Pillar of CWA honoured
Pamela Batten was 19 and remembers she was not sure whether she really wanted to be part of the club.
But the country girl was newly married to a Yuna farmer, and her mother-in-law insisted she get involved with the Country Women’s Association.
Now, 45 years on, Ms Batten wears an Order of Australia medal around her neck and could not imagine life without the CWA.
“I remember my first meeting really well,” she said.
“Afternoon tea was a big thing in those days, so we all used to take something along and of course my mother-in-law said I should, so I made some bikkies and remember no one ate any.
“Now I think back and smile because over the years I have made so many cakes and lots of them have sold to help raise funds for families in need.”
During her 43 years with the Yuna branch, Ms Batten has worked as president, treasurer and secretary, divisional vice-president, divisional president for the Mid West and Murchison, a member of the CWA State council, State finance officer and has spent three years as State president.
For this, the honourable lifetime member was presented with the medal during the Australia Day ceremony.
Ms Batten said the nomination was one of the most humbling things she had experienced.
“I was in the New South Wales outback when I got the letter informing me I had been awarded an OAM,” she said.
“I was completely overwhelmed and couldn’t resist shedding a tear — something like this is very humbling.
“There would be a huge hole in our community without the volunteer efforts of our peers, so to think that someone has taken the time to fill out the application form is lovely.”
According to her peers, the work Ms Batten has done through the Country Women’s Association has touched the lives of many, including farming families during the 2006-2007 drought, widows and isolated women.
“I won’t forget when a lady came up to me and quietly said how fantastic her time during membership had been,” she said.
“She explained her husband had just died and she said the support the CWA offered to her was life-changing.
“It’s just those little memories that have stuck and really makes being part of the organisation worthwhile.
“We also faced some hard times during the horrible drought years in 2006-2007.
“Farming families in the northern agricultural region were in trouble and the CWA was asked by the Federal Government to distribute funds to families in need.
“That’s something the association has done very well and every year our branches raise money too and help hundreds of families.”
Ms Batten, who pioneered a branch in Champion Bay in 2013, said she would not change a thing.