WINNER Premier’s Award for Contribution to the Community
It might have taken “devious” means to get Andrew Smith to the THA Awards for Excellence, but it was all worth it for the founder and director of Willie Smith’s when he was announced as the recipient of the Premier’s Award for Contribution to the Community for 2023. A born and bred product of the Huon Valley, Smith, a fourth- generation apple farmer, has been an instrumental hospitality figure for not only the region but the entire state. The rise of the Apple Shed has become a hotspot for both tourists and locals, while in conjunction with business partner Sam Reid, the duo have overseen the rise of the Huon Valley Mid Winter Festival. “Even though I’m a founder and director of Willie Smith’s, our cider business and obviously we’ve got the venue, my heart of hearts and my day job is I’m an apple grower down here and I’m fully entrenched in growing, storing, packing and selling apples on a daily basis,” a humble Smith said.
devious and then to get the Premier’s Award for Community, I was blown away to be honest. I was absolutely flabbergasted because means, there’s a whole lot of people doing a hell of a lot
more than me. “We are large employers down here and we are large part of the community and we’ve seen the evolution of the community… but when it comes to the community,
I’m actually a product of the community. “I was born down here in 1970 and I’ve been in and out and about a bit but basically been operating down here in business for about 35 years.”
“So the guys had to get me to the THA awards through
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