Place marked by peace

By Paul Pickering
IN A SYMBOLIC salute to Australian war veterans, Mount Dandenong Primary School students have created a place of peace amid the chaos of the playground.
The students were joined by members of the Yarra Ranges Legacy Branch for the opening of the school’s Peace Garden on Friday, 11 May.
As student leaders Ellie and Eli explained, the concept of the garden was to create a space where people could relax and appreciate the peaceful surroundings of Mount Dandenong – and the sacrifices made by those who have fought in defence of that peace.
The centrepiece of the garden is a sapling Aleppo Pine donated by the Yarra Ranges Legacy Branch.
Branch president Peter Milford told the students that the plant was a direct descendent of the iconic Lone Pine that remains on the top of cliffs on the Gallipoli Peninsula.
“It is a symbol of courage, service and sacrifice but also the wastefulness of war,” he said.
“We have given you a special tree to keep alive that memory.”
The garden also features a walkway of named pavers commemorating fallen relatives of the school community.
The school received $2000 worth of federal funding under the Government’s Saluting Their Service commemoration program, providing for the purchase of plants and landscaping of the garden.
Each stage of the process was driven by the students, from the successful grant application to the design and construction of the garden.
This commitment to the quest for peace was demonstrated at the launch assembly which included a poem reading and performances by the school choir.