A SNAKE catcher who let bags of reptiles loose at pubs and a war veteran who became a jockey are some of the people Wodonga Council hopes to name its city parks after.
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The Wodonga Place Names Committee has presented the council with a list of 50 pioneers, leaders and celebrities they would like to name local parks after in honour of their contribution to the city.
At least 15 per cent of the people listed are still alive, including Merle Mason.
Mrs Mason, who lives in Hume Street, raised her three daughters in Wodonga and became heavily involved in the Ladies Auxiliary, Girl Guides and Scouts as well as helping children overcome a fear of water through the local swimming clubs.
She was “humbled and honoured” to hear parkland between Quinlivan Place and Lawrence Street might be named Merle Mason Park.
“I was quite surprised because all my contributions came through involvement in my children’s activities,” she said.
“It is lovely to think that my children and grandchildren might have somewhere to remember me by though, and a fantastic idea for the community.
“They already name streets after people, so why not parks?”
Cr Rod Wangman, the committee’s chairman, said the list included doctors, lawyers, editors, jockeys, priests, bootmakers, landscape architects, grocers and saddlers.
One of those was Felix Grundy, a man who used to catch and milk snakes for the development of anti-venom before letting bags of the reptiles loose in hotel bars.
Pioneer Carl Fietz’s plaque would describe how he and his wife, Anna, raised 14 children in Wodonga after choosing to settle there when their wagon broke down on the way to Walla.
And a man called Peter Frawley deserved his mention for fighting in World War I and becoming a jockey who won the Australian Steeple at Caulfield in 1922.
“Towns like Beechworth have their history all around them in the form of buildings like the jail and post office but our history is in the people,” Cr Wangman said.
“Hopefully now people will look at Kelly Park and know it was named after three Irish brothers or at Woodland Grove and immediately associate it with the shire’s first president John Woodland.”
Cr Wangman said council would advertise the names on maps, in the newspaper and on community notice boards and feedback would be sought over the next six weeks.
A final report would be presented on June 29.
