FERN TREE ROLL OF HONOUR
On 11 Nov 2018, the Fern Tree Community unveiled the first ever Honour Board for Fern Tree. The Honour Board was the initiative of local resident and historian Terry Gill. Terry researched all the local families who lost sons in WW1 and WW2. The Honour Board is made of Tas Oak. It was unveiled by Paul Gray of Grays Rd, and Paul's son and grandsons.
The Fern Tree Community Centre was built as a war memorial, as was the earlier Community Centre in Westringa Park which was destroyed in the bushfires of 1967. The bronze plaque on the outside NW corner of the building is the only surviving relic from the original Fern Tree Community Centre, which was built by locals. When you read the names on the Honour board, you'll notice several streets are named after local families including Grays Rd, Browns Rd, Reids Rd, Saunders Place. Several other surnames are familiar as their descendants still live in the area.
The Gray family lost two sons. In their grief the family planted two pine trees on the Grays homestead, Grays Road, on Armistice Day, 1918. The trees are now huge. Charles and Victor are also remembered by plaques on the Soldiers Memorial Avenue on the Queens Domain.
We share this story not to honour war, but to remember those who died, and to honour the locals who researched the history.
