My Place: Cheryl Schembri

Cheryl Schembri is president of the Sunbury Garden Club. (Damjan Janevski) 289293_02

Cherished Sunbury local Cheryl Schembri has lived a wonderful life, working as a nurse and later in life starting the Sunbury Garden Club. She tells Elsie Lange about her connection to the town she’s seen change over her decades there.

Tell us a bit about you and your connection to Sunbury.

I first came to Sunbury from England in November 1974 with my first husband and two daughters and bought a house in Hume Street. Sunbury was a very small township then and we had to drive to Meadow Fair shopping centre, Broadmeadows and later Airport West for the bigger shops. My husband died in 1977 and after a while I trained as a division two nurse at Toorak Road School and then [went] onto the Women’s Hospital and trained. I began part-time work at Greenvale Geriatric Centre and in 1998 moved to Broadmeadows Health Service working in the rehabilitation ward, until I retired in 2010.

I joined Sunbury Garden Club in 1989 and became secretary after the president Maria Kelders died. In 1991, I became president and have been president ever since.

During my time I have organised many speakers to come to the club’s monthly meetings, talking on various subjects pertaining to gardening. Plus [there’s been] over 80 trips, including garden walks, bus trips and car trips. In 1993, the club was asked if we would like to be involved in the station renovation and create a garden there and we are still doing it as Stationeers now. There have been a few renovations and a major change when the electrification came to Sunbury in 2011, so now there is a totally different garden there with three club members working there, whereas years ago we would have regular working bees with a roster for mowing the lawn and now it is done [by someone else].

I have received the gold John Pascoe Fawkner medal Award from the Royal Horticultural Society, nominated for the Kathleen Aitken Outstanding citizen award and very honoured to receive the Australian Day Citizen Award from the Sunbury Historical and Heritage Society in 2021.

What do you like about where you live?

I like Sunbury because we now have all the shops and services we need without travelling out of town.

What, if anything, would you change about where you live?

The only thing I would like to see is a museum, arts centre and theatre built at the old Caloola buildings.

Where is your favourite local place to spend time?

My favourite place is spending time in the Railway Garden and talking to locals who comment on the garden. Also having coffee with friends in the square.

Tell us something people would be surprised to know about you.

I used to make tea for the Cricket Club in Sunbury at Langama Park many years ago.