Seating set for Cenotaph services

MEMBERS from the Lions Club of Haddon and District, and their supporters, will no longer need to haul one hundred chairs to the town’s RSL cenotaph each April for Anzac services.

As part of the Lions Club of Haddon and District’s Community Betterment Portfolio, member of 58 years Murray Pope said permanent bench seating has been installed at the cenotaph, now sitting ready for service-goers in 2022.

Half-funded by a grant from the Australian Lions Foundation, with the Club covering the balance, Golden Plains Shire organised the logistics of installing the seats which are made of recycled plastic.

“For the past 19 years we’ve run the service at Haddon… carting down sufficient chairs, then returning them to the clubrooms,” he said.

“But when we realised we had some saved funds, we thought, why can’t we put some seats there permanently?”

With enough seats for approximately 70 people, Mr Pope hopes the community will enjoy the space throughout the year, holding other public outdoor events.

“Our Community Betterment Project is all about what we can do to help the community, and that’s what we did,” he said.

“Being a small area like Haddon, there’s not a heap of opportunities to do a large project like this that needs to be done, but it’s enhanced the area unbelievably and the people of Haddon will use these.”

Originally planning for green seats, they have been manufactured in a grey colourway, which Mr Pope said is a more appropriate colour and one he’s “very happy” with.

The seats were crafted in Victoria by Carrum Downs recycled plastics manufacturer Replas.