Robert Cook, Patrick Clark and Senior Constable Todd Deary gave us a good insight to the answer yesterday.

Passion. Dedication. Loyalty. A strong belief that others come before self.

Bendigo citizen of the year Robert Cook lives by such attributes.

This honour reflects Mr Cook’s lifelong commitment to this community, but even in this, his moment of glory, the words of acceptance were about others.

“I think it reflects more on the people you have around you and the people that make you look good because I am sure there are other people that do much more than me who don’t get this award,” he said.

At 18, Patrick Clark represents the present and future of our community.

His dedication to making sure everyone realises the value of young people is inspiring. He remains a great campaigner for refugees.

His achievements at a young age are a credit to himself, his family and his education at Bendigo Senior Secondary College.

There were many heroes during the Black Saturday bushfires... Bendigo police officer Todd Deary among them.

Senior Constable Deary was first on the scene in Bendigo on that fateful day and spent the hours that followed putting others before himself.

He describes the day as a “blur”.

Thankfully, those who nominated him for this award had clearer recognition of his efforts and he becomes an inaugural winner of the National Emergency Medal established by Her Majesty The Queen.

“I’m chuffed to get the award, but there were some people on the day who did exactly what I did, at the end of the day it was a team effort,” he said yesterday.

Yes, special citizens indeed... we’re lucky to have them.