Ron Cregan and Anne Minato were both awarded Order of Australia Medals on Monday, June 13, in acknowledgment of their roles in both the local and broader communities.

Mr Cregan was acknowledged for his "service to the caravan and camping industry". He was the Chairman of Big4 Holiday Parks of Australia from 2014-17, Vice-President of the Caravan and Camping Industry Association (NSW) from 2009-12, and the former proprietor of Alvannex in Batemans Bay.

More recently, Mr Cregan and his wife were owners of the Big4 Caravan Park in Nelligen for almost 20 years.

He said he was "shocked" when he found out about his OAM.

"I suppose I was wondering whether I actually deserve it, but I was also elated that someone's been good enough to nominate me," he said.

"It's been a bit hard not to tell anybody until now, but it really is an honour - I just can't get over it.

"My family will be ecstatic after they get over the shock."

After almost 40 years in the caravan industry, Mr Cregan now enjoys the fruits of his labour. When the Bay Post spoke to him last week, he was in the northern part of Western Australia on a caravan trip.

"We sold our caravan park in Nelligen about three years ago, and we do one big trip a year," he said.

"This year we've come up to Darwin for a month of fishing, and now we're heading to the west coast.

"I always wanted to travel around Australia, and it's my dream to see as much of it as I can before it's too late."

Anne Minato was acknowledged for her "service to the community of the Eurobodalla". Mrs Minato was a founding member of Muddy Puddles in 2014, the director of Southern Cross Community Housing from 2009-18, and a teacher at St Bernard's Primary School in Batehaven for almost 15 years.

Mrs Minato said she was "humbled" by her OAM.

"I'm happy to be the recipient of this, but I'm also conscious of so many other people who do so many things in the community," she said.

She said she was "most proud" of her efforts in starting Muddy Puddles in Batemans Bay, a service providing therapies and help for parents of children with disabilities.

"We have a grandson who has a severe disability," she said. "When my son and daughter-in-law tried to get some help for him, there was nothing in this area at the time.

"They moved away to Wollongong for a period of time, but they didn't have support there, so they moved back and a small group of us made the decision to see what we could set up to help them.

"We managed to attract some funding from Andrew Constance, and we've been going since 2014. It helps a lot of families in the area."