Why a 107-year-old Kingsville tree has been kept alive — as a monument

The tree was originally planted in 1919 by the Kingsville Women's Patriotic League. The tree stood for almost 100 years. In 2017, the Parks and Rec Department deemed the tree had lived its life and it was time to remove it. The plan was to take the tree down but save the original trunk and carve the original trunk. Once I got into it, they realized it couldn't be saved. So a replacement trunk was found, brought to the location and carved for the monument. In 2023 or 24 we had a severe storm come through that took down that monument due to the elements of the outside. We were able to save the pieces that you see in today's monument and working with Kingsville Men's Shed we're able to put it back together to what it is now. They had to start by number one getting rid of all the decayed wood. out of the back of the pieces and then finding a way to seal it so it would preserve itself. It was important because the monument had been in the community so long that we felt that we wanted to save it. With their help and with the talking we realized how we would like it to look. And we wanted the community to understand that this is a way to show the sacrifices that our military made. On this side we've got bravery, the crosses and the poppy symbol with the cross down on the base. Here we have the military gun, the army helmet here. And on this side we've got the courage, poppy, sacrifice, valour and heroes at the bottom.