ELIZABETH Kerr is one of the busiest people in Oaklands and gives the lie to any thought that this is a sleepy town.
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We caught up with her decorating the trees at Coronation Park for the annual open-air town Christmas party.
Mrs Kerr wouldn't miss that for anything, as everyone comes from all around Oaklands.
"And the pub's overflowing on that night,'' she laughed.
She is proud her husband Don received the Order of Australia Medal in 1986 "for all the things he's done for Oaklands", such as being on the West Corurgan irrigation board and the committee that built the swimming pool.
Mr Kerr, 80, is now in a nursing home but Mrs Kerr is out and about every day around town.
"I was 19 when we married 54 years ago and I was off a farm myself,'' Mrs Kerr said.
"We ran Boree Lodge, a mixed farm of wheat and sheep, which our son now runs.
"When we went there in 1957 we didn't have electricity but it came about 12 months later."
Mrs Kerr said that after 73 years in Oaklands, she still loves it for its warm community spirit.
"Everybody is everybody's friend," she said.
"We senior ladies meet every morning Monday to Friday as a coffee club.
"I'm Lions Club president and go to the Uniting Protestant church where Don is an elder and I'm on the committee there.
"We have three churches in Oaklands.
"Also I'm in the CWA, which has been going 55 years, I think.
"We've raised money for the CWA hall by catering for weddings and things.
"I was in the Red Cross, too, but that's just folded."
The Lions care for a timber hut formerly the RSL hall.
Originally the Back Paddock School, it was moved into town in 1922 and used as an extra classroom for the school until 1935.
