A Historical Tale of humble beginnings and immense community support.
Many thanks to David Cherry for the detail that unfolds below:
1977 - 1980
When Hilary O’Rourke joined the Australian Rhododendron Society’s North-West Tasmanian branch in 1979, his mind was already seeing the potential of the hillside he knew so well as part of his farm.
At that time the branch was already two years old, having been established at a general meeting on December 3rd, 1977. Bob Malone instigated and chaired that meeting, and Noel Sullivan was among the 23 who attended.
Sixteen were from the Burnie area, and others included officials of the Australian Rhododendron Society from other states.
There was discussion about a constitution; on suitable conditions for growing rhododendrons on the North-west Coast; their hardiness in Tasmania's climate and their propagation.
Officers elected at the inaugural meeting were Bob Malone (President), Peter Brothers (Vice-president), Trevor Crawford (Secretary/treasurer), Noel Sullivan and Mrs E. Trevor (committee members).
A decision made at that time became a tradition - displays at meetings of rhododendron blooms which enabled members to evaluate the colour, size and quality of rhodos not usually seen in nurseries.
In 1978, when Noel Sullivan took over as president, he began a period of office in the society that stretched over the following 17 years. A dentist by profession, he was passionate about the rhododendron, and his vision for the garden was that it should contain only members of that family. His wife, Anne, was secretary, and it was she who gave notice of the society's first general meeting at the Forth Hotel on March 12th, 1978.
In 1980, a year after Hilary O'Rourke joined, the society accepted his offer of the hillside land as the site for a rhododendron garden, with a 99-year lease at a peppercorn rental of $20 a year.
Two years earlier, the society was offered a five-acre site at Ulverstone, but it was declined because the site was too small and the garden, already mature, didn't have the scope for the society's own designs and ideas.
The generosity of Hilary's offer gave tremendous impetus to the society at a time of financial poverty. The President is reported to have paid all petty cash and postage for the newsletter and $2 was added to the $8 subscription in an attempt to alleviate the shortage of cash.
The society forged its first international link in 1979, joining the Californian chapter of the American Rhododendron Society.
It was also the year when plant auctions were introduced as a popular feature of the society's Christmas party.
In 1980 the group spread its wings locally by agreeing, to participate in the Burnie Rotary Garden Exhibition.
The society was growing in numbers, and included people who were to play crucial roles over the next 20 years and more.
Maurie Kupsch was notable among them. He was to become the backbone of the garden, picking up the reins from the original trio.
His leadership in its development and in the work to be done; his links with the community, involvement with the construction industry, and his knowledge of rhododendrons have represented a unique contribution over many years. Maurie's wife Pam has been alongside him through his years of membership, occupying important positions as they both devoted many years to the garden.
When Fairie Nielsen joined in 1980, it was the beginning of a noteworthy association that still continues. Living nearby on her own farming property, Fairie has provided a vast amount of practical help in the garden, as well as contributing substantially to the society's administrative work.
Mavis Fairfield and her husband Ron joined around the same time. Mavis filled several roles in the following 20 years, including secretary and treasurer and newsletter writer. Her personality, and humour, continued to be recognised in 2005, when she was nominated as yarn and joke spinner at meetings.
Those three women played leadership roles that were typical of female involvement in all facets of the garden's development. It ranged from the president's role, the kitchen and catering, to the backbreaking task of weeding whenever there was a working bee
1981 – 1991
In 1981 negotiations were completed to form a new group in Launceston, with the backing of the Burnie branch, and a group of American garden enthusiasts visited the North-west Coast.
In November 1981 the first annual meeting of the society’s National Council outside Victoria brought a contingent of interstate visitors to Burnie. The visit was an outstanding success.
Naturally they were taken to see the site of the garden where, according to Hilary O'Rourke's wife Joan, they “forced their way through thick scrub and blackberries to the knoll where the gazebo now stands”. There, National President Chris Laurie planted Golden Dream – the first rhododendron in the garden. Member Trevor Crawford supplied this plant from his own garden, and it is now a mature plant.
Breffny Road: which leads down to the garden, hadn't been constructed at that time because Hilary was in the process of planning the subdivision of that part of his property into five-acre blocks. So he took his tractor down to carve out a track so that the visitors could walk to the planting site.
And that’s how it continued for the next few years. Associated Forest Holdings' bulldozers formed a road down to and around the first dam site; Webb's Welding Works provided a crane, and Rex Gardam his backhoe; all at no cost.
Then came the opportunity to carve out some of the dams. But not before Tom Wescombe had offered this comment to Hilary: "About the big one, don't make it a dam; make it a lake".
“Why?” asked Hilary.
"A dam’s got a high wall, and you can’t do a thing with it. A lake can be featured."
That advice was accepted and never regretted.
But there's one story which indicates how steep was the gully and how rugged the site.
Wynyard contractor Eddy Summers was working in the area and was asked whether he would excavate for a dam in Emu Valley.
He agreed. Hilary told him he could "walk" his bulldozer through the bush to save the expense of hiring a low loader.
Eddy found himself in dire straits at the bottom of a steep gully and after trying for more than a day to get the bulldozer out had to bring in another dozer to pull it out. It must have cost him more than it would have to use a low loader.
Eddy also bulldozed the first ring road, beginning from the carpark near the tearooms.
The society made the most of the occasion, selling manferns from the lake site. The price of a four-foot fern was $6, and there’s a note in the receipts for October 1990 that $464 was received from manferns.
Vince Pease undertook clearing and Ricky O’Rourke was there with his tractor.
The garden was developed outward from the lake, with Vince Pease undertaking clearing using his Massey Ferguson 65 with tandem wheels.
It was a wonderful concept to work from there, according to Hilary, because the lake nestles beautifully into its surroundings, as though it was created by nature, not man. The lake, which covers about an acre, holds 10 million litres of water, and building costs were a mere $2,150.
Lake Pearl was next, following an offer by Tom and Ian Wescombe to create it. The lake, in the North American section, was named after Tom’s late wife.
As the land for it was being cleared, Eddy Summers began roadworks in the garden. On Maurie Kupsch’s suggestion, this included bulldozing of access from the southern end of the car park to extend parking to a lower level.
Greg Rawlings bulldozed the car park wall using soil from the southern side of the gully. Semi-trailer loads of cinders were dumped to bring the lower car park to its present level.
At the February 1984 meeting, Noel Sullivan spoke of the planning and administration needed to establish the garden, and in October he unveiled his plan for its development.
In May 1984 the society recognised the need for a Garden Planning Committee as it entered the period of intense work and planning necessary to develop the site.
A study group was also formed. As an earlier history of the garden noted, it was a very interesting forum that was sadly discontinued “when we all became too busy”.
The planning committee dealt with many suggestions about planting in the garden, acknowledging the clearing work done by Vince Pease, and adopted this list of priorities:
· Dam sites and siting of internal roads to be inspected;
· Quotes to be called for the dam;
· Dam and internal road to be built;
· Plant material for he garden to be stockpiled;
· Nursery bed to be prepared and planted out;
· All members to agree on donation of plants;
· A surveyor to be employed at the society’s cost.
