Siblings Maureen Barnett, Dave Tucker and Jan Hall, with family members Jayde Tucker and Donna Tucker.
A new playground and park has opened at Brentwood Forest, Bellbird Park.
Tucker Family Park includes a 9.2m play tower, outdoor gym and 1600m2 dog-off-leash area.
The land that the park is on used to be the Tucker family’s, 360 acre dairy farm.
Redbank Plains’ Maureen Barnett (nee Tucker) recalls that time and the family farm, Buchanan Vale, as ‘the best in the world’.
“My parents, Ralph and Jane Tucker, bought the farm in 1951. My brother Dave and sister Jan grew up there, as we had the farm for 18 years,” she said.
“We had all the animals you could imagine and we used to have a lot of fun.
“Our bike ride would take between five minutes and five hours depending on how many animals we would stop to pat, or how long we would spend scavenging through the bush or the dump.
“We would milk twice a day and dad would drive the cream into Goodna station, where it would then go by rail to the butter factory at Booval.”
It was common for the farm to have children everywhere playing, and quite often the Dinmore-Riverview Scouts would hold camps on the farm, where the children learnt all sorts of skills.
Owing to drought and tough times, the Tuckers were forced to sell Buchanan Vale.
“I had donated some old sketches from around the Goodna area to Cr Paul Tully. We got talking about the family history and then we found out a park was going to be named after us,” Mrs Barnett said.
“It is just absolutely magic. My parents would be so proud.
“Maybe mum and dad are watching down and having a big smile. They just loved that place, we all did.”
The Tucker Family Park was officially opened recently by Division 2 Cr Paul Tully.
“When the opportunity came along for the park to be named, I thought of the Tuckers straight away,” he said.
“The park is quite close to where their homestead used to be.
“It will eventually be connected to the existing Rotary Park with a $1m linear pathway through the scenic surroundings and bushland.”
A free community event ‘Get Fit in the Forest’ event will be held this Saturday, March 10, hosted by TV personality and fitness guru Tim Robards.
Sign up for a free six week boot camp by Just-Her Fitness, grab a sausage from the sausage sizzle and let the kids loose on the jumping castle. The activities will run from 9am – 11am at the Tucker Family Park, Brentwood Forest, Alesana Drive, Bellbird Park.
AVID Property Group general manager Bruce Harper said there would be a separate event to celebrate the opening of the dog-off-leash area on Saturday, March 24 from 9am – 11am. It will include a free dog wash and dog agility classes.
“We’ll be celebrating these great features of Tucker Family Park with a series of fun events for the whole family, pets included,” he said.
“This weekend we are launching our six-week boot camp, we really want to help residents get familiar with our outdoor gym.”
For those who can’t make it to the boot camp, Brentwood Forest has commissioned a unique app developed specifically for their outdoor gym for people to download, which helps plan workouts and gives you a chance to invite other uses to come along for a session.