Indigo Interview: A trade and hobby all in one

Kel Clark was born and bred in Beechworth. He moved to Everton Upper three and a half years ago but calls living there being in ‘lower Beechworth'. What do you do workwise? I’m a qualified gardener/horticulturalist and completed my apprenticeship at the former Ovens and Murray Hospital for the Aged. I’m now in my 11th year as head gardener at Beechworth Health Service. Many years ago, I restored Barnsley House in Beechworth and operated it as a luxury guest house. I also worked in the Mayday Hills gardens and spent time working for Albury City Council based at the Botanic Gardens. What brought you to your role/career? As a young boy I was always watching my parents Reg and Colleen in both the house and vegetable gardens. The vege patch always produced incredible produce for our family. I got the green finger bug from my parents, and I’m fortunate that my trade is my hobby as well. What do you love about your work? Working in this field brings so much satisfaction whether it be visual or therapeutic. It is certainly a shared feeling with gardeners, and we all seem to swap plants and produce, as well as share our gardens. I’ve been lucky to meet many great gardeners and have visited some of the most magnificent gardens in the world. What do you do in the community? I still volunteer in the community but haven’t been able to do much over the last couple of years. Over time I was heavily involved with volunteering for the Golden Horseshoes Festival and also organised the Beechworth drum band to participate for 16 years that stopped about four years ago. We dressed up and everyone loved it. It was good fun and we’re planning an encore with a reunion for next year’s festival. I’ve also been on the Celtic Festival committee organising bands and was a volunteer for the Harvest Festival we used to have. I’ve also spent time on the footy club committee and volunteer to help organise functions for sports night and reunions. Is there an important community issue that you think needs addressing? I’m concerned about the number of Airbnbs in our little town with many owners not living in our community. It means they are not giving back to our town such as volunteering on local committees for events like festivals or sporting groups. What would you do to solve change or improve that situation? It’s not an easy fix but maybe there should be a tourism levy. If our festivals and sporting clubs are to survive there has to be a comeback in some form for the volunteers that do put their hand up. What do you see as one of the most important current world issues? Currently our world seems so fragile due to possible conflict from greed which is a scary thing to think about. Social media is such a powerful thing but also is a dangerous tool. What is real these days and what is not is a worry. If the person you would most like to meet or knew came to Indigo Shire or was already here, who would that be, what would you show them, and why? I would like to bring famous Australian landscape designer Paul Bangay to Beechworth. He has been designing amazing landscapes for more than 35 years. I think Paul would appreciate being shown some incredible gardens around the town and would enjoy chatting to the wonderful gardeners who created them. What book are you reading? When I do find some time away from the garden, I’m usually reading landscaping / garden books, and travel. I haven’t got time to sit and read novels as there’s too much to do in our garden.

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