What to plant in the garden, and what cutting of what varieties should be propagated were becoming vexed questions, according to the committee minutes of November 1985, and little progress was being made.
However, for the following autumn the question was resolved by the intention to accept Bob Malone’s offer of a variety of big-leafed species and hybrids and to plant out the nuttallis bequeathed by Bob Peace.
And to help placate feeling within the committee, Lois and Vince Pease gave $1,000 towards stocking the garden with rhododendrons in time for the autumn planting.
In February 1985 members voted on a name for the site. Emu Valley Rhododendron Garden was not accepted unanimously - there was one dissenting vote!
The newsletter for February 1986 told members about the annual picnic day – a very special one because it was being held at the site of the Rhododendron Garden, and gave extensive directions on how to get there.
Clearing had been done to accommodate members, but because of fire restrictions the kettle couldn’t be boiled, and they had to take their own drink flasks.
It was around this time that notable new members joined the society – Terry and Kay Shadbolt and Neil and Irene Jordan. All of them were to play pivotal roles in the development of the society and the garden.
In June 1986 Associated Forest Holdings developed the entrance road leading into the car park, with the help of Webbs’ Welding Works and Rex Gardam in installing culverts.
In July the Australian Rhododendron Society’s president Geoff Pattison, spoke to members about the society’s work, and urged the North-West branch to be represented at the national annual meeting. Helen Peace was the delegate to that meeting and subsequently Hilary O’Rourke and Terry Shadbolt were elected as official delegates.
The 1986 Emu Valley annual meeting was told that nearly 400 rhodos had been planted in the past year – a marvelous beginning.
Noel Sullivan forged a link with Waratah when he visited the West Coast mining town to advise councilors on the development of a town garden. Rhododendrons do well in the cold, wet climate, and it was perhaps that which encouraged Waratah resident Ivan Johnston years later to become closely involved with the society.
Financially the society was moving ahead with fundraising, with the 1986 raffle and Christmas auction raising a record $1,731. A finance committee was formed and many other fundraisers were planned, including each family undertaking to raise $20 through its own efforts. By March 1988 this had raised nearly $2,000.
Membership stood at 202.
The society’s first female President Anne Sullivan and the Secretary/Treasurer Mavis Fairfield were asked to serve a third year in 1986 because of the need for continuity of planning for a convention in November.
In January 1987 Maurie Kupsch tabled a three-dimensional scale model of the garden development, in conjunction with drawings of the toilet block and clubhouse. The plan, adopting the toilet blocks as the foundation of the clubhouse, was agreed to.
A few months later Eddie Summers undertook extensive bulldozing of the site, including completion of the ring road, and Leon Russell carted a large quantity of gravel from the nearby Cascade Road pit after residents had given their approval. Albert Streets prepared a table drain and leveled the car park.
Excavation for the toilet block and Lake Pearl was completed, tree stumps were removed and members of the Yeoman Cricket Club cut out the silver wattles and a lot of eucalypts from the area.
Funding associated with Australia’s Bicentennial celebration was available and Noel Sullivan had been appointed to the local committee so the society was able to secure $35,000 to build the toilet block and workshop.
Ian Wescombe dug the foundations, Newman’s provided a backhoe and Brambles the base material, so the project went ahead quickly under the guidance of Ray Tavner, Noel Burley and Maurie Kupsch, a trio who were to undertake a mountain of construction work in the following 20 years.
Power was on its way into the site, thanks to Geoff Cooper, who also used his ditch digger to provide the trench for water pipes from the pump house to the toilet block. A firm order was placed for a 3hp Grundfos pump.
The acquisition of plants proceeded apace. With the help of Doug Crawford and the Burnie Technical College, 630 cuttings of 125 varieties of rhodos were struck with the objective of reaching more than a thousand.
After hearing of progress in the Emu Valley garden, the Victorian Rhododendron Garden Ladies’ Auxiliary donated $3,000 to buy plants. Noel Sullivan went to Victoria and selected the 100 species in 20 groups of five, each two feet high plus 20 Ilam azaleas.
At the same time the society allocated $2,000 to buy quality rhododendrons from the nurseries of Bob Malone, David Moore and Ron Radford.
Noel Sullivan gave 150 seedlings (some of the seed collected in the wild) and plants, and the Burnie Tech facilities were made available during the summer holidays so that deciduous companion plants could be struck.
Planting out the steep bank behind the car park began in the middle of 1987.
A register was established to record comprehensive information about plants set out in the garden.
Della Jones put forward a suggestion, later adopted, that a feature Japanese garden be established around the creek on the lower loop road. It is now one of the prized attractions of Emu Valley.
Round Up’s place in the garden was also established in 1987 when five litres were bought, and Fairie Nielsen began the arduous task of spraying – a role she was still performing more than 15 years later.
Doug Crawford of the Burnie Technical College gave a landmark presentation to the Garden Committee in April 1987. Some of his points were:
Thinking and planning for a t least 25 years ahead,
Catering for up to 100 cars and several buses at a time,
Catering for visitors with lawns, play and picnic areas,
A grid plan for tracks and beds, including existing trees and features,
Detailed planning for ultimate design to accommodate between 50,000 and 100,000 plants,
Decision on type of mulch to be used,
Use of only quality plants.
In 1988, Australia’s bicentennial year, the main event was the official opening of the garden, and much progress needed to be made before that took place.
On November 9, the Governor, Sir Phillip Bennett, officially opened the garden, and Noel Sullivan presented him with the rhododendron named in Sir Phillip's honour.
A few months earlier, City of Burnie, another rhododendron developed by Hilary O'Rourke, was adopted by the city as its floral emblem, and a colour print was presented to the Burnie City Council. It was an acknowledgment of the relationship between the council, the community and the society, so necessary to the successful future of the garden.
To add variety to the garden, the Lilium Society planted 200 bulbs around the lake.
The year was also significant for the national recognition given to two stalwarts of the society. Bob Malone was granted life membership of the Australian Rhododendron Society, the first Tasmanian to be so honoured, and Noel Sullivan was awarded the ARS Gold Medal - its highest honour - for outstanding service to the genus Rhododendron.
Noel was also made a life member of the North-West society. The City of Burnie recognised him in the same year by granting him Burnie's Tasmania Day Award.
Making the society's presentation to Noel, the president, Terry Shadbolt, referred to the standing he had achieved through his regular contributions to the Rhododendron Journal and to the American seed bank, and most importantly, as chief planner of the Emu Valley Garden. His planning had been acknowledged both nationally and internationally.
Late in 1988 there were two significant donations to the society. Aberfoyle Resources gave a three-bedroom house, which became the caretaker's residence, and The Advocate Newspaper prepared and printed 10,000 copies of a new glossy brochure.
