After more than 30 years of service to the Kangaroo Valley community, Lorraine Mairinger has stepped down as secretary of the Kangaroo Valley RFS.
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Mrs Mairinger first became part of the volunteer brigade with her husband Franz, after moving to the valley in 1966.
“We were just a pair of kids when we came to the valley, we had one child and another on the way,” she said.
“We became involved with the brigade from pretty much day one.”
In her three decades as a volunteer, Mrs Mairinger was a call-out officer.
“I did my basic fire training as well because I needed to know what they were all talking about when I wrote the minutes,” she said.
Mrs Mairinger said one of things she’d miss most was the people she got to work alongside over the years.
“They [Kangaroo Valley RFS] are a great group of people, I couldn’t complain about any of them,” she said.
“It was a very rewarding being there for the community and it was never a hassle to do the job.”
Even though she’s hung up her RFS hat, Mrs Mairinger is still deeply involved in the Kangaroo Valley community.
“I just can’t say no!” she said.
“I used to say to my husband that we were becoming the old identities, and now I am an old identitiy after being here for 50 years.”
As a long time member of the Kangaroo Valley Show Society and Lions Club (among many others), Mrs Mairinger still has a very full plate, but said she loved being an active member of the community.
“Being in a small community you want to get involved,” she said. “At one point I was doing all of this while working full time- I had to be very organised.
“Now being retired you don’t have to be as organised.”
Mrs Mairinger said her community work has been “a real pleasure” and she has no plans to step down from any of her other roles.
“I think I’ve received a lot more than I’ve given,” she said.
“It’s just been an absolute pleasure.”