Professor Emeritus Margaret Tennant, Bal Ghimire, Susan McConachy, Dr Hanif Quazi and John Fowke are the recipients of this year's Palmerston North Civic Honour Awards.
The awards recognise people who have carried out outstanding and innovative voluntary service. Since the awards were introduced in 1988, 151 people have received this honour.
Mayor Grant Smith says Palmerston North values its volunteers, and this was seen through a record number of nominations this year.
"New Zealand has been facing the challenges of Covid-19 that has pressured people, communities, organisations and businesses like never before. Our volunteers have played such a huge role during this time."
Raised in Feilding, Tennant made Massey University's Turitea Campus her home, specialising in the histories of social policy, New Zealand women, and the non-profit sector.
During decades as a professional historian and in retirement as a "born-again local historian", Tennant has championed the accessibility and study of local history, encouraging and advising regional researchers and writers as they explore the histories and heritage of Manawatū.
In 2003, she was invited to be the inaugural chairperson of the Palmerston North Heritage Trust and continues in that role. Through the trust, in 2005, she initiated the Manawatū Journal of History as a way of increasing community engagement in and awareness of the region's rich history. She's been on its committee since 2015.
She obtained funding for the transcription of oral histories held by Manawatū Heritage and instigated the local historian and local history publication of the year awards, along with the highly sought-after themed annual Heritage Trust calendar.
Tennant initiated, sought funding for, managed, co-edited and contributed to 2020's City at the Centre, the first major history of Palmerston North in 50 years.
She has been a long-standing supporter of and contributor to the Te Manawa Museum Society, and a committee member since 2019.
"Through her insight, experience, leadership and dedication to making local histories known, Margaret has made an invaluable contribution to Palmy's sense of place," the citation reads.
"It's particularly apt that the presentation of a Civic Award to our foremost local historian is made in Palmerston North's sesquicentennial year."
Born in Bhutan, Ghimire worked as a school teacher before being deported, along with tens of thousands of Bhutanese with Nepali heritage, by the government.
In 1994, he continued teaching but in a crowded refugee camp on the border between India and Nepal, and it wasn't until 2008 that third-country resettlement began.
Ghimire and members of his family came to New Zealand in the first intake of Bhutanese refugees.
Arriving in Palmerston North, he became a de facto community coordinator for the new residents and quickly established the Bhutanese Society, contributing to its constitution and becoming its general secretary. He also established Manawatū Refugee Voice and served as the organisation's chairman until 2011.
Elected president of the Bhutanese Society in 2010, he was also an active member of the New Zealand National Refugee Network, helping draft its constitution. In 2011, he moved to Auckland for employment, returning to Palmerston North in 2016 where he worked for the Red Cross as a volunteer and driving instructor.
In 2017, Ghimire restarted Sunday children's Nepalese language classes at the Rangiora Community Centre, while once more becoming general secretary of the Bhutanese Society.
In 2019, he was elected president of the society, which then hosted the biennial Global Bhutanese Literary Conference at Te Manawa, one of the biggest events in the Nepali Literary World, attracting high-profile international guests. The previous three conferences had been held in Nepal, Nebraska and Texas.
In May, with support from the Ministry of Education, New Zealand's first Nepali language school opened in four classrooms at Milson School with four teachers, four teacher aides and a roll of 64 children.
A lifelong educator, McConachy has contributed to Palmy's diverse arts community in many ways since arriving in the city as a young teacher in the 1970s. In 1975, she was appointed head of department for the Freyberg School of Special Education. She also operated a private music studio and over the decades has taught hundreds of local musicians.
Joining the Institute of Registered Music Teachers in 1991, McConachy went on to chair the organisation for 15 years.
From the late 80s, she served on the Palmerston North Community Arts Council funding committee as a member and as chairwoman.
After the successful Save the Regent campaign and its purchase by the city council in 1992, McConachy became a foundation member of the Regent Theatre Trust, an organisation she is still committed to.
She then spearheaded a successful $1.7 million community fundraising endeavour for theatre renovations that involved organising shows, concerts and sponsorships.
For more than a decade, McConachy contributed to the Manawatū Performing Arts Competitions Association of New Zealand (Pacanz) as a committee member, vice-president and president, with a focus on music and dance.
She joined the Friends of the Ballet board in support of Royal NZ Ballet performances in Palmerston North, while growing the city's relationship with the national company and further nurturing the appreciation of dance in the region.
"An inclusive, long-serving and tireless arts advocate, mentor, organiser and manager, Susan continues to apply her extensive capabilities, knowledge and experience across the sector's broad spectrum," her citation says.
Quazi, a Kiwi Muslim born in Pakistan, has worked tirelessly to foster an understanding of Islam among New Zealanders.
During the past 50 years, he has contributed a great deal to the social and economic development of New Zealand.
A renowned agricultural and plant scientist, Quazi arrived in 1967 at Lincoln College, now Lincoln University, on a Commonwealth Research Fellowship, completing his PhD in genetics with distinction in 1971.
After a post-doctoral fellowship in the UK and during 13 years at the DSIR at Lincoln, Quazi's science-based accomplishments include a virus-free seed potato, aphid-resistant fodder rape, and the thornless loganberry. In the late 70s, he lobbied for the establishment of the now multibillion-dollar halal meat trade with the Middle East, helping New Zealand forge strategic, diplomatic and economic contacts with the Muslim world.
Quazi also began advocating on behalf of the Canterbury Muslim community, co-founding the Muslim Association of New Zealand in 1979 and serving as its first secretary-general. He was president of the organisation in 1983, and instrumental in the construction of the Masjid Al-Noor Mosque in Christchurch, which opened in 1985.
Since 2011, Quazi and his wife, Razia, have lived in Palmerston North, where their six children attended Massey University. He continues his community involvement with a focus on overcoming and reconciling social differences between New Zealand communities with different backgrounds.
Following the March 15, 2019 terror attacks, as a highly respected senior community leader Quazi worked hard to maintain calm and unity, travelling extensively to meet with and speak to all and anyone impacted by the shootings.
His 2019 autobiography, Hybrid of Peace, is regarded as a source of comfort, healing and support in the wake of the tragedy.
Fowke will long be associated with Toyota New Zealand, a company he joined in 1986.
He has been an enthusiast for Palmerston North since 1992, when Toyota set up its restructured National Customer Centre and headquarters in Roberts Line. He retired from the company in 2014 as general manager of finance.
With a passion for developing leadership, Fowke has increased his community involvement since retirement, perhaps signalling those intentions earlier when he joined the Te Manawa Museums Trust Board in 2005.
Appointed deputy chairman in 2007, he became chairman in 2014 (a role he still holds), contributing to Te Manawa being at the forefront of the international Museum Without Boundaries movement.
With a background in corporate law, he teamed up with the Manawatū Community Law Centre in 2014 and is now its chairman. Fowke also joined the Mash Trust Board in 2014 on its finance, audit and risk management committee. In 2016, he took on its quality governance committee and in 2018 he was appointed deputy chairman.
In 2015, Fowke was a founding member of the Central Economic Development Agency (Ceda) board.