ROY Giesemann’s love of Frankston hasn’t dwindled since moving here four decades ago.
The 91-year-old settled in Frankston in the early 1980s. In the 2000s he was involved in the establishment of the Visitor Information Centre, where he continues to volunteer today.
“We fell in love with Frankston and wanted to contribute to the promotion and development of the tourism industry here,” Mr Giesemann said. “I was 75-years-old and starting to wind down from full time work when my wife Marie saw an article in the paper talking about the development of a Visitor Information Centre in Frankston. I attended the council meeting in 2006 and the VIC was developed in 2007.”
National Volunteer Week was last week, from 17 May to 23 May. Frankston councillor Suzette Tayler said that without volunteers like Mr Giesemann, the area would be a lot worse off.
“All our volunteers do us proud and continually demonstrate the true meaning of community spirit – from council services such as meals on wheels and the visitor centre to numerous non-council services including opportunity shops and not for profit organisations, every day we see volunteers going above and beyond to enrich the lives of others, bring people together and improve our social wellbeing,” she said.
“Roy is an incredible ambassador for Frankston, along with our 30 other visitor information centre volunteers. They are integral to the running of the centre and do a great job assisting visitors and promoting our wonderful city.”