YARRA BANK PLAYGROUND OPENING

Posted by Richard Blakeman, RC Glenferrie
It's official! The official opening, that is.
 
The R100 Playground Committee has agreed with the City of Boroondara that the official celebrations for the opening of the Rotary 100 Playground at Yarra Bank Reserve will be on Sunday August 8th, 2021.
 
 
Acknowledging the significance of the Yarra bank area to First Nations peoples, a smoking ceremony and welcome to country is planned, to be offered by the traditional owners of the land, the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation.
 
The Playground Opening, featuring the unique Rotary interactive play sculpture, will begin a series of events in Boroondara aimed at raising the profile of Rotary, attracting new members and celebrating 100 years to date of Doing Good in the World. It is hoped that every Rotarian will bring their families and friends, and especially the little ones, to experience the Grand Opening and the playground. So be sure to spread the word!
 
The playground will be opened by the Mayor of Boroondara, Cr. Garry Thompson, who will be joined by DGE Dale Hoy in a ceremony heralding a celebration of the achievements of the past century, and welcoming the start of the next 100 years.

The event will be a giant Family Fun Day, featuring children's entertainment, music, refreshment stalls, and the Rotary Club of North Balwyn is coming to the party too, to provide the sausage sizzle for the day.

The Rotary clubs of Glenferrie, Camberwell, Hawthorn, Canterbury and North Balwyn are partnering with the City of Boroondara for this special event. Families from all over Boroondara will be invited to come along and enjoy the day, and share with Rotarians, family and friends of Rotary this very special anniversary. So keep the date free. And keep eyes peeled for more news via the Bulletin and on Facebook!

 

ROTARY 100 PLAYGROUND SCULPTURE TAKING SHAPE

Construction of the new playground at Yarra Bank Reserve is now well advanced, with the Rotary contribution, the unique interactive play sculpture, expected to be installed either this week, or next, depending upon Covid-19 restrictions. The design of the sculpture has included unique features, developed by Benjamin Gilbert at Agency of Sculpture, to enable little arms to row the huge oars that are a key play feature of the sculpture, while protecting little hands and heads from injury. With musical features, water features and some other things never before seen in a play feature, the Yarra Bank Reserve's new playground will delight families for years to some, a fitting tribute and a special gift, from Rotary to the families of Boroondara.

Yackandandah is a beautiful town in north eastern Victoria, between the tourist town of Beechworth and the regional cities of Wodonga and Albury. Population about 950. It is also the home of Agency of Sculpture, the business founded by artist-engineer Benjamin Gilbert, whose home in Yackandandah featured in the television program Grand Designs in 2016. 

Agency of Sculpture has designed and is building the unique interactive play sculpture that will be the focal point of the new playground at Yarra Bank Reserve, a gift to the community from Rotary to mark the centenary of Rotary in Australia. Project Lead Past President Don Moore and PP Richard Blakeman visited Yackandandah on Tuesday May 18th to check on progress, and they weren't disappointed with what they found. 

To check out the photos, click HERE     

 

 

 

The foundations for the play sculpture have already been laid at Yarra Bank Reserve and construction of the playground and work on landscaping is currently underway. So Benjamin and his team are working feverishly to get the work done, but are still reserving plenty of energy for their trademark creativity. Practical art is what Agency of Sculpture produce. Practical art? Until now, wasn't that thought to be an oxymoron? 

More about the interactive sculpture HERE