A dedicated community volunteer has been honoured for his time recently in Emerald, as he continues to tend the gardens and gravesides at the local cemetery.
The Greater Metropolitan Cemetery Trust honoured local volunteer Graham Ferguson, known by many as ‘Fergie’, for his contributions to the Friends and Carers Emerald Section group (F.A.C.E.S) over the last 25 years on Monday 4 August.
A simple tea with representatives from the Trust, along with family, friends and volunteers, came together to mark the occasion on Monday, 4 August and to honour Fergie for his time with the group.
Fergie was proud to receive the award and is proud of the time he’s spent volunteering.
“I’d like to say a big thank you, it’s much appreciated,” he said.
The group began after Fergie, who is turning 80 in February and his late wife, Shireen, visited the Emerald cemetery for a burial and noticed several plots were quite overgrown with blackberries and weeds.
“I thought, oh, that’s bloody awful. You can’t even read the headstone,” he said.
Fergie decided to visit the cemetery the very next day and thus began his journey as a volunteer there, cleaning up and tending to the plots and gravesites.
For a few years, he volunteered his time along with Shireen, who later advertised locally and began to draw more people to help out.
From there, a group formed, and Fergie said he named it F.A.C.E.S.- Friends and Carers of the Emerald Section and the group have been working ever since, quietly attending to the gardens and plots that need attention.
“I said to the group when we first started, try not to touch any plot that you think might be attended by somebody,” he said.
“We’re pretty observant and pretty respectful of that.”
Emerald Cemetery was originally known as Nangana or Macclesfield Cemetery and sits amongst the greenery of the local area.
“The founders of Emerald are there, and there’s some very, very old tombstones there,” Fergie said.
The grave he uncovered all those years ago was that of a pioneer amongst the nursing community – Myrtle Quicke, who was a founding member of the Cockatoo Bush Nursing Foundation and who drove nursing to nurse training in Australia to be broader in scope and not just exist in the hospital setting.
In her time, Quicke explored the possibility of setting up a Bush Nursing Centre, and a building was erected and equipped in 1964, she passed away in 1979.
After a news story ran on Myrtle around 13 years ago, Fergie said he had noticed more people visiting that particular plot.
Fergie has continued with the group, only taking a break from the work after his wife passed away nine years ago.
“I sort of didn’t want to go near the cemetery for quite a while,” he said.
Another volunteer, Faye, stepped up to help while Fergie took a break and was amongst those onsite to honour Fergie earlier in August.
“She came and helped, and she’s still here today,” said Fergie.
Fergie said he enjoys the work with F.A.C.E.S., and the history of the area is always interesting.
“Around five years ago, I found another grave down down the other side of the cemetery, which was covered up,” he said.
“When I uncovered the headstone, it was for Russell Mockridge, who was an Olympic cyclist, and he was killed in a road accident in Oakley.”
Describing himself as ‘almost a local’ of Avonsleigh, with almost 40 years clocked in the area, Fergie is proud of the time he has spent with F.A.C.E.S.
“I think the group is really lovely,” he said.
Fergie said he’s still keen for more volunteers to join him and the other volunteers every Monday for a bit of garden work and a cup of tea.
“We would love some more help, some of us are getting on.”
The Friends and Carers of the Emerald Section (F.A.C.E.S.) meet at the cemetery every Monday from 10 am to 11.30 am during school terms – there are no meetings on public holidays and Total Fire Ban days.
Interested community members are always welcome to drop by.
