Tamworth Lions restore 30-year-old memorial grove of trees to Bicentennial park

The grove of 21 trees was originally planted in the park in 1991, during a national conference of Lions clubs. The trees honoured the memory of Lions who had died in each of the clubs' 21 districts that year.

Veteran Tamworth Lion, Warren White, said the grove had to be removed a number of years ago, to make way for the Hopscotch playground.

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"It was very disappointing but there was nothing we could do about it," he said.

"That was gazetted for the area to be used for the new playground."

A grove of 17 trees was later replanted to the rear of Hopscotch Restaurant and Cafe, but many were lost to drought or vandalism, Mr White said.

On Saturday, a group of Lions from across the city planted 10 trees to bring the grove back to its full 21-tree strength.

"The grove of trees is a remembrance of those Lions and members of the Lions family who have died," Mr White said.

"Although the original trees are gone, these replacement trees are there for the same reason."

He said it was a rare opportunity for the city's Lion clubs to work together on a single goal.

"It was a great day. Although we've got six Lions Clubs in the Tamworth area, the Lions rarely ever get together, they do their own projects. This is one of the very few times when all the Lions clubs all got together for one project.

"They met other Lions that they'd never met before. There was chatter and laughter.

"And then we sat down and had a cup of coffee following it. It just went on and on. Eventually I had to go and just leave them there!"

Workers from the Tamworth Regional Council helped dig the holes for the trees. The plants were also provided by the council.

A plaque marking the original grove was also moved to the new one.

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