Ann Adams found out she had been nominated for the Australia Day honours list when an email appeared in her inbox in the wee small hours of the morning.
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Mrs Adams was, she said, too excited to sleep, but as the nomination and award process is confidential, she could not share the exciting news.
Eventually, she was able to share her joy with husband Noel, but for a while it was her biggest secret.
In the Australia Day honours list, the 53-year veteran of the Country Women's Association was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia and she has now formally received that medal.
"It was so hard to keep it a secret because I was so excited," Mrs Adams said.
"I remember reading the information that was in the nomination and thinking 'is this really me?'"
Mrs Adams, who ran a cherry farm at Oura with her husband for many years, names a successful campaign in the late 1990s to ensure the future of The Forrest Centre as one of her proudest memories.
Fellow CWA member Barbara Johnston has also now formally received her Medal of the Order of Australia. Like Mrs Adams, Mrs Johnston was recognised on Australia Day.
"I am just so excited to be able to share this experience with Barb," Mrs Adams said.
"To be able to share it all with someone is fantastic."
In addition to the CWA, Mrs Johnston has notched up decades of service to the Rural Fire Service, Red Cross and her local rural ratepayers' association.
On Wednesday, the two women celebrated their honours with a lunch hosted by their fellow CWA members.
Like Mrs Adams, Mrs Johnston was not even able to share news of her nomination or eventual awarding of the OAM with husband George.
"I couldn't believe I had been nominated," she said.
Mrs Johnston is a member of the Currawarna Rural Fire Brigade, who has received a long-service medal for her decades of work.
She supported her husband in his role as brigade captain by manning the phones and spreading the word when a fire broke out.