A 30th Birthday Celebration
A sunny afternoon chilled by an icy wind failed to deter 25 people from attending Cooleman Ridge Parkcare Group’s 30th birthday celebration on the grass at the end of Kathner St. A display of photos showed the work of the Group over the years and how Cooleman Ridge has changed. The crowd enjoyed refreshments as Linda, our current President, acknowledged the Aboriginal custodianship of the Ridge, wryly noting that they had looked after it for 30,000 years compared to the Group’s 30. She then honoured the Group’s founders and early leaders. Linda observed that in the early days, the Group was very busy with the many projects that Bess Sledge had organised – not only weeding, but slashing, planting, watering, bird identification, tree surveys, removing grazing cattle from the Ridge, running stalls to raise money and writing grant requests to obtain funds for various projects. She acknowledged the contribution of subsequent Group leaders (Pauline and Gösta Lygna, Anna See, Doug Tinney, Arminel Ryan and Alan Ford) before providing a summary of the Group’s last 10 years. The Group is now in a position to look after the Ridge at least as well as it has ever been looked after. Our numbers have increased, and we have some young, vigorous, educated and enthusiastic members to carry us forward for the next 30 years. So, we thank the volunteers who have gone before us and who have enabled us to stand on their shoulders to achieve even greater things, and we look forward to continuing their work.’ Thanks to everyone who organised the event, who brought along refreshments and who helped us celebrate our birthday.
