That was the opening line to the nomination for Jan Keeling, who plays a key role in the wellbeing of the small Waitaki Valley village.
A radiographer by trade, Jan grew up on a farm at Duntroon with a sense of community instilled in her. Her parents were heavily involved in the community and, when she had her own children, she did not think twice about involving them.
"Our kids still do community stuff because they see it as normal," she said.
Married to dairy farmer Geoff, Jan describes herself as a traditionalist, or a farmer’s wife, and said she was privileged enough to not have to work on the farm.
Her community work was a way of having a purpose and setting an example for her daughters.
She also enjoyed it and liked to see a community held together.
Arguably much happier out of the spotlight, Jan was quick to stress that she was not doing it alone — "it’s a team effort, because these things have to be a team effort".
Saying she was too self-conscious to be a leader, Jan loved working as part of a team.
An enthusiastic gardener, the village’s community garden — which she set up in a corner of one of the couple’s paddocks — was her happy place.
About five volunteers were there regularly over the summer and excess vegetables were put in a "share shed" in the village.
With an avid dislike for food waste, she encouraged others in the village to add their excess food.
At one stage, one of the volunteers was taking vegetables from the community garden to Whalan Lodge rest-home, up the road in Kurow.
Jan’s involvement with the historic Nicol’s Blacksmith Shop began coincidentally at the time she was reading the Little House on the Prairie books to her girls about 2008 and it led to them discussing the "olden days" in Duntroon and what it would have looked like.
"I knew nothing about blacksmithing, but I’m a bit of a pyromaniac," she laughed.
Later, when her daughters were at boarding school and she had some more time, she decided to learn how to forge and for several years could be found working in the forge at weekends.
"It’s so cool. It’s a bit like any art form ... anyone can do it, but to make something it’s just practice. It’s such a powerful feeling being able to bend steel and make it bend."
She is a trustee on the Nicol’s Blacksmith Historic Trust which was established to preserve the building and history of one of very few accessible authentic working village blacksmiths.
She keeps an eye on the St Martin’s Anglican Church, a prominent building in the town and visited regularly by tourists.
The Keeling family mows the church lawns.
She has also been a driving force behind making the local hall more usable.
Jan quips that water quality is her hashtag and the family has undertaken widespread plantings on their property.
They have also undertaken a planting project with Ngai Tahu and Meridian Energy by a Māori rock art site, and she is involved with the Duntroon wetlands, including predator trapping.
