DESPITE the tragedy of losing their beloved home 'Glen Cush' in a fire, Glad and Ray Jones of Belbora have vowed to once again open their camellia-filled gardens for charity.
Glad and Ray were devastated when their 40-year-old homestead was enveloped in flames recently.
Unable to raise the alarm at first because the phone line had melted, Ray drove a tractor to a neighbour's house to seek help. The building was all but destroyed by the time three Rural Fire Service brigades arrived from Krambach, Nabiac and Gloucester.
Just days later, after family, friends and the wider community rallied in their support, Glad and Ray were guests of Gloucester Rotary Club and declared the annual Open Day planned for Sunday, July 13 will go ahead.
"By then the remains of the house will have been removed. There are a few parts of the garden that are scorched, but the camellias will be in flower and we want to again share their beauty with everyone," Glad said this week.
"Everyone has been so wonderful. We are safe, although we have lost our possessions. We only have memories. But we will start again. We will rebuild."
It is a shock to all who have enjoyed Glen Cush gardens over the last seven or eight years that the house is no more. Built by Glad and Ray around poles cut on their property about four decades ago, it was a house ahead of its time.
With the use of vast expanses of uncurtained glass, and magical clerestory windows, it invited the outside in. And what an 'outside' it was, the magnificent gardens growing year by year, Ray and Glad adding more camellias as gifts to each other for birthdays, anniversaries and other significant occasions.
Since opening the gardens for charity almost a decade ago, the Rotary Club of Gloucester has benefited from the day's proceeds, handing them over to help construct Narraweema Wing for aged persons at Gloucester Hospital.
Each year tables and chairs are set out on the Glen Cush lawns and hundreds of visitors from all over the State enjoy a stroll among the gardens, a sausage sandwich cooked by the Rotarians, and morning and afternoon teas of delicious cakes and slices.
On many other occasions during the year, Glad and Ray graciously invite garden lovers and groups into their home and garden, and if donations are offered, they are directed towards a contribution box for Rotary charities.
With all their precious antiques gone, and a lifetime's mementoes of raising their family of two sons and two daughters, Glad and Ray will find it difficult to replace what they once had.
A collection of the poems she has written over the years and given to others has been returned to her, and Gloucester Rotary has even re-framed its certificate of Appreciation it gave many years ago, and presented it to Ray and Glad this week.
"We've started to re-build already, you see," said Glad. "God is looking after us."
Glen Cush Camellia Gardens will be open to the public on Sunday July 13 between 11am and 4pm.
Entrance fee of $5 includes afternoon tea. Steak or sausage sandwiches will be available at additional cost. Proceeds go to Rotary's district charities.