The shire’s Australia Day ambassador will be lawn bowler Brett Wilkie. He competed in the 2014 Commonwealth Games but is also known for generously donating his bone marrow to a child in Germany. 

He will speak at the Cloncurry Sports Dinner to be held at the bowls club on Monday night, January 25, and at the annual awards and citizenship ceremony at the community precinct on Australia Day. 

The ceremony will start at 9am and will be followed by a barbecue brunch. 

From 11am the Cloncurry Bowls Club will host a free social bowls event.

Those trying to keep cool can watch a G-rated Australian movie in the Cloncurry Swimming Pool from 6pm. 

Cloncurry Bowls Club president Kevin Wehrman hoped the barefoot bowls event at the club would encourage more social and competitive members to join. 

“Look, Cloncurry Bowls Club is not a very big club and is struggling for membership so we are doing a membership drive as well and hopefully get more social and full members,” Mr Wehrman said, adding that the Cloncurry Shire Council and the club could regularly organise further bowls events. 

Struggling membership is a reason why it was important to the club having a voice like Wilkie, who although is a Helensvale Club member has been ambassador for the Cloncurry Bowls Club a year already.    

The ambassador had been good at supporting the outback’s struggling bowls clubs including Cloncurry’s. 

“When Brett comes out he does training courses for local and up-and-coming bowlers and gives a few tips in becoming a bit more competitive in the sport, coaching as well,” Mr Wehrman said. 

And as the shire’s ambassador Wilkie could promote Cloncurry’s location and its key issues through his networks in the sport.

The club president said Wilkie intends on returning to Cloncurry in June for the club’s biggest event of the year – the invitational triples tournament.

Cloncurry has eight categories to be announced in the Australia Day ceremony which were; Citizen of the Year, Young Citizen of the Year, Community Organisation or Event, Senior Sports, Dave Watt Memorial Junior Sports, Sports Administrator, Cultural, and Achievement. 

A Cloncurry Shire Council spokeswoman said the nominations closed in December before school Christmas holidays. 

She said there were 15 nominations across the eight awards. 

There will be four new Australians when the Cloncurry Citizenship Ceremony was completed, the spokeswoman said. 

A mother and two sons were Kenyan while a man who worked at a cattle station came from India. 

The spokeswoman said the Cloncurry Shire Coucnil will regularly update details closer to the event.