Michael Thompson, an honorary life member of the 3rd Cavalry Regiment (Vietnam) Association and the man chiefly responsible for the development of Tongala as the home of the Australian Light Horse Memorial, has worked closely with school principal Rob Hogan to make the refurbishment possible.
In 2003 the tree he planted was just 20cm tall.
“I picked it up from Legacy in Melbourne. It was from a seedling taken from the Lone Pine tree in Gallipoli,” Mr Thompson said.
“We planted one at the state school and one at the Catholic school.”
He said, traditionally, state schools had used the Lone Pine as a remembrance tree.
The primary school renovation project has been ongoing throughout term one; the existing gardens, filled with red rock and bordered by native shrubs, showing the signs of age.
“They had pine sleepers around the outside of the rock and they were looking a little shabby,” Mr Thompson said.
“I spoke to Rob Hogan and a Veterans’ Affairs funding application was made. That resulted in $5000 being awarded for completion of concrete edging.”
The sleepers were replaced with concrete edging in February, while there will be yellow and red roses planted around the outside of the memorial, representing the colours of the Armoured Corps.
“The project is about maintaining the connection between the memorials in Mangan St and the school,” Mr Thompson said.
Donations to the 3rd Cavalry Regiment (Vietnam) Association were made by Chris Stephens (for the feature piece, a metal sculpture of a soldier and two children, along with a commemorative plaque) and Dallas Burrage, who donated the roses for the garden.
White rock will fill the centre of the memorial, signifying peace, while the red rock represents the blood spilled.
Black and silver rock will also have a place, representing the beret badge of the Armoured Corps, with the sculpture showing the passing of the tradition to the primary school children.
The memorial also has three flag poles, flying the Australian, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags.
“They were erected last year, we took the original flag pole down from the other side of the school and placed it on the site,” Mr Thompson said.
The project is to be completed by October and its first official ceremony will be in conjunction with Beersheba Day that month.
“It will be the day after Beersheba ceremony, while we have members of the 3rd Cavalry Regiment (Vietnam) Association in town,” Mr Thompson said.
Funding of $48,000 for the laying of red asphalt at the Avenue of Honour is in the process of being considered and a memorial with gold engraved names behind the tank on the site will also be an addition.
“The red asphalt represents the soil of Vietnam and it will replace the rock path that is currently stretching about 150m around the Centurion tank,” Mr Thompson said.
He said the school and the 3rd Cavalry, along with the town, had a wonderful and respectful relationship that he hoped would stretch to many generations.
“The respect shown by the kids of Tongala is fantastic,” he said.
“The work we have done building those relationships means there are less vandalism problems in Tongala.”
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