LOCAL PROFILE: AARON TABONE
Discovering the Community Garden By Liz Clark
The history and layout of Anglesea has meant that in various little pockets of the town different facilities have evolved and developed over the years. We have the Art House in Cameron Road, a truly wonderful place for budding artists to learn new skills and display their work, but how many people know where it is? It’s off the main road and in a place where many locals don’t go.
nothing wrong with this. But is it time to branch out, make some new discoveries, find out what Anglesea is really like?
The same is true for the Men’s Shed, tucked in at the end of the Bowls Club, the Community House nestled well out of sight behind the Medical Centre, and the Community Garden in the same precinct. The football/netball clubs are also off the beaten track, so many people may not go there either.
More than 18 months ago, Aaron Tabone was a newcomer to town, looking for community engagement and a place to meet some new people. He had recently moved here from Melbourne, forced by COVID to set up his business from home, and he needed to find some new friends and activities.
Residents love the fact that Anglesea is natural and beautiful, offers both seaside living and bush lifestyle too. It hasn’t been planned like a modern suburb with sporting facilities all in one place, community hubs for various allied activities, churches and medical facilities all together, or one large shopping centre – thank goodness!
Perhaps NewsA ngle should introduce you to one of these hidden gems in our community.
Aaron Tabone has enjoyed getting his hands dirty after discovering the Anglesea Community Garden.
As creatures of habit, we tend to stick to our own territory – especially since COVID began, when we have had little choice. We wander the usual track to the shops and back, meet with friends at our coffee shop of choice, go to our favourite beach. And there’s
He is not sure what drew him to the Anglesea Community Garden initially, as he knows nothing about gardens – and it is on the other side of the river from where he lives – but the reputation of this group for a fun social life was quite tempting. He was immediately made welcome and embarked on a steep learning curve to discover how gardening works. The Community Garden has a good percentage of retirees in their membership, so a young, healthy and energetic addition to their gardening group was most welcome, especially the ability to dig, bend and do a bit of heavier work as it comes along.
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Aaron enjoys his interactions with members, and is picking up lots of hints about what to sow when, where to plant what, how to make a garden work. Such was his enjoyment of the garden, that Aaron was happy to temporarily take on the role of convenor, after Winsome Coutts stepped down. His work as an IT consultant in a large company supporting aged care service means he is a good organiser. He sees the role of the Garden Convenor as being a conduit between the Council, Community House and the
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