Our August lunch was held at Nicky and Gerald Poezl’s Farmgate Restaurant in Graham Street, Nowra. They had served us for many years at Bistro One46 in Kangaroo Valley, so it was good to catch up with them and everyone enjoyed the lunch and the location overlooking the park in Nowra.
In September we were back at The Friendly Inn in Kangaroo Valley for our meeting and lunch. Our speaker was Kangaroo Valley resident policeman Senior Constable Todd Cremer.
Next to the Kangaroo Valley Hall stands the Old Courthouse. Behind that is the policeman’s home. There was a time after the previous policeman retired when the State Government was considering discontinuing the policeman’s residence. Instead they spent time renovating the property, and now Todd and his family have moved in. We feel lucky to have a policeman living in the valley. If you need to call the police please phone 000, or direct contact with Nowra police station can be made by a speakerphone on the side of the Old Courthouse wall.
Todd is a Community Police Officer who looks after Kangaroo Valley and also works at Nowra and Culburra. The police in the Shoalhaven area have a high workload due to a decrease in their numbers by the government.
He is also part of the NSW SWAT team. Todd can be called on to take part in SWAT operations at any time. One of our ladies asked Todd if being part of the SWAT team was a very dangerous job. His answer was it could be more dangerous to be called to go to a home where you do not know what you will be facing there. With the SWAT team it can be a dangerous situation, but they are a highly trained group of people wearing special body armour and usually know what they will be facing.
Todd talked about the effect of drugs, especially ‘ice’, on young people. This illegal drug is cheap to make and unfortunately easily available. It makes people’s behaviour unpredictable and is therefore difficult and dangerous for police to deal with.
Todd grew up in country NSW west of Newcastle. He joined the police force when he was 24. He has dedicated himself to youth work, especially suicide prevention, and has run charitable events to raise money to promote ways of raising the awareness of suicide and mental health issues. Todd said that during the COVID pandemic child suicide rose from six child suicides per day in the whole of Australia to 44 per day in NSW alone. He goes to schools to talk to youth and children about how they are feeling, and is now looking at raising awareness in the professions where suicides are not uncommon. Police and health professionals are part of this group.
Todd was asked how he looked after himself. Exercise, a very supportive wife, a healthy diet and some good friends help him to maintain a positive outlook on life.
What Todd did not tell us was that he was made Shoalhaven’s police officer of the year at the Shoalhaven Emergency Services Community Awards in June 2023.
He is known as the burpee cop. According to the South Coast Register since being stationed in Kangaroo Valley he has twice done burpees for 10 hours at a time- the first time raising more than $43,000 for youth suicide services. Todd did mention burpees to us but I was not sure what he was talking about. A burpee is a two-part exercise. A push-up followed by a leap in the air. It is a way to build strength and endurance. Google it!
He also organised a charity dinner after the Black Summer bush fires raising thousands of dollars to help people and communities get back on their feet.
The June news article about Todd in the South Coast Register quoted Todd saying his charitable and community activities are not about him doing something special, but rather about other people getting something from it.
Todd proved to be an informative, interesting and entertaining speaker. Thank you, Todd, for sharing your story with us.
Our next VIEW Club lunch meeting will be on Friday 13 October at 11.30am-12 noon.
Gayle Rudd will be contacting all members by phone or email about the next meeting’s arrangements.
VIEW (Voice, Interests and Education of Women) is a leading women’s organisation with close to 300 clubs across Australia, all dedicated to supporting children in need with their education through The Smith Family. Members do this through community fundraising, spreading awareness, and volunteering.
To contact Kangaroo Valley VIEW Club please phone Secretary Gayle Rudd on 0405 315 950 or Jenni Mackaway on 0438 584 803.
New members are welcome.
Jeannette Dumbrell
