Gift worthy of the name
THE former owners of a Freshwater park have described the honour of having the plot of land named after them as emotional.
Gerald and Denise Strooper have lived in Morris St for nearly 50 years and yesterday the Maree St drainage reserve was renamed in tribute to the couple and their three children.
The pair met in Cairns after Mr Strooper arrived in the Far North from Holland and bought the land which was transferred to the council as part of a residential subdivision in Morris St in the early 1970s.
“It was quite emotional, we were quite pleased with it all,” Mrs Strooper said.
“I was born in Cairns and I’ve lived here all my life.
“When we first bought this block the road only came to the corner of Petersen St.
“There are a lot more houses now but there is still a nice rural feel to Freshwater.”
Mrs Strooper said she would have loved her three children to be at the unveiling.
Work commitments kept their son and daughter, who live in Cairns, from attending and another son lives in Berlin where he is an opera singer.
Mr Strooper is a life member of the Freshwater Pony Club, having been actively involved in the early days of its establishment and in the building of the club house.
Cairns Regional Council received a submission from the Stratford and Freshwater Community Association last year requesting the reserve be renamed to recognise the Strooper family’s long association with the suburb.
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