MEMBERS of the Lions Club of Gawler have been getting their hands dirty in recent weeks as a special celebration edges nearer.
More than 300 plants were donated to the club by Rail Care, and mulch was also supplied.
It is part of a program to green garden precincts around Adelaide’s railway stations through revegetation and tree planting.
Club secretary David Schwartz said the Covid-19 pandemic had impacted Lions’ ability to care for the plants around the station.
“We weren’t allowed here for six months, then we could come back but we were locked out again,” he said.
“A lot of the plants we had going we couldn’t go and water, so they all died;
“We had to come back and replace them all anyway to bring the place up to standard.”
But the whole location is in for a facelift, with a new saw dust walking path and new metal erected around the heritage train.
And it is all in conjunction with a special milestone for the service club.
In September Lions Australia will celebrate its 75th anniversary after the first service club under the banner was formed in Lismore in 1947.
Today it is the largest service club organisation in the country.
To coincide with this significant milestone, the Gawler Lions have undertaken a project in collaboration with Rail Care.
Originally the club considered putting yellow plants in the shape of an ‘L’ and surrounding them with blue plants.
However, this morphed into something bigger.
A commemorative sign acknowledging the milestone has been placed in a garden bed just a stone’s throw away from the Lions clubrooms at the Gawler railway station.
Made of 10m thick steel, the sign has been laser cut and pays tribute to not only the organisation as whole, but also to the local branch.
In the middle is a large ‘L’, which acknowledges the Gawler club’s formation in 1967.
The sign is also illuminated at night, with blue lights accentuating the writing on the outer circle, and white light doing the same for the centrepiece.
Gawler Lions will officially unveil the sign on July 31, coinciding with the club’s weekly Sunday markets at the rail precinct.
Kicking off at 10am, there will be a sausage sizzle and everyone from the public is welcome to attend.
Mr Schwartz said that the club was excited to officially launch the sign, saying it “looked fantastic”.
The club has seen a hit to its membership base in recent years and is always on the lookout for more members.
If you are interested in volunteering with Lions, contact Mr Schwartz on 0428 496 304.
Article written by Brendan Simpkins (“The Bunyip” Gawler)