During his time at the helm of the Rotary Club of Benalla, Bill Parris had to come up with a president’s project.
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After some discussion with Benalla Rural City Council as to what the town needs, he decided the club would install tables and seating at two local playgrounds, Cook St and Jaycee Island.
“We installed three sets of the tables and seating,” Mr Parris said.
“Two at Jaycee Island and one at the Cook St playground.
“We spoke with Benalla Rural City Council CEO Dom Testoni at the start of my year as president.
“We suggested a few things, and he let us know projects council were looking into.
“Some of the things on our list were outside what council are in charge of, but we mentioned the seating, and that aligned with something council were looking into.”
Rotary members then researched the type of seating that would be appropriate at the locations.
“One important factor was wheelchair access,” Mr Parris said.
“So one end of the table is open and designed to allow for wheelchairs.
“Dean Steegstra at council helped out with finding the right tables.
“He was very helpful and did the ordering through council.
“He also arranged to get the concrete slabs put down.
“So all we had to do was assemble and install it all.”
Mr Parris said four Rotary members, including himself, Kelly MacNamara, John Smyth, and Neil Smith, did the installation.
The members were excited to see community members using the tables as soon as they were installed in both locations.
“That was nice,” Mr Parris said.
“We had a chat, and they said how useful they were.
“We look forward to seeing many more people using them in the future.”