Empowering Plantagenet Seniors president and retired veteran councillor Sue Etherington up for State gong

A Mt Barker stalwart and recently retired veteran councillor has been named as a contender for a State gong recognising her tireless work for the seniors of the Shire of Plantagenet. Sue Etherington is one of three finalists in the regional category of the WA senior of the year award, serving as the Great Southern’s only representative. The 79-year-old is the president of the wraparound seniors hub, Empowering Plantagenet Seniors, which she founded in 2020 as a way to deliver groceries and connect the socially isolated “oldies”, as she affectionately refers to them. It has now blossomed into a thriving community centre that offers everything from cheap meals and haircuts, to bingo, seated exercise classes and social activities. “There are about 18 of us who do around 400 volunteer hours a month and as of today, we have served 14,584 meals for the five years and two months we’ve been open,” Ms Etherington said. “Our main objective is to look after the seniors in Plantagenet and make sure they’ve got the info they need. “But it is also for the social companionship, and the oldies love it as a way to catch up and chat.” A woman of the opinion that “if you cant do something properly, don’t bother putting your hand up”, Ms Etherington said she will likely only do one more year as the president of EPS. “I’m starting to get a bit tired now and there’s still quite a lot of things I want to do,” she said. “It’s almost like 24/7 and I’ve got something to do everyday. “You’ve got to be able to do the job properly — there are people who like to say they are volunteering and only do a few little odds and ends rather than doing that job to the best of your ability. “I’m like that with everything.” True to her word, Ms Etherington opted not to contest her seat on the Shire of Plantagenet council when her term expired in October this year. Having first been elected to the role in 1991, Ms Etherington served in the chamber for 26 years, with a two-term break in the middle. “My belief is that if you’re going to be a councillor and represent the community, you put as much as you can into it,” she said. “If I put my hand up again, at the end of that four-year term, I would have been 83, and that’s absolutely ridiculous. “If you’ve got the time, you’ve got so much opportunity to do some volunteering and do some good for the community so I want to leave that open for the younger ones to come in and give it their all.” The dedicated volunteer will be facing the Wheatbelt’s Annette Howard and the Pilbara’s Elizabeth Smith for the award, set to be announced during WA Seniors Week, from November 9 to 16. “To tell you the truth I’m not worried about winning,” Ms Etherington said. “As far as I’m concerned being one of three in the State is bloody exceptional.”