Community chips in

Mark Fagan gets to work on one of the Cyprus logs soon after they were first delivered. Photos: RENEE WIGLEY PHOTOGRAPHY

DEANS Marsh Community Cottage’s Gathering Place will soon have two new log seats that will not only be a significant improvement on the existing ones but a testament to the community’s closeness.

The seats currently sit in Deans Marsh local Mark Fagan’s front yard.

They are close to completion largely thanks to the efforts of Mr Fagan and fellow woodworker Alessandro Lorenzi, but people throughout the community have been involved in the project.

Deans Marsh Community Cottage coordinator Lisa Jarvis conceived the idea to replace the existing seats, which are rotting and in need of replacing.

Ms Jarvis’ 50th birthday came at a time when lockdown restrictions meant she would not be able to celebrate it in any conventional manner, instead she started a crowdfunding campaign to replace the seats.

Mr Fagan said a “couple of thousand dollars” were raised. He then took charge of sourcing logs and encountered similar generosity.

“I knew of some big Cyprus trees that were being chopped down on a local farm, so I asked the farmer and he said ‘yep, you can have the best one or two you want,’ because it was for the community,” said Mr Fagan.

“Another farmer picked them up with his tractor and forklift and dropped them off in my front yard.”

Mr Fagan said he and Mr Lorenzi began work on the logs but they soon found plenty of support.

“Alex Lorenzi, who is a very, very good woodcarver from Lorne, he came over and between the two of us we shaped them up roughly with chainsaws and then we did all the fine details with chisels, and angle grinders, and sanding discs and tools like that,” said Mr Fagan.

“In Deans Marsh there’s a lot of people walking around town with their children and dogs, and I live next to the oval and playground. So, there were a lot of people walking past and watching and then they ended up helping.

“We had a lot of community members chip in with chisels or sanders for a lot of the more labour-intensive sort of work.”

Landscaping is being completed at the cottage and when completed the seats will be installed.