General News
21 December, 2022
Donation honours beloved green thumb
A GENEROUS donation will help the community honour the legacy of Terang stalwart Rosemary Roache.
A GENEROUS donation will help the community honour the legacy of Terang stalwart Rosemary Roache.
St Thomas’ Primary School received a $712.50 donation last week to expand the school’s garden area in memory of Mrs Roache.
Mrs Roache and her husband Pat were known for their hospitality in welcoming visitors to their half acre Cameron Street garden, jam packed with a wide variety of flora they had been growing since the early 80s.
The donation came about after Mrs Roache herself and fellow avid gardener Monique Delaney made plans to hold joint open gardens in Terang in 2019.
Arts.Comm coordinator Jo Kenna said Mrs Roache saw an opportunity to fundraise for a worthwhile cause through the open gardens, charging a small admission fee to raise funds.
“I was raiding Rosemary’s legendary garden to get flowers for our floral art display at the Commercial Hotel,” she said.
“She said she would love to have an open garden and wondered if there was a cause she could raise money for.
“She was so proud of her garden, and at that stage we were looking at having a community garden, which she was happy to support.”
Terang’s Monique Delaney said she and Mrs Roache had been looking at hosting the open garden for some time, and were thrilled to have a cause to support.
“We were so impressed to have raised $712.50 to develop the community garden,” she said.
The plan was to open the community garden behind the Commercial Hotel after trees in the area had been removed, leaving an unoccupied space for the community to enjoy.
However, the community garden did not eventuate for a number of reasons.
In the time since, Terang Noorat Arts in the Avenue held on to the cash until a plan could be made.
Unfortunately, Rosemary Roache passed away in October 2020. Still wanting to put the funds to good use, Mrs Delaney had an idea – “a perfect fit” to honour her late friend.
“St Thomas’ Primary School has its own garden space; my children attend school there, and Rosemary had been a big part of the St Thomas community when her children attended the school,” she said.
“It was a perfect fit to donate the money to the school for its garden.
“I’m really happy to see the money going towards this, and I know Rosemary would be too.”
St Thomas’ Primary School principal Matthew Uzkuraitis thanked those involved for their generous donation.
“It’s fantastic that we’re able to continue a legacy from Rosemary,” he said.
“There’s that connection to St Thomas’ with Rosemary and Monique, which is great for the school community.
“We’ve got fantastic support from the parents who do a wonderful job, week in and week out, with our students.
“They come in to help teach different things; from the seasons to what to pick and plant, so we’re blessed to have parents offering that help and support.”
Mr Uzkuraitis said how the money would be spent would rely on the creativity of the school’s students.
“The money will be fantastic because we’ll be able to put our heads together, but we want the kids to come up with some ideas as well to give them a bit of ownership around the garden,” he said.
“We’ll then work with those ideas to broaden it out to the community, just as Rosemary would have wanted.”
