Dunoon's Michael Berry is the latest Lismore LGA resident to be awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in the Australia Day Honour list released today.

Mike, as he is better known, was awarded his OAM for services to the Dunoon Community.

Of course, Dunoon residents would know of Mike's volunteer roles over the last forty years, including fundraising for the Dunoon Sports Club in its early days, helping get the Dunoon Football Club off the ground, and being a member of the Dunoon Rural Fire Service.

The Lismore App sat down with Mike at La Barraca to find out more about his drive to help his beloved Dunoon community.

"The medal has obviously got some level of pride, but it has a level of embarrassment as well, because it's sort of my own job. It singles out one over a community."

Those words reveal Mike's humility. Why should he be singled out when so many others have contributed to the Dunoon community over the years?

Mike moved to Dunoon in 1981, and became involved in community issues from 1986.

"I had a very significant involvement with the Dunoon Sports Club, right from its early days of trying to fundraise to get enough money to be able to build a club. This was about 1986/87, somewhere in that range. They had already formed a committee, and then they were looking for people to get involved in the process. And that's when I joined.

"Then there were years of fundraising, having dinner dances at the local hall, and just whatever fundraising we could do. The land was donated to the club by a local family, and we got to the point where we raised enough money. Then we thought, okay, well, we're going to be able to build, and then I got involved in, I guess, trying to lobby governments for funding grants, etc. And I was fairly successful at that.

"I think that's been one of the strengths that I've had, I guess, an ability to put a case forward."

Mike was Treasurer and then President of the Dunoon Sports Club. He discovered another strength during this time.

"I guess sometimes someone's got to lead these things, and maybe that was one of my strengths. The ability to lead a team and to make people enthusiastic about what we're trying to do, and to volunteer. The whole building was built by volunteers. It was an incredible effort by the community."

The year after the Dunoon Sports Club opened, Mike turned his attention to the Dunoon United Football Club.

"We had some soccer teams that were playing under the Thistles soccer club banner, but were sort of based at Dunoon. And I went, Well, hang on, why have we got Dunoon people playing for Thistles? Let's have our own soccer club.

"So, I then founded Dunoon United Football Club. In those days, it was known as the Dunoon Soccer Club. It's been a wonderful success over the years, but when we started out, it was basically a very poorly maintained cricket-only type of field that we had. It really wasn't suitable for soccer.

"We got through our first year just with juniors. We didn't have any seniors or anything like that. But the oval needed a lot of work to get it to the standard it is today. So, more money redeveloping the oval itself. We had a very, very small, single-toilet, very smelly toilet block that was there.

"As President, we raised money to get the oval redevelopment a number of times, keep on expanding to accommodate the growing club, and we have been a very, very successful soccer club. In fact, they've got the Northern New South Wales Soccer Federation club of the year in, I think, about 2018."

Soon after Mike arrived in Dunoon, he also joined the Dunoon Rural Fire Service. In June this year, he will chalk up 40 years of service and is currently the brigade's captain.

(Mike Berry in his fire gear for the Dunoon Rural Fire Service. Photo: supplied)

"I have had a lot of experiences around Australia. I've gone to Tasmania, to Victoria in 2009, and Canberra in 2003 for the big fires down there. And so I've had a fairly widespread involvement there. All our members got the National Medal for their service in the 2019 season.

"It gets in your blood, and you can't get it out."

Mike Berry has become proficient at writing grant applications to the Federal and State Governments. The early success of the Dunoon Sports Club and the Dunoon United Football Club is because of the government money that was awarded to each entity.

"There's no point in putting in their grant application. You've got to make sure that you know they know what you're doing. You really argue your case, and I think your purpose. I think that's been, for whatever reason, a strength that I had in terms of being able to lobby and sort of get those decision makers on our side."

The Dunoon United Football Club received another grant for an amenities block, which was built by volunteer labour from Dunoon residents.

"It was an incredible effort by so many people, and that's why I say, I feel a bit embarrassed. So many other people have contributed to these processes, but I guess my involvement has been, you know, probably more. Like the sports club and its building was one group of people, the soccer club is a different group of people, and the fire brigade is a different group of people again. I guess I've been involved in all of those. And, you know, it's a big part of the community."

"All these things are self-rewarding, you know, like, I just find that community service is something that you get a lot of pride out of what you do, and you can make a contribution to your community."

Mike also led a community protest against the Lismore City Council for a DA for a small lot development that involved a community-run sewerage system, and drove another campaign to improve safety around schools and school buses. This led to an Australia Day Award in 2018 from Lismore City Council in 2018 for Services in Community Individual.

Those involved in the Governor General's office definitely got this one right. Michael Berry is a worthy recipient of an OAM for services to the Dunoon community.