ALMOST 30 sheoak trees have been planted at Mount Gambier’s Centennial Park in memory of Lions Club members from across the district.
Ten Lions Club of Mount Gambier members rolled up their sleeves last Thursday to plant the trees on the parkland behind the old hospital.
It is the latest work carried out at Centennial Park, which was developed in 2017 to mark Lions International’s centenary and has since grown into a memorial for members. Long-time Lion Ross Parkinson said the project was developed as a new memorial space given the existing memorial plaques – located at Botanic Park on the eastern side of the old hospital site – had started to fade.
“Over time the plaques deteriorated to the point where you almost could not read them,” Mr Parkinson said.
“So when this Centennial Park was created, we took the opportunity to create a memorial recognising all of the Lions in our zone.
“What (club president Malcolm Laslett) and his team have done is create a little memorial in recognition of past Lions across our district.”
The trees were the first planted by the Lions Club at the location and Mr Laslett said the project would not have been completed without the help of outside sources.
“Mount Gambier City Council, the Glenelg Nature Trust and Brian Heywood have been particularly helpful in this project,” he said.
“We also received guidance and cooperation from Sinaway Georgio and Hayden Cook and some expert advice from one of our members Robin Conboy.
“The support from the council has been absolutely fabulous.”
Group activities such as Thursday’s planting have only just become possible for the club due to the impacts of COVID-19.
The club did not hold a single meeting between mid-February and July, but now activity has resumed.
Mr Laslett hopes coronavirus restrictions continue to ease so his group can jump back into its annual schedule with more upgrades to Centennial Park a possibility.
“We started having meetings again after a bit of a break from COVID-19 and have our annual handover dinner (tonight),” he said.
“There are ongoing discussions regarding this area and there has been talk of some playground equipment, but we do not know where that is sitting at the moment.
“Things like working bees will depend on COVID restrictions.”
Mr Laslett said the club was also involved in the annual Mount Gambier Spring Show but its involvement would also depend on any existing restrictions.