A major plan for expansion and maintenance of the garden, put to a meeting in January 1989, envisaged that there would not be heavy spending on plant materials, but rather the society would propagate its own. The next step was to time the propagation so that plants were produced as they were needed.
Associated with that, the society discussed setting up a nursery section and the problems of importing plant material into Tasmania.
Cuttings described as being of "extraordinary value" were obtained from Bob Malone's nursery and installed in the TAFE facilities.
At the same time, the society applied for a considerable quantity of seed from the American catalogue.
At the February picnic Maurie Kupsch displayed a model of the gazebo, for which the Emu Bay Lions club offered to build the foundations and Della and Britt Jones donated the tree from which shingles for the roof were to be cut.
Most members of the society went to the Jones farm, where Nobby Radford showed them how to cut shingles. Noel Burley spent a lot of time reshaping them on site.
Ivan Johnston found the celery top poles and Noel Burley was the main builder of the gazebo, which was completed in 1990.
The gazebo became a popular site for weddings, and that brought in revenue for the garden. Discussing this at a board meeting, it was decided that the use of a horse and cart to carry the bride and groom into the garden was acceptable.
The Olympus Bridge, built through the efforts of Maurie Kupsch, and the gazebo became prime focal points of the garden, and the site for many weddings in subsequent years.
Known fondly as the Kupsch Bridge until it was renamed the Olympus Bridge after construction and installation, it set off the lake and gazebo areas to their full potential, and visitors were most impressed when it was put into place in 1991. They included National Council members, in Burnie for meetings.
Emu Bay Lions Club dug the foundations and paid for the concrete for the footings of the Olympus bridge, which was constructed at Webbs' Welding Works and transported to the main car park, where it was painted.
Lee Gardam provided a mobile flying fox to help move the bridge into position. Set-up took a day, then the front of the bridge was anchored to the ropes and a set of trailer wheels was fitted to the back. Then slowly it was moved to the site down through the vireyas. Members toiled to get the planking in position in time for the season's first open day.
The bridge was partly financed by a $5,000 donation from the Olympus Camera Company of Japan. Terry and Kay Shadbolt's daughter Stephanie, who worked for the Olympus Company in Japan at that time, secured the donation. Barry Davidson of Hobart, then president of the Australian Rhododendron Society, opened the bridge.
That wasn't the end of the year's largesse. The Mayor confirmed that the Burnie City Council would seal Breffney Road before the garden was officially opened, and the council remitted the payment of rates and refunded payments made in previous years.
An appeal to members to donate sprinklers to water the garden resulted in a deluge of sprinklers of all types. And a request for seed of annuals to fill empty spaces saw enough provided to start a market after meeting the garden's needs.
In April, the society adopted Noel Sullivan's preliminary plan for the next step in development of the garden. Its main feature was to show in progression plants from the major rhododendron growing areas of the world, most of which would be sited outside the inner ring road.
The garden was divided and space allocated to each part of the world in which rhododendrons grew in the wild, and each was named accordingly. Those areas of the world have vastly different climates, but plants native to them grow so well in Emu Valley that it has proved to be of the world's best sites for the rhodo genus.
Not only that. In more recent years, plantings have diversified to include other species native to each area, expanding the garden's appeal into the autumn.
Annual deliveries of pine bark and wood chips, donated in large quantities by Gunns and their predecessors, made permanent planting possible, and members were invited to become involved in setting out plants.
The Burnie Rotary Club suggested to the society that it was prepared to act long term as the society's business manager, which led to the preparation of a list of projects to be given to Rotary for assessment.
Nearly 15 years on, it makes interesting reading:
Completion of meeting hall
Modification of second dam
Nursery area
Bridge
Seating
Signs
Gazebo
Stone walls
Spray unit
Internal roadworks
Caretaker's residence and land
Second car park
Japanese garden
Tractor and equipment
An important contribution to expansion and maintenance began in 1989 when work order people were made available to work in the garden. At the same time, working bees of members began operating on Saturdays.
Doug Crawford put forward an interesting solution to a problem in the garden when he suggested stocking the lake with blackfish to eliminate the tadpoles that were growing into frogs and attracting snakes. It's not recorded whether blackfish were introduced!
National publicity was gained in 1989 when the Emu Valley Rhododendron Garden and North-West Tasmania branch were featured in the Rhododendron Journal.
Significantly, in March 1990 the garden was designated as a haven for endangered species. By mid-year, Hilary O'Rourke had completed planting more than 900 Kurume azaleas.
Burnie Rotary Club agreed to build the garden's entrance gates enclosed in a stone wall, and to beautify the area. Roberts Ltd. donated the vermin-proof gates.
At the same meeting, the Garden Committee decided to attempt to involve "more people more deeply; e.g. especially newer members such as Eric Weeks".
Looking back, Eric could well have been designated an endangered species if that decision hadn't been made, because it led to him becoming one of the garden's hardest-working members.
The dry rock walls that are such an outstanding feature of the garden are his work, and members who have worked with him on their construction appreciate only too well the talent he has and the extent of his achievement.
In April 1990, the Burnie Council graveled the internal link road and agreed to carry out future minor repairs without charge.
There was a notable visitor to the garden in July - Graham Smith, head curator of the Pukeiti Garden in New Zealand. He provided much food for thought about development, and promised to return with a busload of Kiwis.
Anne Sullivan, who put together a record of the society's first 13 years titled Our Story, noted at the end of 1990: "It is a saga of extraordinary community co-operation, linked to an enormous output of effort by our society members that has achieved what we see today at the Emu Valley Rhododendron Garden."
There is no doubt that the first decade-plus contained variety that regularly attracted 60 and more members to meetings and more than 100 to Christmas functions.
The variety was mainly in the wide range of gardens they visited on meeting days; the opportunity to socialise in different surroundings, as well as participate in the society's meetings. Added to the attraction was that these gardens were spread from Smithton to the Tamar.
Indoor meetings held in winter did not attract quite the same amount of support.
Once the tearoom was established at the Emu Valley Garden and used for meetings, there were fewer trips on offer, and at the same time the workload for members increased significantly.
It was inevitably going to happen - a greater commitment to the garden was necessary, and the number attending meetings began to fall away, particularly when age became a factor. It's never easy constantly having to provide interest and variety in meetings when there are so many other community activities on offer.
In Our Story, Anne Sullivan noted that significant changes took place in the garden from 1990. The society-had developed essentially into a social organisation with a botanical theme, where earlier the garden had grown as a project of the then Australian Rhododendron Society NW Tasmanian Branch Inc.
By 1990, the garden had grown to the point where it began to overtake the society's role. It was becoming a business, increasingly difficult to administer through monthly meetings of the society.
The average age of members was increasing, and there were few new members to replace those who had died or moved on.
In 1990, it was decided to create a separate organisation, Emu Valley Rhododendron Garden Inc., to operate the garden.
All members of the society automatically became members of the garden, and membership of the garden was only open to members of the society.
