Third win’s a charm for garden dab hands

Eurobodalla Council’s parks and gardens crew like to call a spade a spade and they’re justifiably proud of apprentice Stacey Wade.

On Thursday 17 December Ms Wade was presented with The Shovel award by Moruya TAFE’s Gabriele Harding, recognising both the theoretical knowledge and practical skills Ms Wade demonstrated while completing her Certificate III in Horticulture.

Council’s works manager Tony Swallow said the public would already be familiar with some of Stacey’s work.

“Anyone who’s visited the revamped gardens at Moruya’s Apex and Riverside Parks can appreciate Stacey talent, as she co-designed those with work-mate Rhiannon Cooper,” Mr Swallow said.

“Actually, Rhiannon was the previous winner of The Shovel and another former apprentice Eli Ryan won it the year before that. We’re pretty happy to be able to draw on a pool of great local talent, then support them through their apprenticeship with engaging work experience.”

Ms Harding noted Council had consistently selected apprentices that excelled through their TAFE study.

“It’s been a group of students that really excel, as you’ll see by some of the names engraved on The Shovel.”