Memorials
Brian and I were on St Peters School Staff together – he was a groundsman and I was HOD Geography. A glasshouse where Brian used to pot seeds, cuttings etc backed on to the Geography room and there was a link door which he would poke his head around and pull faces as I taught. Luckily students never saw him. He had a devilish sense of humour and was always playing jokes.
Picture this: A tractor tore across the field. Blackie pulled up outside my room, leapt down and burst through door “Don, Ruapehu is erupting” and what topic was I teaching? Volcanism in NZ. So we sat on a bank and watched as Blackie regaled the class with stories of the volcanic activity in NZ. Blackie’s knowledge of the natural environment of the Waikato was huge.
As a memorial to Stephanie Blackie, a seat has been installed behind the car park in Cook Street, overlooking the Waikato River above Soldiers' Track.
Here is the view from this seat. The photo was taken just after the seat had been installed.
In January 2012, several members of Lola Silcock's extended family were in Cambridge, and they decided they wanted to plant a memorial grove for her.
January isn't the best time to plant trees, so we selected the wettest spot we could find and planted the chosen kowhai trees. Kowhai don't like wet feet, and some died and had to be replaced in drier locations, and we had to put in a drain. The drain was necessary anyway; the kowhais' needs just brought the project forward. Rain on planting day was actually helpful, as even the wet spot we chose wasn't very wet.
The Cambridge Tree Trust was registered with the Charities Commission as a Charitable Entity under the Charities Act 2005 on 16 August 2007. Registration No: CC10859