At the operating level, the garden was managed by a board of management, initially of 17 members, but subsequently fewer. This resulted in a much more practical management structure to operate what needed to become a tourism-oriented business.
Our Story said the garden quickly moved from strength to strength. After incorporation in 1990, it became apparent that the lease arrangement with Hilary O'Rourke was impractical. The garden could not justify investing funds in a property it did not own; if it did it would rapidly increase Hilary O'Rourke's rates bill.
Members then bought the freehold title, thus taking complete control of the garden's development and management.
To fund the purchase, a five-year debenture plan was introduced, and by the middle of the year commitments totaled $27,000 - not far from the target.
The 1990s were years of consolidation, as well as development, which surged ahead after 1990. Membership of the society in 1990 was 211, with an average attendance of 58 at meetings. While most of the workload continued to fall on the membership, outside assistance increased steadily.
This ranged from a few strongly supportive local industries to service clubs and government-funded work experience and training programs. At the same time, the financial position was described at one stage as "very delicate". On occasions, income from the gate was not up to expectations, and spending had to be managed with special care.
1992 – 2001
The need for development finance was always there. Maurie Kupsch told a meeting of the board in July 1993 it would cost an estimated $10,000 to build a treated pine boardwalk from the vireya section to the gazebo. Another $4,500 or so would be needed to build a bridge for the Japanese garden.
Opportunities to "do it for less" were always seized upon. Old flooring from a school being demolished was bought for $30 so that the potting shed could have a floor. Noel Burley erected the shed, which those who worked in it described as a great boon. Significantly for the garden, people on work orders were introduced and their work contributed greatly to maintenance.
A group from the CETEC education and training scheme also came to the garden to work and learn.
The caretaker's three-bedroom cottage, given by Aberfoyle, was delivered without charge and occupied in 1990. Two of the society's stalwarts, Noel Burley and Ray Tavner, led the work to make it habitable.
Providing the cottage was a strategic move, delivering security to the garden, and the caretaker himself becoming involved in the work. The first caretaker was John Sorell, an electrician.
He was succeeded in 1994 by Garry Crawford, who not only acted as caretaker but played an important role in the effective operation of the garden.
Land for the cottage had been bought from the O'Rourkes at the entrance to the garden.
At the same time, members were called on to make up a team to man the gates from 10 a.m. till 5 p.m. between September and March, working in conjunction with the caretaker to ensure the garden was open to the public at all appropriate times.
Large areas of the garden were covered with bark to halt the regrowth of weeds.
At the top of the property, the Fire Brigade held a rural field exercise to burn off undergrowth.
The Burnie City Council provided the garden’s hothouse from its Three-Mile Line depot. It was pulled to pieces and transported to the garden by Noel Burley, Ray Tavner and Maurie Kupsch. Ray and a group of work-for-the-dole people concreted the floor; Ray laid the bricks, and he and Noel built the new top using the old glass.
The garden introduced a plan to add seating to the garden through public donations. It was most successful, many seats being given as memorials to deceased people.
In 1992 plans were put to the society to develop four areas, with emphasis on the Japanese garden. In Japan, planning included major excavation and lake preparation, path construction, bridging and planting.
East Burnie Rotarians built the reflecting pool in the Japanese garden.
There was consternation in July that year when the dam wall in the new Japanese area collapsed. It could have been a lot worse if Hilary O'Rourke and Noel Burley had not got there in time to open the outlet valve.
Independent engineering inspection concluded that the dam wall had slipped forward because of very wet weather. Ian Wescombe, who repaired the wall, lowered it by two feet and thickened the top. In shape and design, it was viewed as an improvement on the original.
In the 1990s, the society was involved with a number of floral events in the Burnie community, helping to establish the reputation of the garden and interest in rhododendrons. The events included the Burnie Show, the Burnie Garden Weekend, which began as the Rhododendron Festival, and the Anglican Church Floral Festival.
The vision and tenacity of convenor Neil Jordan brought high reward for the society in 1994 when the Pacific Region International Rhododendron Conference was held in Burnie. For a small group in a small community, it was an example of teamwork at its best and justified the Burnie branch having members in the Australian Rhododendron Society.
The conference brought immediate benefits. There were offers of rare seed and other plant material from around the world, ongoing consultation with overseas experts, the possibility of substantial financial input from one and possibly more chapters of the American Rhododendron Society, and a wealth of information that shed new light on what the society was doing at Emu Valley.
The 1994 flowering season had its own excitement in the garden, especially for Hilary O'Rourke and Noel Sullivan, as their new hybrids flowered for the first time ever in the Australian section.
On the less exotic side, 300 azalea cuttings were taken, struck and grown on for the garden.
Links with the Botanical Garden in Hobart were strengthened through contact which demonstrated the qualities of the Emu Valley garden and the extent of the work being done. Plants collected from the wild in Yunnan were sent for trial at Emu Valley.
Another example of the goodwill between southern Tasmania and the North-West was the arrival of a cheque for $1,000 from the Southern branch.
In 1995, following a donation by Helen Peace, the society established a trust fund to accept bequests from supporters of the garden through their wills.
Neil Jordan noted at the time that the garden's long-range objective was to raise in excess of $1 million to invest in securities which would provide sufficient income to meet technical, management and administrative expenses. Such a provision was essential for the garden's longer-term future, he wrote.
The question of membership, young and old, was (and continues to be) an urgent question without an easy answer.
In 1995 the society considered a proposal to establish a branch for younger people to ensure the continuity of the garden being developed by a voluntary organisation. There was extensive discussion, but no conclusions; in fact, there appeared to be considerable resistance to change.
The immediate aim in 1995 was to improve the appearance of developed areas by mulching and extending the irrigation system to minimise weed problems. Irrigation was costly, and an extensive system was needed to cover such an extensive, steeply sloping garden.
The open days in October and November, besides raising more than $3,000, drew many favourable comments, especially from people who found someone knowledgeable to talk to and offer advice. More than $600 was raised from the sale of plants propagated by members.
The Emu Bay Lions Club began development of the Japanese maple forest by planting 50 trees on the bank to the north of the main Japanese lake, and the East Burnie Rotary Club spread wood chips delivered in large trucks from North Forest Products' new Hampshire mill.
Roadways Pty Ltd, in association with the Burnie Council, donated a quantity of hot mix bitumen for the area near the main entrance gate - the first sealing to be carried out in the garden.
Neil Jordan represented the garden at the Blooming Tasmania stand at the 1995 Sydney Garden Festival, attended by many thousands of people who showed great interest in what this State had to offer.
An indication of the generosity of North Forest Products to the garden was contained in the May 1996 newsletter, which reported that NFP had given (and delivered) 220 tonnes of fine mulch to be spread over the garden beds.
The Jobskills group spread 150 tonnes of the mulch, and Burnie Council machinery dispersed the rest into small piles, creating a mountain of work for members.
