"Welcome everyone and thank you for joining us today. I have the absolute honour of thanking everyone who has helped us to reach this milestone with the park. I feel like some background is relevant before I use my cheat sheet to get through the abundant list of thank you’s!
You are currently standing in the Echunga Community Association’s largest achievement to date. Over the last 6 years this once overgrown 5 acre space has been transformed from paddocks to a well used community park that links the main street to the school and recreation grounds. ECA pushed for the idea to become part of the Township Plan in 2018 and at the end of 2020 won our first grant for the park; to clean up the site of noxious weeds and plant the ~500 trees and shrubs that are flourishing today. This was also our first large community working bee with over 100 volunteers. In the last 4 years ECA has been awarded over $47,000 in successful grant applications for the Community Park. This dollar amount does not however encompass the immense in-kind work of our dedicated volunteers, community members and local businesses. We have chosen today to celebrate the milestone that is the completion of the Picnic Shelter area (almost, we’re close). This section of the park has taken multiple avenues of funding, co-ordination of many businesses and volunteers and endless crunching of numbers to achieve. So let’s start the thank you’s… First thanks has to go to Mayor David Leach and Cllr Bradley Orr who facilitated the Council funding of the picnic shelter area in the annual budget for 2021-22. This support from Councillors outside our ward felt humbling and rewarding and we will always be grateful for your continued encouragement of our efforts. We also thank Mount Barker Council staff and our current South Ward Councillors for their continued support and flexibility in working with us to create the park we have today. I would also like to thank our Federal member Rebekha Sharkie who joins us today, as a significant amount of funding came through her office in the last 3 years with ECA successfully applying for 2 Stronger Communities grants – one for the rainwater tank and the other for the electric BBQ we are using today. Thanks as well to the Honourable Josh Teague for his attendance today and his continued support of Echunga and our community projects and events. Other Grant providers for this area were:
I also thank the valued ECA committee members who have applied for and managed the grants behind the scenes, in particular Lyn Wells and Sheila Kavanagh. I know first hand that the administration and planning can take hours of work that goes largely unseen, so thank you for your dedication to the outcome and your vision with these grants. Various companies and organisations have provided support, discounts and in-kind provision of goods and services:
We’d like the thank all of the ECA members and local volunteers who have done concrete shifting, gravel raking and various labouring efforts, including the working bee we just held this morning! However there are some volunteers with specific machinery and skills who have given many hours of time to this project and I would like to name them today:
Although half of them are unable to be here today, I would like to thank the ECA committee for their support and commitment to this project over the last two years. And finally a large thank you has to go to David Kavanagh for his contributions to this Picnic Shelter, without his electrical expertise and management of the installation of the power to the park and his stone masonry skills we would not have the beautiful BBQ and sandstone walls we do today. And although I have thanked her earlier a special thanks has to go to Lyn for her vision with the park. The initial idea back in 2018, the many, many grants she has won and managed, the garden design that we have just planted today, the connections and relationships she has forged for the benefit of the park and the community and above all the blood, sweat, tears and time that she has contributed to the park project. We think it is only fair that Lyn and David get the honour of cutting the ribbon today. Thank you” - Jacki Eads, President, Echunga Community Association 2024
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ECA have had two committee meetings so far this year, we are excited about the year ahead!
Our next scheduled General Meeting is May 8th 2024 Echunga Community Association warmly invites you to celebrate the OFFICIAL OPENING of the Echunga Community Park Picnic Shelter 11.30am Sunday 14th April 2024. Being recent recipients of a Stronger Communities Grant has enabled us to install a new two burner electric BBQ in the Picnic Shelter and we will be cooking a FREE BBQ LUNCH. Please bring a chair or picnic rug for this community event. We need help! ECA are holding a Working Bee at 9:30am prior to the official opening (on the same day 14/4) to plant the new native garden. This will be a well organised event that requires willing workers to dig holes, plant where specified and move mulch. Morning tea will be provided. We are hosting this as a double bill - working bee followed by celebrations - and we appreciate whatever time and commitment you can give. We are proud of the achievements in our park over the last 5 years and would love to celebrate with you. All welcome. TOUR DOWN UNDER In January 2024 the men’s and women’s Tour Down Under raced through our Main Street three times. A small but creative group of ECA members decorated the town for Santos Best Dressed Town competition. We managed to win not one, but two days of the event netting us $1000 towards our picnic shelter and community park projects. A fabulous outcome! We would like to thank Carol for her enthusiasm with organising this team of decorators and to everyone that contributed! Our other major undertaking for the first quarter of the year is to submit our budget request to the MBDCouncil for funding in 2024/25 towards toilets and car-parking at the Community Park and continue to work alongside the community and Council on the Main Street upgrade. If you think you’d like to be involved in projects such as this, please reach out via email for further information eca@echunga.org The Picnic Shelter floor has been beautifully concreted - the first stage of the planned enhancements for this area. Thanks to Sieh for this great capture of the day! :)
A huge thank you to Echunga resident Paul for his many days of volunteer work towards the completion of this job, thanks also to (the other) Paul, both from Complete Concrete Co who we thank for supplying the equipment used on the day. Thanks to Boral for the speedy delivery as always. ECA also thanks members David and Derek for their tireless work over the last fortnight, as well as Andy, Sieh and Dale for their wheelbarrow skills. All 7 volunteers were strongly supported by an excited audience, beautifully baked scones and a BBQ at the end of the first day! This project has been made possible solely through funds raised by ECA. Therefore, we would also like to thank the community and our dedicated volunteers for the efforts they have contributed towards raising money for this project. Next up, BBQ installation! And our official ‘shelter opening’ Sunday 14th April. ECA had their first Committee Meeting January 30th 2024 . We are excited about the year
ahead and projects we are working towards. As the General Meeting for February 7th was postponed, please find a brief update for February-May. We are aiming this year to bring the Picnic Shelter in the Community Park to a more completed state. By the end of February the Shelter will have a concrete floor and two burner BBQ installed. By the end of the financial year we should have entrance signage, landscaping and some seating installed. We look forward to this space taking shape and being used more by the community. To achieve our projects this year it is necessary to take part in fundraising events. We will be seeking volunteers to help at All British Day (Sat March 3rd) to sell packaged ice creams and a Bunnings BBQ (Sat March 23rd). Both these events will have rostered volunteers and we appreciate any time you can contribute. Our first event of the year will be a working bee to landscape the area near the Picnic Shelter, followed by the Official Shelter Opening the morning of Sunday April 14th. We will be seeking willing workers to join ECA in helping to landscape and plant up the entrance to the shelter at a short working bee. Then please stay on to attend the official ‘opening’ of the Picnic Shelter with a BBQ. Everyone in the community is invited, more details TBA. Our other major undertaking for the first quarter of the year is to submit our budget request to the Council for funding in 2024/25 towards toilets and car-parking at the Echunga Community Park. Please reach out via email for any further information eca@echunga.org or sign up to our emails at https://www.echunga.org/eca-membership.html We look forward to what 2024 brings for the Echunga Community Association and the Echunga community! Our next scheduled General Meeting is May 8th 2024 |
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