We have some incredibly generous people in Indi, and one of them is Charlie Mead from Benalla.
Charlie has lived in our region almost all his life, working on the railways for decades. In 1969 when the Southern Aurora crashed in Violet Town, Charlie was a Leading Hand, working at the site for 16 days.
Now Charlie serves on the Southern Aurora Garden Committee, which manages the memorial to the Southern Aurora Rail Disaster in Violet Town. The garden and its mural by Tim Bowtell recently won Best Monument or Memorial at the Australian Street Art Awards, a well-deserved recognition!
This month Charlie decided he wanted to donate a bench to the gardens, to be placed under his favourite tree. It’s a beautiful bench, in the most glorious patch of shade on a warm day.
I was very fortunate to get to sit on that very bench with Charlie himself this week, to talk about how he is going and what’s next for the memorial garden.
Thank you, Charlie – for everything you do for our community and for having a yarn with me!