The garden's quiet achiever, Cliff Riggs, died in September 1996 after many years as an active board member and one who spent more hours than anyone else as a "fixer without fuss" in the garden.
In October, work began on excavation for the first stage of the visitor centre and tearoom, consisting of two underground storage tanks, a kiosk with an outdoor serving area and an area for display and sale of plants.
Long-time member Jean Porte was the benefactor whose bequest, amounting to $36,000, enabled the tearoom to be established. Australian Paper gave $5,600 toward the project.
Television, radio and newspaper publicity focused on the garden when the 1996 Blooming Tasmania program was launched there. The VIPs were most impressed.
Early 1997 brought the end of an era when Noel Sullivan retired as curator of the garden and from the board of management.
Terry and Kay Shadbolt, two of four Emu Valley members who attended the international convention in Vancouver in 1997, and inspected half a dozen large gardens in the area, only gained in enthusiasm for the Tasmanian garden as a result.
We should be immensely proud and thankful for what we have already achieved and be encouraged by the exciting potential that lies before us, they reported.
Full marks to those who pioneered the garden and to those who maintain the momentum of that development.
The value of the garden to students was demonstrated in 1997 when the horticultural class from Hellyer College were shown how to take cuttings from vireyas and TAFE landscaping students undertook projects in the garden.
Brambles donated a large quantity of blue metal to the garden as a trial for use on paths.
Winter 1997 brought the development of Yunnan, which was set out with plants native to that part of the world, and by spring a continuous path linked the sections representing Australia, Assam, Burma and Yunnan.
Noel Burley, a perfectionist in his years of work in the garden, again showed his talent in the Yunnan project.
Extension of the high-standard path from Yunnan, through Japan, Taiwan and North America was adopted as a project for 1998.
In addition, the Planning Committee recommended that rockeries be created below the car park in North America, at a corner of the main lake, and on corners through Yunnan.
September 1997 saw the completion of the tearoom, providing a warm, spacious and comfortable place for members and visitors to the garden. The building cost $81,000, of which the society contributed $68,821, and income from the tearoom soon began making a significant contribution to garden costs.
Free TV advertising time for the garden saw the number of visitors increase, especially from interstate and overseas, and they were high in their praise. That raised the Board's hopes that the overdraft would diminish considerably, and that hope was realised.
An idea of the workload expected of the membership to manage the garden in the busy season was given in the program for the spring feature weekends in 1997.
On both weekends, the society's bulletin said, we require helpers to collect entry fees, park cars, assist in the kiosk, run the cake and produce stalls, sell raffle tickets and generally assist the public with information. There will also be many jobs to be done on the Fridays before each weekend, cleaning, tidying and preparing the garden.
The effort was worth it; nearly $6,000 was raised over the two weekends.
At the same time, plant sales were introduced and became a feature of activity in the garden.
With these in mind, the nursery was transformed, bringing order to outside beds and tunnel houses, used to grow on plants. Thanks to the work of Archie and Margaret Riddell and Don McQuitty and Joan Jackson, this led to the planting of a heap of cuttings, broadening the range for the garden, as well as sales to the public.
A long-drawn-out process to change the society's rules of association began about this time, but was not finally resolved till early 1999. The move arose from member unhappiness about subscriptions and levies going back over a number of years. It was a harrowing process for some, but was finally resolved by a substantial majority vote.
In December, Emu Valley had success in the Tasmanian Tidy Towns awards, winning the garden sections in the population category for cities and the best overall project.
After two submissions and a year's planning and development, the society's computer system was installed and operating by April 1998, thanks to a $5,000 Government grant. The plan was to have volunteers seek out and collate information about the thousands of plants growing in the garden, along with any new ones, and to assemble it on the database in a readily accessible format. Added to that would be photographs of each plant, eventually building to one of the world's best resources on rhododendrons and their companions.
It heralded the start of the busiest year so far in development work, and also marked the tenth anniversary of the garden's opening.
Bob Malone, one of the garden's founding trio, and his wife sold their Lapoinya Rhododendron garden and nursery in the middle of 1998 and moved to Adelaide.
After 37 years of dedication to the cause of the Rhododendron, Bob's work had an enormous impact wherever it was grown in Australia. He was a former president of the national society.
At a time when rhodo material in Australia was relatively limited, Bob searched the world for a variety of quality material that he felt may have potential here, and set about introducing it.
The Emu Valley garden was a major beneficiary of Bob's generosity through the huge range of rare and valued plants which formed much of the garden's framework, and the experience he was able to offer members.
Bob died in September, 1999.
Around the same time, the Rotary Club of Burnie presented Noel Sullivan, another of the founding trio, with its top honour, the Paul Harris Fellowship, for his contribution to the community through his role in establishing the garden.
Noel died in February, 2000, a great loss to the Emu Valley Rhododendron Garden and Society, and to the wider world of rhododendron growing.
After the society obtained the land for the garden, Noel, as curator, was responsible for unfolding the planning needed to develop the garden into the attraction it is today.
The country-by-country layout, the only one of its type in the world, creates tremendous interest.
Noel supplied hundreds of valuable plants from his own garden, plus his knowledge and expertise, and the results he achieved were fundamental in developing the Emu Valley garden.
The society accepted a board proposal in 2000 to dedicate garden features to Bob and Noel - the main ring road to be named the Bob Malone Drive, and the main walkway around the garden to be named the Noel Sullivan Walk. Each was identified by a plaque on a large rock appropriately located in the garden.
A landmark in 1998 was the introduction of the Work for the Dole program to the garden. In a 26-week exercise, a group of 10 workers spent about three days a fortnight undertaking supervised work in the garden, especially heavier jobs.
They completed a substantial works program after more than $12,000 in materials was given to the garden as part of the program. This included a vermin-proof fence around the garden perimeter, achieved by burying 300mm of high wire netting in the earth before clipping it to the bottom of the existing fence.
The Emu Bay Lions Club undertook a great deal of development work, and the Rotary Club of Burnie decided to finance construction of the treated pine walkway in Japan. All this activity finally saw the garden linked together by a good quality path.
At the same time, consultants moved in to undertake a feasibility study into the proposed visitor centre, which had received funding approval. The study which was funded cost $5,000.
A committee consisting of Dawn Fraser, Bea Riggs and Audrey Weeks was formed to oversee activities in the tearoom, where chair refurbishment was undertaken, Coastal Art Group paintings were displayed and put on sale, as were craft work and postcards.
The Burnie City Council approved funding to seal the entrance road and car park at the garden in conjunction with society funding, as well as use its equipment for heavy slashing and spraying.
There was a name change in 1998. The unwieldy Australian Rhododendron Society, North-West Tasmania Branch Inc., became the Emu Valley Rhododendron Society Inc., and it wasn't long before the name became synonymous with the Burnie community.
The society lost one of its earliest members when Bob Sadler died in 1998. Bob was always remembered for his hat, passed around the membership at meetings when funds were really scarce in the garden's young days. In his memory, the hat was passed around for a last time, providing three Fagus for the garden as a memorial.
