SPRING flowers were not the only things blooming at the Albury Botanic Gardens on Thursday.
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Ten folks blossomed into Australian citizens, including a family from the Ukraine, attracted by the possibilities of Albury.
The Bagayevs, father Oleksandr, mother Tetyana and daughters Mariya and Yuliya, have been on the Border for 4½ years.
Their home city of Donetsk has become ravaged by fighting as pro-Russian forces battle for control with Ukrainian warriors.
"Now we have a civil war we are happy we are here and not there," Mr Bagayev said.
They applied to come to Australia "for a better life" and opted for Albury for its opportunities.
"It's a great city and not so expensive as Sydney and Melbourne," Mr Bagayev said.
He runs an online website selling blinds and curtains, while his daughters attend Albury High School and Albury North Public School.
Others to take the oath on national citizenship day were Wodonga taxi driver Jaspal Singh (India), tool factory worker Keven Woodhams (Britain), physiotherapist Radha Krishna Kumar Chitkula (India), Charles Sturt University administrator Ruchika Dwivedi (India), Dalwinder Singh (India) and David Wynne (England).
It was the last of 24 citizenship ceremonies to be conducted by Albury Mayor Kevin Mack, who said he was doing it with a "heavy heart".
"It's been an overwhelming experience, seeing real people wanting to be part of this country and this community," Cr Mack said.
"Some people in this community take it for granted that they have got such a rich life and such a fortunate life."
Cr Mack said a conversation with a South African surgeon, who had made his home in Albury and become a citizen after living in other centres around the world, brought home the issue.
"When you have people like that come forward and say 'we live here because we choose to live here, we don't live here because we're forced to live here'...that to me sums up why people want to become citizens of this community, it's a great place to live," Cr Mack said.
![New life: The Bagayev family - Mariya, 15, father Oleksandr, Yuliya, 5, and mother Tetyana after their naturalisation at the Albury Botanic Gardens. New life: The Bagayev family - Mariya, 15, father Oleksandr, Yuliya, 5, and mother Tetyana after their naturalisation at the Albury Botanic Gardens.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/XJLgPnEdnKaFugZzKyL6Sw/e7eb159e-f000-49d6-92f6-de5f1f90b828.jpg/r0_34_4727_3130_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
![Under the Southern Cross: Yuliya Bagayeva, 5, got to enmesh herself in the Australian flag after her paper banner ripped. Pictures: ELENOR TEDENBORG Under the Southern Cross: Yuliya Bagayeva, 5, got to enmesh herself in the Australian flag after her paper banner ripped. Pictures: ELENOR TEDENBORG](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/XJLgPnEdnKaFugZzKyL6Sw/20434338-5418-4ba2-9781-571a01d21646.jpg/r0_0_3169_5191_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)