THREE passionate environmentalists killed in a horrific helicopter crash will be remembered at a public memorial on the Liverpool Plains today.
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Richard and Carolyn Green and John Davis were returning to Sydney after joining hundreds of others in an anti-coal mine rally at last Saturday’s Harvest Festival at Breeza Station, when their helicopter crashed near Cessnock, killing all three on board.
Today, the very people the trio flew 400km to support will pause to pay tribute to them.
“We want to pay our respects to Mr and Mrs Green and Mr Davis because we are eternally grateful for what they’ve done for us and hopefully they will be remembered as friends of nature,” Liverpool Plains Youth spokeswoman Sarah Hubbard told The Leader.
“We were all really upset and completely taken aback about what happened after they left us.”
The wreckage of Mr Green’s modified EC135 helicopter was discovered on Monday night in rough, mountainous terrain in the Hunter Valley.
Mr Green was a businessman-turned-landscape photographer, who travelled with his 71-year-old wife to capture nature’s beauty, using his helicopter as a “flying campervan”.
Mr Davis was a well-known filmmaker who shared a passion for showing the natural beauty of Australian landscapes, like his friends.
“We were really moved that they came up to the Harvest Festival, and we feel that we should give something small back to what they did to support us,” Miss Hubbard said.
Today, a public memorial service will be held at Breeza to pay respects to the trio.
The Liverpool Plains Youth will plant a native gum-tree and establish a plaque of remembrance to pay tribute to the supporters, who some only met fleetingly but made an impact.
“We feel it’s a really fitting way to honour what they stood for and thank them for everything they did and making the effort to come and support us,” Miss Hubbard.
“We’re really thankful they made the effort, like everyone did, to come to the festival and for something like this to have happened, it is devastating.
“If people want to come and pay their respects, they are more than welcome because we want to remember them for what they did and loved.”
The service will commence at 5pm at Breeza Station.