Weddings were a feature for the garden that year, with at least 100 guests at some of them. Tour groups visiting the garden included one from New Zealand and another hosted by Your Garden.
Early 1999 saw the Burnie Council share the cost of sealing the entrance roadway and car park, with Tasmanian Roadways providing a high-quality surface for the steep road to give it a more permanent finish.
The first Work for the Dole program was so successful that another group of 10 workers spent a further 26 weeks in the garden in mid-1999. Apart from the wildlife-control fence, the first group extended and upgraded the irrigation system, constructed and painted the Japanese walkway, and refurbished chairs in the tearoom.
Work for the Dole looked promising, with 10 participants "three of them good", according to a board report, especially on tree felling and cutting up wood.
However, the value of the Work for the Dole scheme should not be under-estimated. Development would have been severely curtailed without the labour and the Government financial assistance to support the programme.
In the next Work for the Dole program, the group built a fern walk through the manferns at the top end of the lake, with plans to add extra features later.
As well, they developed the Lake Pearl gazebo area, where it was planned to build a Georgian-style gazebo, and prepared a lawn area near the pump house for sowing. Eric Weeks built an attractive stone wall as a background to the gazebo.
An interesting trend evident in 1999 was that plant sales often brought in more money than gate takings, emphasising the value of a future focus on their income potential.
To capitalise on public involvement in the garden, the society introduced a competition for rhodo blooms with perpetual trophy and $50 cash as the prize. Members, naturally, were excluded, but they were able to take their best blooms to enhance the display.
A propagation day for those who wanted to know more about taking rhododendron cuttings was a great success. People who participated were able to take home the cuttings they had prepared in pots to grow on in their own gardens.
The program was expanded in later years with sessions for lepidote and elepidote rhodos, vireyas, deciduous azaleas and rhodos from seed.
In 2001, the propagation sessions were organised by Adult Education. The point of this was to demonstrate the educational value of the garden to the Burnie community whenever submissions were prepared.
Greatly improved growth of plants in the garden was experienced in the summer of 1998 after the irrigation system had been expanded.
Developmental work by Ian Wescombe included extensive alterations to the large Japanese lake wall and changes to the direction of the middle and upper roads, giving much improved access to those areas.
The Japanese lake was refilled, and Maurie Kupsch directed the positioning of large stepping stones across the northern end to give access from the Japanese maple forest area to the wall of the lake.
At the other end, Eric Weeks and Terry Shadbolt directed concreting of the watercourse to the smaller lake, upgraded tracks and prepared an additional area for lawn.
The Lions Club of Burnie gave $2,000 towards development materials for the eastern part of the Japanese garden, which was really beginning to take on the tranquil appearance of those unique gardens that the Japanese themselves cherish.
The 2002 annual report put into context the society members' view of their Japanese garden creation:
"The crowning piece of the past year's labours is our new Japanese covered bridge house. This is an incredible example of craftsmanship, with members researching authentic Japanese construction methods and painstakingly building a very striking and most appropriate structure. The authentic flavour of our large Japanese sector will be greatly enhanced."
In the nursery, earlier work prepared it for the sowing of 2,000 cuttings in the hothouse in preparation for plant sales the next season. Outside, another 1,000 or so rooted cuttings were growing strongly in frames.
Growing your own plants from cuttings was becoming popular in the community, too. Maurie Kupsch contributed to this knowledge, lecturing at Adult Education on the art of taking rhododendron and azalea cuttings. The classes were filled with students, some of whom traveled quite a distance.
A developing feature of the garden was the Wisteria Walk, funded with $2,000 from the Burnie Lions Club. There was enough money to buy a seat, enabling people to sit and admire the wonderful spring colour when the wisteria flowered.
Highlight of the year was the holding of the national rhododendron conference in Burnie, with visitors and members participating in meetings, social functions and garden visits. It was a memorable November weekend.
By 2000, about half the garden had been developed, and it was drawing more than 5,000 visitors a year. Better marketing and teamwork were seen as the means of developing the garden into a major draw card as it developed further.
More than 15,000 plants had been established on the 13 ha site and all planted areas were mulched with copious quantities of material donated by North Forests from its Hampshire mill.
Without the mulch, much of the garden would not have survived. Maintenance would have long since overtaken the small voluntary labour force.
The garden's assets by 2000 were valued at about $1.5m, most of that figure generated by the work of members. They included a tearoom, service building with toilet facilities, a substantial nursery complex generating many of the garden's plants, three large lakes and several smaller lakes which provided water for irrigation, a stone gazebo, bridges, paths, roads and other features.
Our Story, taken from Anne Sullivan's earlier history of the garden, noted that by 2000 the unique design of the garden remained unchanged, but had been greatly enhanced by a range of complementary features. There was a central area for hybrid rhododendrons and a range of companion plants, surrounded by a series of designated areas designed to replicate the main regions of the world from which wild species rhodos originated, together with a selection of their best companion plants.
These included conifers and deciduous trees and ran down the scale to understorey plants and bulbs, creating a broad range of interest for most plant lovers.
Our Story commented that the garden's capacity to utilise the efforts of a broad range of people in a relaxed and tranquil environment provided a second lease of life for many retirees and other older people.
In 2000 it became evident that shade from a number of large trees, blackwoods in particular, was hindering the growth of rhodos under them and Peter Nielsen undertook to cut them down. It was not an easy task - they had to be cut from the top - but the value to the garden was soon evident, and firewood from the trees added to the garden coffers.
By mid-year, another 500 plants had gone in, and many parts of Japan and Yunnan were filling up. Plants already growing there showed remarkable growth after a couple of years.
Sketch plans for the teahouse in Japan were available, and the cost of materials was estimated at $3,000. After two unsuccessful approaches, the society received $3,000 from the ABC open garden scheme funds towards the work.
Completion of the teahouse was followed by the construction of another waterfall, which enters the larger lake near the stepping-stones leading to the teahouse. Water to spill over it came from a large spring piped underground to the top of the waterfall.
In a steep area nearby, heavy machinery prepared for the erection of a gabion wall - wire netting cages filled with rocks stacked on top of each other - a spectacular sight.
Just about every loose rock in the garden was consigned to the wall, and a new source had to be found if Eric Weeks was to continue his work with rocks. The outcome was a heap estimated at 200 tonnes of rocks given by a local farmer.
Then came the coup de grace for the Japanese garden construction and erection of the Japanese covered bridge. A structure whose craftsmanship was alien to Western builders, construction was successfully tackled mostly by Maurie Kupsch, Ray Tavner and Noel Burley after members had researched authentic Japanese construction methods.
The roof, put together in the workshop, was especially difficult because the rooflines are not straight. Curves are formed with great care, piece by piece.
When the covered bridge was completed, it gave a wonderful authenticity to the Japanese garden, which increases with each season as the surrounding plants grow to maturity.
