"Have you heard of a Melbie before?"
"No."
It's a common refrain every Friday morning — but if you know, you know.
For those who don't, the 'Melbie' is a local hero award given weekly by Sammy J on ABC Radio Melbourne Breakfast.
Anyone can nominate a person who has done something worth celebrating — it can be anything from a kind deed to an outrageous act, from a front-page worthy yarn to a small win.
Here are your five finalists for the 2021 Melbie of the Year.
The man who answered a random ringing payphone
It was the news we were all waiting for — the announcement that pay phones across Australia would be free to use.
Naturally, Sammy J spent the morning calling a random payphone from the studio, hoping someone wandering by would pick up.
After two hours of no success, someone answered on the final try: "I start my day with Sammy J".
It was Adrian from Preston, who pulled over to pick up the ringing phone, not knowing it would earn him a Melbie.
"I just live up the street and was driving my son to school," he said.
The mum who named her baby 'Melbie'
The Breakfast show gets all sorts of calls and texts — but this one was unlike any other.
Loyal listener Lydia from Heathmont contacted the show while she was giving birth.
At the urging of the listeners, Sammy J asked her to name her boy 'Melbie'.
It was good enough for Sammy J — baby Ciaran 'Melbie' won that week's award.
When ABC Radio Melbourne checked in with Lydia, she said Ciaran was doing well and, as we all expected, the name Melbie had well and truly stuck.
"We really only call him Melbie — his sister can't say Ciaran," she said.
"But she can't really say Melbie either, to be honest. It comes out as Mouldy or Melgie."
The boy who ran 7.5km to get to his footy game
In late April, Hawk from Highett was waiting for a ride from his coach Jason for his footy game.
But as time ticked on, the 13-year-old realised he wasn't coming.
He ran instead — 7.4km to be exact — and arrived at the match just before half-time to finish off the game.
While Hawk's team didn't come out on top [they lost 75 to nil], it didn't matter.
Hawk was unanimously crowned champion and was presented the ANZAC Day medal after the match.
Later that week, Sammy J gifted him a Melbie for his valiant effort.
The bagpiper who played in the rain to celebrate finding Cleo Smith
It was a story that had the nation on the edge of their seat: the disappearance, and finding, of Cleo Smith in Western Australia.
The significance was not lost on Ross from Malmsbury, a bagpiper from the Daylesford pipe band.
The morning Cleo was found, Ross went to Malmsbury Garden and stood in the pouring rain while playing his pipes as an ode to the three-year-old.
With thanks to Mary from Mount Macedon, Ross was tracked down and awarded a Melbie.
"I was just hoping that other people would make the connection between the finding of Cleo and the sense of celebration I wanted to bring to people playing publicly in the park.
"I knew the sound would travel a couple of kilometres."
The woman who took clothes off the line just in time
One Friday, Sammy J decided to award a special Melbie called a 'Smelbie' — the self Melbie.
He asked listeners to text in why they deserved a Melbie for that week.
Sandy from Newport didn't hesitate: she told Sammy J she skilfully hung out and took in all her washing before the pouring rain arrived.
"I had a lot of washing and we had been away for a few days," she said.
Hailed "the Nostradamus of washing", Sandy took out that week's Melbie.
