Benalla Garden Club gifts tree to community to celebrate 70th anniversary

By Simon Ruppert

Aug 28, 2023

Hip hip hooray: Members of the Benalla Garden Club were joined by Mayor Bernie Hearn at the unveiling of a tree it has donated to the Rose City to mark the the club’s 70th anniversary. Photo by Simon Ruppert

The year 1953 was notable for many reasons.

Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content

Queen Elizabeth II was crowned, Josef Stalin died, Edmund Hilary became the first man to reach the summit of Everest, and most importantly, the Benalla Garden Club held its first meeting.

Members of the club gathered at the Benalla Botanical Gardens on Thursday, August 24 to plant a willow oak (quercus phellos) to mark the anniversary.

They were joined by Benalla Rural City Mayor Bernie Hearn.

“It’s wonderful of them to pick such a unique tree to go in our botanical gardens,” Cr Hearn said.

Club president Maureen Freshwater said the group wanted to give a present to Benalla to celebrate its milestone.

“This is quite a rare species of oak. It’s indigenous to North America and quite rare in the wild nowadays.

“We asked two of our oldest members, Shirley McGill and Edna Green, to unveil it.

“We chose an oak because it’s known for longevity and we thought it will be here for generations to come, to enjoy.”

The club meets the first Tuesday of every month at Benalla Bowls Club at 7pm.

All are welcome to attend.