Rodney Stevens

When Ashby Rural Fire Service secretary and former Clarence Valley District Catering Captain Stephanye Holden was notified she had been awarded the Australian Fire Service Medal in the 2023 Kings Birthday honours she initially thought it was a scam.

“I thought it was a scam…there’s so many things you get these days, you just don’t know sometimes,” she said.

“So, I got my brother who’s in business and my daughter who’s an accountant to look at it and they said they thought it was real.”

When the reality hit that she had been recognised among seven other NSW RFS members who were awarded the Australian Fire Service Medal she said she was ‘blown away’.

“It was gobsmacking, I had no idea,” she said.

After being involved with a palliative care group when her husband was ill, when Mrs Holden retired to the Clarence Valley, she said she was determined to continue to ‘give back’ to the community.

“I joined Ashby RFS in 2011, I’d just retired from nursing, and I moved up to Ashby from Sydney after my husband died, I had this seven-acre property and I built a house and I thought well I need to know how to look after these seven acres, so I’ll join the fire brigade, so I did,” she said.

Just two years after joining, Mrs Holden was appointed Ashby RFS secretary and she attended a few fires on the front line until 2018, but as the first few years were relatively quiet on the fire front, she joined the Clarence Valley District RFS Catering Brigade.

“I didn’t have anything else to do so I thought I’d join the caterers because I know they work throughout the year catering for the (fire training) courses,” she said.

Mrs Holden became Deputy Catering Captain, then when the Catering Captain became ill in 2019 just before the region’s biggest bushfires in decades she stepped into that role, a position she held for four years until recently.

“That was massive in 2019, it really kept us busy starting here in August and going through until the end of January, they were massive fires,” she said.

“We catered all through that and there were months and months and months of it, we were very busy.”

During her 12 years in the RFS, Mrs Holden said she had met many fantastic people, made many friends and learned invaluable skills while contributing to her local community.

“I’ve been involved in fire training, teamwork exercises, catering, and made many fabulous friends and met many wonderful people, I’ve been very lucky,” she said.

“It has also been very valuable to learn how to look after the property.”

The NSW Rural Fire Service acknowledged her dedication and commitment in receiving the honour, saying Mrs Holden is known for her friendly, caring nature and committed approach to both providing nutritious meals for the firefighters and supporting the activities of her local brigade and community.

As Catering Captain, she provided a calming presence and exceptional leadership and unwavering dedication.

She worked tirelessly alongside the Catering Brigade team in arduous circumstances over many months, taking all of the many challenges in her stride.

Mrs Holden has given outstanding contributions as a volunteer member of the Ashby Brigade and the Clarence Valley Catering Brigade in the Clarence Valley District.

Her contribution has been of significant benefit to the New South Wales RFS, the Clarence Valley District, and her local community.

Mrs Holden will receive her medal later in the year.