In June 2001, 15 loads of mulch from North Forest Products were delivered - a mountain to be spread around the garden.
Added to this each year is Bill Busby's donation from his farm of 100 bales of barley straw, which is used in places where it is difficult to cart wood chips. But even with all that the garden still needs fertiliser. The quantity is indicated by the fact that the society bought a tonne bag of Dynamic Lifter in 2001 to place around plants.
Winter rain filled the main lake and Lake Pearl, as well as the reflecting pool, and water cascaded over new waterfalls leading from the pool, built by Eric Weeks. The new water feature was itself a wonderful attraction in the garden. Given by the Burnie branch of the Victoria League, a strong supporter of the garden over the years, its installation introduced a sparkling new concept to the garden.
More clearing and planting took place in 2000 than for many years, with areas near the Japanese maple forest and Yunnan completed, and the area in Australia set aside for the Don Dosser plant collection cleared of trees and ferns.
Fortunately, that coincided with approval for $41,000 from the Tasmanian Community Fund to develop the garden's watering system, especially in the upper levels where watering had previously been difficult.
This was achieved by augmenting the one main pump and another pump with two new pumps covering three levels of the garden, plus a dedicated pump to fill four new 7,000-gallon tanks for gravity usage.
The society acknowledged the painstaking work undertaken by Neil Jordan in making a successful submission for the State Government community fund contribution to the cost of the new irrigation system.
As board chairman Ivan Johnston observed in his report, previously out-of-reach areas of the garden could now be watered regularly during the crucial growing period.
In May 2001, members took a trip to Don Dosser's property at Upper Castra, where he had developed a magnificent garden in an area with contours reminiscent of Emu Valley. The garden features mature maples and rhododendrons, including many of his own hybrids.
The area near the nursery in the Australian section in Emu Valley houses the collection that Don presented to the garden to ensure the hybrids survived for the benefit of future generations of garden lovers.
After taking a deep breath, the board decided to open Emu Valley to the public in autumn for the first time in 2001. The garden's deciduous trees had grown as tall as six metres by that time, with leaves showing significant colour. So with the addition of the new Georgian-style gazebo near Lake Pearl and the vireya display there was much for people to see.
Setting the date for autumn opening was a hit-and-miss affair, especially in giving interested people enough notice, because of the difficulty of judging when autumn foliage was at its best. However, the move has become a most successful addition to the garden's year.
The colours of that first autumn opening greatly impressed the public, with deciduous trees and vireyas both at their best, and people wanting to know more about the vireya rhododendron.
The garden is an ideal site for musical performances, and they had been a feature for some years before the Big Event in October 2001, when a full orchestra and noted pianist David Helfgott presented concerts over two nights to a fascinated audience. They were a wonderful success.
The concerts were instigated when the State coordinator of the federation celebrations visited Burnie and pronounced the rhodo garden as a suitable site. Cost wasn't a problem for the federation organisation, and the garden was turned into a fairyland with floodlighting at its spring peak. The associated promotion was just the lift the garden needed. All the society had to do was provide the venue, organisation and funding were provided to prepare and floodlight the garden. Named the Centenary of Federation concert, it gave the garden national exposure on a level never before dreamed of.
2002 – 2005
The society was looking forward to its 25th anniversary in 2006, with Maurie Kupsch preparing a number of plants to be registered under the Emu Valley name and released in honour of the occasion.
Planning was also under way for the 2006 Pacific Region International Rhododendron Conference to be held in Burnie and for the opening of the visitor and interpretation centre.
International speakers were being sought for the conference, which had the potential to bring visitors from many parts of the world to Burnie and Emu Valley.
The conclusion, reached early in the society's history, that Tasmanian sunshine was not strong enough to harm members of the rhododendron family, was borne out with the removal of more trees, mostly blackwoods, in 2003.
The sunshine that streamed in gave new life and vigour to the extensive vireya collection.
According to expert opinion, some mature rhodos had died because of lack of sunshine. The conclusion: these plants will withstand most hardships in our climate, but must have adequate sunshine to survive.
Autumn 2004 saw the society spread its wings by capitalising further on the potential of autumn opening and staging a weekend of involvement with people keen to enhance their gardening knowledge. About 80 participated in the two days.
Named the Green Thumb Spectacular Weekend, the first day included sessions about garden construction, propagation, root systems and planting, dry stone walling, watering systems and building rock gardens.
The following day, participants learned about working with plants.
The aim was to diversify activities in the garden, establishing it in the public's eyes as a source of advanced practical gardening knowledge.
There were plants for sale, and an auction was held. The Burnie-Emu Bay Lions provided a sausage sizzle.
Participants were asked to complete a feedback sheet to provide guidance for future weekends.
Board members had a day-long meeting with the director and members of the staff of the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Garden in Hobart, in what proved to be an invaluable exercise.
The conclusion was that the Botanical Garden was prepared to consider Emu Valley as an important contributor to horticulture in Tasmania.
Advice covered areas of interest such as the philosophy underlying interpretation centres, such as Emu Valley was proposing, as well as a variety of displays, and the absolute necessity of a database containing a listing of plants and their location.
Subsequently, the Botanical Garden signed a partnership agreement with Emu Valley in November 2005 for the exchange of botanical material and an opportunity for staff development and training.
Emu Valley was to be included in Botanical Garden promotions and publications, and featured on its website.
The Minister for Parks and Heritage saw the agreement as raising public awareness of "this wonderful regional garden".
Development of the garden and its attraction to visitors reached new heights at this time with three ferries running between the mainland and Tasmania and tourist numbers showing substantial increases.
It was boosted even further by the visit of nearly a dozen cruise ships to Burnie in the summer of 2005 when the Burnie City Council funded an hourly shuttle bus to attractions that included Emu Valley.
The garden helped Burnie share substantially in this new business, achieved through solid work by the City Council and industry.
Another source of labour was tapped in 2004 when a Green Corps group of 10 young people spent six months in the garden.
The board spent time gazing into its crystal ball and concluded that major redevelopment of the nursery would soon be needed to take full advantage of potential plant sales.
The board agreed that the next generation at Emu Valley would almost certainly need paid staff in key roles, and the most likely way to fund that was through plant sales. By that time, it was expected to be a larger source of revenue than admissions to the garden.
So work began on the redevelopment plan, under which Emu Valley would propagate and grow on large quantities of specialised plants both for sale and for the garden.
Doug Crawford of Burnie TAFE, who visited the fledgling garden in 1987 to offer a consultant's advice, was invited back in June 2004 to give a progress report.
He gave an enthusiastic endorsement of the work that had gone into planning and development of the garden, but identified a number of points that needed to be dealt with.
Weed control needed greater attention; occupational health and safety liability must be addressed; promotion and acknowledgment of sponsors and improvement of the garden entrance should be tackled to improve the potential of the garden.
Doug made a number of other suggestions, which went to the board to be considered and given priority.
