General News
13 August, 2024
Tower of connections
Rotary has continued to partner with local organisations to ensure a collective stake in the upkeep of the Bristol Hill Memorial Tower — and its latest collaboration has sown the seeds of intergenerational connection.
Last week, congregating at the tower, members from the Maryborough Rotary Club met with the town’s field naturalists group, and around 20 Vocational Major (VM) students from the Maryborough Education Centre (MEC).
They came together to kickstart an important revegetation project at the Bristol Hill reserve.
“The Maryborough Field Naturalists identified a native plant, called Pigface, near the tower,” Rotary’s Garry Higgins said.
“We got the VM kids to take some cuttings from the plant and propagate them at school.
“We’ll then replant them in the erosion affected areas of the reserve.”
Not only does this help the tower and surrounding areas but, according to Mr Higgins, also instills a sense of ownership in Maryborough’s younger residents.
“Part of Rotary’s tower project is to use the structure and the reserve as a means of connecting and engaging different sectors of the community,” he said.
“For the VM students, they have a community connection component in their course so that’s good from their point of view — and from our perspective it’s about how we can get the next generation onboard to look after the reserve.”
In the past, before locals took charge, the Bristol Hill Tower reserve had been neglected and had “fallen off the perch”.
With that history in mind, Mr Higgins said the town’s youth needed to protect the tower’s future.
“We need everyone in the community to be connected to the wellbeing of this site,” he said.
“It’s important for the kids to understand the significance of the tower — if you don’t know where you’ve come from, you don’t know where you’re going.
“It has been great to also have MEC supporting us and the project. Their curriculum is very crowded and for them to think this is worthwhile to be involved in is great.”