By Tyler Wright
A giant orange artwork appeared in Emerald in May of 2023 – honouring the local SES with a giant feature dubbed “Elephant Rock” to celebrate Wear Orange Wednesday (WOW).
Volunteers spent two days painting Elephant Rock, near Dewhurst, with the help of Emerald Arts Society member Wendy Lindrea, to create an artwork displaying the SES logo and the colour orange for locals to enjoy.
Emerald SES Unit Controller Ben Owen said WOW Day is an opportunity for the community to thank the volunteers who respond to flooding and motor vehicle accidents in their area.
“I made a point at our training session this week to thank everybody and to remind each other that we all do it for nothing, so to speak…we give up our time away from family, and sometimes work, to do what we need to do for the community,” Mr Owen said.
“Sometimes you go about business as usual, but you don’t stop and pause and be grateful for the time and commitment everyone gives when they can.”
During major flooding in October 2022, Emerald SES crews attended around 200 calls for assistance in VICSES’ busiest calendar month on record.
“We left our own area into our neighbouring areas to assist with floods in Upper Yarra and in Lilydale and Mooroolbark, but we then also got floods in our own area; in Upwey and Belgrave,” Mr Owen said.
“We certainly know that the communities and the people that we responded to then to assist them were ever more grateful for the time then, on top of the regular hundreds, if not thousands of calls a year for trees that fall down and the type of work that we do day in, day out.”
The past three years have been three of the busiest in VICSES’ history, following three consecutive La Nina seasons impacting severe storms and major flooding in the state.
SES volunteers are well known for their response during flood and storm emergencies, but also respond to over 1600 ‘Assist Police’ jobs every year – helping at searches for missing people, searches for evidence at crime scenes as well as scene preservation and assistance with lighting towers and marquees.
VICSES CEO Stephen Griffin said he continues to admire the “remarkable and relentless efforts” of volunteers.
“Thank you for your time and dedication, many of you go over and beyond and it is truly inspiring,” Mr Griffin said.
“In the face of adversity, our people are capable of extraordinary things. Whether it’s a one in one-hundred year flood event, or deployment to another part of the country to help local communities, VICSES volunteers are here for our communities.”
“Wear Orange Wednesday is an opportunity for the public to say thank you, to all the volunteers who sacrifice their time away from their family, friends and loved ones, to help the community rain, hail or shine.”
WOW Day coincides with National Volunteer Week.
To share a message of thanks to SES volunteers this WOW Day, you can post on Facebook or Twitter and use the hashtag #ThankYouSES.
To discover what landmarks are lighting up in your area, visit ses.vic.gov.au/news-and-media/campaigns/wear-orange-wednesday
If you want to be a part of the action, learn new skills and serve your community, visit ses.vic.gov.au/volunteer.
