Close mate secures scholarship

AGRICULTURAL studies cut tragically short by the death of Tatiara student Poppy Crozier will be continued by her lifelong friend Charlie Hannemann, following his announcement as the first recipient of a Stand Like Stone Foundation memorial scholarship in her honour.

Growing up together in the closeknit Tatiara community, Poppy and Charlie formed an enduring friendship, attending kindy and school, even partnering each other at a school formal.

Known affectionately as ‘Pops’, Poppy died in a car accident on the Dukes Highway in May 2023, leaving her family, friends and the wider Tatiara community devastated.

In the aftermath, her parents Asha and Charlie Crozier reached out to the Stand Like Stone Foundation (SLSF) to establish the Poppy Crozier Memorial Scholarship Sub Fund, designed to help other Limestone Coast students succeed in their chosen agricultural studies.

Now, 21-year-old Charlie from Brimbago, in his final year of a Bachelor of Agricultural Science at the University of Adelaide, has been named the first recipient.

“I think it’s incredibly special that they started university at the same time and that Charlie is able to finish off the same degree that Poppy started,” Poppy’s mum Asha said.

“Charlie is a great kid and they had a strong friendship, which they kept up over the years. It’s symbolic of the first scholarship that Charlie gets to see her wishes out.”

Admitting a mix of emotions came when he got the call from Stand Like Stone, Charlie said the happiness was tempered by the ongoing loss of his dear childhood friend.

“We were really good friends,” he said simply.

The scholarship will help ‘take the pressure off’ the financial burden of living and studying away from home, Charlie said, a cost many regional students face when undertaking university studies.

Over past summers, Charlie has been working hard to make his mark in his chosen industry, working for two local agronomy groups, along with plenty of time on the family farm at Brimbago.

“My family has been farming the same land for 76 years,” he said. “I’ve been farming since I was 12 – I used to have to sit on a 20-kilo sandbag on the header so the sensor wouldn’t get triggered,” he joked.

“I think nowadays, you got be pretty passionate about agriculture. It’s not just about the dollars, it’s also being a good custodian of your land.”

Thanks to a partnership with Viterra, where Poppy was working in Adelaide, the scholarship now includes work experience opportunities with the agricultural company, with scope for expanding into career opportunities in the future.

Poppy’s father, also named Charlie, said he heartily approved of the final selection.

“It’s got a lot of meaning as Pops and Charlie started the course together and Pops would have been studying her final year this year,” he said.

“Our plans going forward are to grow the scholarship. We look forward to seeing Charlie and future recipients having opportunities to contribute to the agricultural industry and the Limestone Coast.”