When born and raised Bathurstian Jan Page discovered she would be receiving a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM), she assumed the email had been a hoax.
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But this was no scam and once she came to terms with her honour, she said it was "totally surreal" and "extremely humbling".
"Never in a million years would I have contemplated receiving something like that," she said.
"When I got the first email a couple of weeks ago, it might've have had a crown on the top of the email but I said to my husband, 'Is this for real?'"
Ms Page received her OAM for service to the Bathurst community and to education and having a look at what she's done, there's no denying that.
In terms of education, Ms Page was at lecturer in social education at Charles Sturt University from 2002-2004, an adjunct lecturer from 2005-2006 and a mathematics lecturer from 2006-2012.
She's also a founding member and president of the Napoleon Reef Residents Association, an executive member of the Bathurst Family History Society, a tour guide for Bathurst Autumn Colours and a former member of the Bathurst War Memorial Carillon Committee, and that's just naming a few of her roles within the Bathurst community.
When asked what was her proudest achievement, Ms Page was unable to narrow it done to just one and mentioned some her favourite accomplishments within the Bathurst community.
"The bicentenary of Bathurst in 2015, I was involved in quite a few things but the obvious one is the peoplescape in the courtyard," she said.
"That was something I'm very proud of but that couldn't have been done without the support of the Bathurst Arts Council.
"I'm proud of being able to do tours and share information about the Machattie Park and the showground too."
Her involvement in the 75th anniversary of the Bathurst Carillon was another huge personal honour.
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