Fire victims’ garden lunch

BLACK Saturday victims who lost their homes or gardens to the Black Saturday bushfires came to Pakenham to lunch with the Pakenham Garden Club last week.
Twenty-six people from the Boolarra and Churchill areas visited the home of Pakenham Garden Club president Meryl Waterhouse on Tuesday to share lunch and conversation with garden club members.
Mrs Waterhouse said the event was organised after the Garden Club visited Churchill in April armed with donated plants and garden equipment.
Garden Club members put on pies, pastries, sausage rolls, quiches, slices and fruit platters for their visitors, who ranged in age from late 30s to one lady in her 80s, who lost everything in the firestorm.
“All of them had lost their gardens, and most had lost their homes as well. It was really a day for them to get out of their area and spend a day with other gardeners,” Mrs Waterhouse said.
“We chatted about how they were going, their house plans and how they are moving on.”
More than 1500 plants, donated by Garden Club members and their friends, were also given out on the day.
Mrs Waterhouse said the response had been overwhelming since the Garden Club first made an appeal for donations through the Gazette.
“We had one lady, Sue in Berwick, who donated more than $1000 in brand new household goods. So many people made contact and donated things,” she said.