The Somerton hero has been organising the event for two decades and has raised almost $60,000.

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Thursday's morning tea was the first time Ms McGrath took a backseat to putting the event together. Locals took the opportunity to commemorate her with the surprise honour.

"I think everybody should help where cancer's concerned," she said.

"I've lost a lot of good friends to cancer and I've got a couple who are still alive with it, and I think if you can do anything to help them, you should."

She used to hand write the invitations to the event, but this year she was assured they could get the message out on Facebook.

"By the look of the people turning up, it's working," she said.

Community member Wayne Chaffey describes Ms McGrath as a living legend.

"She's the glue that sticks these things together in the community," he said.

"She's been here all her life, and everyone knows Edna McGrath and all the wonderful things that she does."

New host of the event Laurie Chaffey is personally connected to the cause and is in the recovery phase of ovarian cancer.

"There's quite a lot of us in the room that have been affected or have a family member affected," she said.

"I think what's really important about this one is it stays local."

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