AUSTRALIA DAY AWARDS - CITIZEN OF THE YEAR - Mr Michael Francis Barrenger.

After gaining accreditation as a paramedic he continued his studies both in Tasmania and Melbourne. Mike is actually an Intensive Care Paramedic and George Town has been very lucky to have a dedicated member of the community with such accreditation for the past 37 years.

 

In his younger years Mike did an apprenticeship in sheet metal and he was awarded as a top apprentice. He originally joined Ambulance Tasmania as volunteer serving in his spare time working in George Town. It was during this time he met his wife Lisa and had three children and now enjoy their grandchildren.

 

Mike was a member of George Town Rotary Club for a number of years, and was credited with re-starting Apex in George Town after it had folded some years before.

 

From the beginning of his 37 years in George Town, Mike has always been proud of his membership with the local RSL. He has always been on hand at Anzac and Remembrance services to help with setting up and providing medical backup for these events.

 

It would be hard to find anyone in the George Town Municipality that have not had their lives touched by Mike in some way. His is a face that the George Town community has come to know and respect. A face that has given comfort to families in their worried times, who has helped young couples see new life enter the world and has dealt with things we dare not to think of.

 

A husband, father, grandfather and a huge part of the George Town Municipality, we congratulate Michael Barrenger as Citizen of the year 2021.