Monk Park is one of the lesser known parks of Tamworth but still a beautiful rural spot with children’s playground and cricket practice nets.
No toilets yet.
Jack and Irene Monk who lived in the area about 50 years ago donated the land for the park during their developer years and the names of the park and surrounding streets also echo the family connections.
Brisbane grandmum Myrene Edmunds only visits Calala a couple of times a year – but distance is no deterrent to generous donations of money to give the park big doses of beautification works.
Myrene says her father had a strong sense of social responsibility and she’s proud to do what she can to not only preserve his mark in Calala but to build her younger family’s Tamworth association, even though none lives here anymore.
So far Mrs Edmunds has given a total of $8,500 to the park upgrades over the past three years – not for herself, but for her family members and in memory of her mum and dad who first developed the housing estate around Monk Park.
Late last year Mrs Edmunds donated $5000 to a park upgrade project to mark the birth of new great grandchildren, Tayla Johnson, Ella Phillips and Reid Hart – and had their names added to family plaques on the park benches there. A few weeks ago, she added another $1500 to the park project – just to put the finishing touches to it all.
The donations allowed for new electric barbecues, connection of power, a new bubbler, two new benches and the extension of the walkway to link Panorama Rd to Myrene Ave through the park.