And help a Border club celebrate its decades of service as well.

On Friday came the culmination of a project to provide seats for the Bungam Community Garden at the corner of Englehardt, Creek and Stanley Streets in central Albury.

The two seats and a table have been carved from a pin oak that stood in nearby Albury Botanic Gardens for 90 years. Damaged by a storm about 2008, the tree now has a new use thanks to a partnership between Albury Council and the Rotary Club of Albury Hume.

“It had been sitting at the back of a council depot waiting for the right cause and this came up as the right cause,” Rotary Club of Albury Hume president Dennis Martin said.

Administration director Julie Frauenfelder said 2017 would bring a special anniversary for the club.

“We’re 40 years of Rotary this year and we felt we wanted to put our mark on something that would be there for the future,” she said.

“And what better way than use a tree from the botanic gardens?

“I mean, when that came up it was just such a wonderful thing.

“Hopefully it will be here for many years to come with people using it.”

Mrs Frauenfelder lives near Bungam Community Garden and has seen it develop from almost an empty lot less than two years ago.

Now there is a blooming array of plants carefully tended by a number of committed residents.

“There’s a lady who lives down the road who’s here often at 5 o'clock in the morning,” Mrs Frauenfelder said.

“There’s the gentleman across the road, there’s others.

“You’ve got to have a support team and that’s what they’ve done is support it.”

The pin oak was transported by crane early on Friday before about six people from the Wagirra Trail project worked with chainsaws to transform the wood.

Before long the pieces began to take shape into park furniture that serves a purpose but also complements the natural setting. Most of the work was completed on the day, with just some tidying up to come.

The seats and table will help Bungam Community Garden extend its activities to barbecues and evening get-togethers.

Installing some type of shade might well become the next goal of the keen gardeners.

Mr Martin thanked everyone involved in the project, the first of several the club planned for its 40^th year.

“We just need some more trees to come down and we’ll be right,” he joked.