about incredible results.
“I would encourage [people] to start talking about [their ideas] and even if it’s just a friend or someone you work with because it’s amazing how networked people are, especially within the Yarra Ranges – you tell one person something and they know somebody and that person knows somebody,” she said.
“It doesn’t take much and honestly it takes one person and there’s people out there who want to help. There’s volunteers out in the community and people who want to do things and they’re hankering for more ideas to be involved in, so I would say, just tell somebody.”
