Marg Ashman began her affiliation with the Eaglehawk Dahlia and Arts Festival flower show 10 years ago.
The flower show has always been a major partner of the Dahlia and Arts Festival and for our newsmaker the annual feature has again survived another harsh drought, as well as last week’s storms, to be another great success.
“Gardeners are special people,” Marg said.
“They put in a really special effort to make the flower show a very popular part of the festival.
“To get 400 exhibits is a great response especially during these tough times.
“We are seeing more exhibits of cactus and succulents. The town hall is where the flower show started 37 years ago and to have it back there at that great venue is just so special.”
Our newsmaker was born in Maryborough and then in her early days she lived at Epsom near the local golf course.
When she left school Marg Ashman worked in a fruit shop before starting work with local jewellery firm Edmunds.
“I always adored jewellery and it was a great place to work,” she said.
“I worked there for about six years before getting married and becoming a housewife and enjoying more time to play sports like tennis, golf and bowls,’’ she said.
Our newsmaker has now lived in Eaglehawk for 50 years.
“It is such a great place to live.
“Everybody is loyal and you get to meet so many wonderful people.
“I have always had a very strong interest in gardening and even as a small child I had my own garden plot.
“The family always grew their own vegetables and had flowers as well and it was something that we all enjoyed.
“Then when I got married and moved to Eaglehawk we built a new home and established a very large gardening area.
“We love Eaglehawk because it is such a wonderful place to live and there are just so many new homes being built our here in the Borough and the whole area is really thriving.”
Our newsmaker makes sure she attends to her spacious garden on a daily basis.
As well as her passion for her garden, Marg still finds plenty of time to enjoy her sporting activities.
Golf, tennis and bowls still take up a majority of Marg’s leisure time and although now in her 70s our newsmaker has no plans to slow down.
For Marg the 37th Eaglehawk Dahlia and Arts Festival is a special time of the year.
“Eaglehawk comes alive at this time of year.
“Everyone just looks forward to the festival and there is just so much involvement from so may people that it is really special.
“We have 28 sub committees involved in this festival and we meet on a monthly basis throughout the year to ensure the ongoing success of the festival.
“We all have a job to do and it is just great to be involved.”
The Eaglehawk Dahlia and Arts Festival concludes this Sunday with the staging of the Canterbury Tails from 9am in Rotary Park.