Southland Mayor Rob Scott presented the award for their contribution to music and entertainment at a ceremony at Tokanui on Sunday.
Waihopai Toetoe Community Board chairwoman Pam Yorke said the Hayes had amassed a remarkable array of musical achievements since first performing in the Niagara Hall and at Progress Valley cattle sales many years ago.
The community board and Southland District Council were proud to recognise the Hayes as outstanding citizens and they were very deserving of a community service award, Mrs Yorke said.
"As a family they always lead the way in providing music for our social occasions - always happy to include friends," she said.
The Hayes family had been part of the Progress Valley farming community for more than 50 years
and ran the Muddy Waters Festival at Tokanui for 10 years.
"The Hayes family have been the backbone of this southern area’s community music, which is such an uplifting experience for the locals."
In 1981, members of the family became well known as the Possum Pickers and were named New Zealand Country Music Entertainers of the Year in 1983.
"Words seem insufficient to praise this family as it still happens today in the younger generation. From bush picnics to shearing sheds, local barbecues to music festivals, and the more formal occasions.’’
In 2009 the first Niagara Falls Bluegrass Festival was held in Niagara, an event Mr Hayes and the Progress Valley Possum Pickers were instrumental in organising.
"Steven is a humble man of few words. However, when he starts to play his fiddle it does the talking."
In 2016, he was voted Southland Entertainer of the Year and recorded his first solo album, Catlins Fiddler, in 2018. The album was described as "alternative country with bluegrass running through it".
The album was a family project, Mrs Hayes performing backing vocals and playing the accordion, son Lachie harmonising and daughter Kelsi playing tenor banjo.
"Locally our community have been privileged to enjoy their entertainment year after year - hoedowns for all occasions. We have had Irish nights, Scottish nights, Easter Bonnets and more," Mrs Yorke said.
- Staff reporter
