Lions members roll up their sleeves

VOLUNTEERS from the Lions Club of Mount Gambier have replaced arena walling in a major maintenance project at the Riding for the Disabled Centre on Sunnybrae Road.

“The RDA Committee approached the Lions Club of Mount Gambier in late 2025 asking if we were willing to do carpentry repairs to the rotted arena walling,” said Lions Project Team Co-ordinator Brendon Hirth.

The indoor arena has a sand and shredded fibre surface that needs to be watered to keep dust down during sessions with horses and their riders.

“The Projects Committee investigated the damage and agreed to proceed in early 2026,” Mr Hirth said.

“A total of 24, 2.4m x 1.2m marine plywood sheets had been rotted by the sprinkler system.

“The face, top and rear part of the walling all needed replacing, along with the metal covers that had been fitted where the sprinklers wet the sheeting.

“Nine Lions spent a combined total of 114 hours helping in the first working bee and put in another 37.5 hours completing the carpentry work in a second working bee,” he said.

The walling was repainted by RDA volunteers during the school holidays.

Grant District Council helped fund the project.

“RDA Mount Gambier volunteers and committee would like to express their sincere appreciation to the Lions members for their invaluable help and support,” an RDA spokesperson said.

“We acknowledge the substantial contributions Lions members make to RDA Mount Gambier and the Limestone Coast community.”

The Lions Club carries out maintenance and other work as part of a long-running project at the RDA Centre.