A pōhutukawa tree plaque was unveiled on May 6 to mark the coronation of King Charles III at a park in Thames named after his great-great-great grandmother, Queen Victoria.
Attended by around 30 people, the event at Victoria Park was part of a $1 million planting effort by Trees That Count in partnership with the Department of Conservation to mark the occasion across Aotearoa.
Thames-Coromandel Mayor Len Salt said the event was an opportunity for the community to celebrate a new chapter in the history of the United Kingdom and New Zealand.
“We need to acknowledge the history that’s gone before and the challenges of our own history, but at the same time we need to celebrate all the positive things and the strengths that we have as part of the commonwealth,” he said.
Former district Mayor Sandra Goudie sent a letter to the monarch last year inviting him to visit Thames so he could honour Thames-born RAF officer Sir Keith Park. Mayor Salt said he supported the invitation and he would be writing to the sovereign again to let him know he was welcome to visit the district the next time he was in the country.
“The billy is on, the scones are in the oven and the marmalade sandwiches are on the way,” he said.