The appointment of Lyn Ferencz as business consultant resulted in the production of a business plan to lead the garden towards the developments envisaged by the board and Doug Crawford, taking Emu Valley from a purely voluntary organisation to a business operation.
A program of talks and demonstrations to schools and colleges was implemented to build interest in rhododendrons and the garden, supported by the purchase of audio-visual equipment to assist the promotion work in many areas.
Development of a plan to build the garden's most ambitious project - a visitor and interpretation centre - took a step forward in 2004 when Maurie Kupsch and Neil Jordan attended a workshop on thematic interpretation. The knowledge they gained was seen as crucial to the garden's future development.
The workshop idea arose from Tourism Tasmania's conclusion that the increasing number of visitors to the State wanted to do more than just look at our attractions. They expected experiences of the kind that were achieved by seeing the films, pictures, written material and samples of what that site offered in an interpretation centre.
At the same time, the Burnie City Council developed a plan to support local attractions to improve their visitor appeal. This fitted in extremely well with the Emu Valley proposal and was seen as positioning the garden well for growth.
The visitor and interpretation centre, a unique building to suit the Emu Valley site and purpose, was estimated to cost $290,500, with $60,500 contributed by the society and submissions made at local, State and Federal level to cover the remainder.
The Federal submission was well timed - it coincided with an election being called and the Liberal Government was looking for opportunities to spread largesse.
This led to the Government promising $200,000 for the project, provided it was re-elected. Fortunately for the garden it was, enabling construction of the building to begin in mid-2005.
The grant of $200,000 was by far the biggest single step forward in the garden's history, and there was great optimism that its completion would mark a turning point in achieving the ambitious plans for the future.
Then came advice that the Burnie City Council had given $40,000 to the project. It was the icing on the cake, ensuring that funding for the building, with the Emu Valley Rhododendron Society's contribution, would be sufficient.
With plans for the project prepared by Ken Moore and Associates, it was time to get quotes for construction and fit out, particularly as the building boom was making it difficult to find tradesmen.
As society president Neil Jordan wrote in the newsletter: This has not happened by accident, but is the result of a great deal of vision, dedication and hard work by many people, in many ways, over the entire history of Emu Valley.
In fact, the submissions made to government to fund the building were among nine the society made in 2004 for various purposes.
Neil added: All things considered, we are very fortunate to have a wonderful garden, a dedicated membership, idyllic climate and soils, and people of imagination and determination through whom we have been able to make some very gratifying progress of which we are very proud.
Construction of the visitor/interpretation centre occupied most of 2005, and as the November newsletter noted: We are entering uncharted waters and have a lot to learn about use of the facility. Already public interest is considerable. We obviously need to give much thought to exactly how we operate the facility.
Mind you, a lot was learned when sheets of roofing iron, some more than 20 metres long, had to be placed in position on the new building. It looked like an expensive crane would have to be hired to lift them into place, but between a group of members and Work for the Dole people, the task was managed by hand.
That was typical of experience in the garden. Members were prepared to get behind a vast range of activities to help and to keep costs to a minimum.
The production of long-lasting garden signs, both directional and interpretive, was enhanced and simplified with the introduction of a computerised system. It permitted the generation of attractive and durable interpretive signs for plants and directional signs to the garden.
However, it was not a small task, especially with the plants. The aim was to label about 2,000 plants in the first year, but at that rate it was not possible to forecast a completion date with more than 20,000 plants already in the garden and planting continuing.
At the same time, it was planned to record the details on a computerised database and eventually to connect this live to the interpretation centre via touch screens and the web site. Directional signs included commercial quality road signs featuring a large red rhodo truss and leaves, easily identified by visitors.
In August 2004, the newest rhododendron registrations were introduced. Burnie Supreme is a massive hybrid from R. magnificum, growing over five metres tall, and Burnie Chameleon a big-leaf rhodo which had delighted members and visitors for some years.
Spring 2004 took activity in the garden to new heights with a succession of events. A strongly supported bands concert led Neil Jordan to suggest that the garden needed to build up a tradition of events such as this one.
Then the State Open Garden scheme was launched, with Fairie Nielsen and Maurie Kupsch among the speakers, and Emu Valley receiving a $3,000 donation from the scheme toward construction of the teahouse.
Making a long-sought-after visit for the launching were Peter Cundall and the ABC TV crew, who then spent most of the next two days filming in the garden. The outcome was nationwide TV and magazine coverage and radio and newspaper coverage in Tasmania.
The garden open weekends, part of the Burnie Shines Festival, were an outstanding success. Mainland and overseas visitors joined the locals loud in their praise of the beauty and tranquility of the garden. Even the resident platypus put on a performance in the lake!
Construction of a plant sales area began near the main car park, providing an outlet for plant material to be sold to the public and giving the potential of a regular source of income. Already the nursery was producing more plants than the garden needed.
A primary schools competition to name the garden's resident platypus and echidna gained strong support, with the prize inducement of free cinema passes and family admission to the garden. The platypus was named Splash, and the echidna is now known as Echo.
Pam and Maurie Kupsch represented Emu Valley at the American Rhodo Society Conference in Canada in 2005. They took with them coloured brochures and posters to promote the Pacific Region international conference in Burnie in 2006, as well as captioned coloured photos of the Tasmanian garden.
The photographic record of their journey, including a stop off in Japan and the U.S. made for interesting viewing on their return.
In May, the garden gained considerable kudos when the Burnie community acknowledged the work of volunteers.
The Burnie City Council arranged the function, at which 70 people were made members of organisations recognising 1,000, 2,000, 5,000 and 10,000 hours' service.
The 70 volunteers had accumulated a total of 313,000 hours of work, of which 43% related to efforts at Emu Valley. A third of the 70 nominations were Emu Valley members. It was a splendid performance, and in the case of Emu Valley, there will always be a wonderful garden to bear testimony to the volunteers' work over nearly 25 years.
Spring 2005 saw another significant step taken - the first Cherry Blossom Festival held in the garden, though it was seriously affected by one of the wettest springs on record.
Organised with the guidance of Tasmania's Japanese community, it provides the spectacle of Japanese guests in traditional costume participating in authentic Japanese tea ceremonies in buildings reflecting Japanese architecture and culture.
For people from western backgrounds, it is an unforgettable experience, unusual anywhere outside Japan itself.
That was followed by an artistic event of a different kind - members of the Tas Dance group performing in the car park next to the Japanese covered bridge.
The host of public events held in the garden in recent years built a remarkable reputation for the Emu Valley Rhododendron Garden in North-Western Tasmania. In the language of the day, it was becoming an icon, a "must visit" attraction after nearly 25 years of continuous voluntary work supported by strong community support and financial backing from all arms of government.
Finally, that began to be reflected in a significant upturn of membership. From a low of 115 in 1995, membership grew to 160 at the end of the 2005 financial year - a trend that had to happen if the garden was to survive as a voluntary organisation in its next quarter of a century.
