HONOURING Renmark veterans in a manner that included the “whole community” has inspired the new name of a local war memorial.
Renmark RSL president Peter Higgs, Chaffey RSL regional co-ordinator Ray Hartigan, Renmark Paringa Mayor Neil Martinson and Riverland Anglican priest Father Paul Devenport last week renamed the area containing Renmark’s war memorial as the Cross of Sacrifice Memorial Garden.
Mr Higgs said the unveiling brought closure to debate surrounding the park’s naming that dated back to last June.
“It’s a great outcome to see after so many years… a lot of the work at the memorial started before I moved back to Renmark,” Mr Higgs said.
“It’s good that we’ve reached an outcome the whole community has had input into and everyone is happy with.”
A previous attempt to rename the area as the Jensen VC Memorial Park was abandoned after it was found Corporal Jorgen Jensen was ineligible for Renmark’s World War I honour roll.
Mr Martinson said high levels of public engagement regarding a potential name showed the importance of honouring local soldiers in the community.
“We’ve had a lot of community involvement and there’s been fantastic support for the Renmark RSL sub-branch to create the memorial here,” Mr Martinson said.