Carterton Mayor John Booth, left, unveiling the new ‘love seat’. PHOTO/SUPPLIED
ELISA VORSTER
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An 80-year-old oak tree and a five-year labour of love were the perfect components for creating what could be Carterton’s answer to Tinder.
The town’s newest attraction, referred to as the ‘love seat’, was unveiled in Memorial Square on Sunday by Carterton Mayor John Booth, who said he had already spotted an elderly couple using the seat in a scandalous hand-holding display.
Although, he wasn’t sure all couples would experience the same effects.
“I jokingly said it could be the scrappers seat – I could sit one way and my wife could sit the other way with her arms folded.”
The seat was carved out of an oak tree from Sue Laurence’s property on Armstrong Ave after it was brought down during a storm in 2013.
“It was a dark and stormy night,” Laurence said, laughing.
“The power went out and I looked out the front but I couldn’t see because the tree was in the way.”
She said the tree sat in her front yard for a long time because none of the furniture makers she contacted were interested in using it.
That’s where Carterton resident and woodworking business owner Peter King came in.
He had the tools and the skills to turn the tree into something the community could share.
“You do what you’re good at to help the town,” he said.
His son, Dan, did most of the carving, with help from the Lions who sanded and oiled it and Left Tech Transport who donated the time and machinery to install the seat.
Laurence said the shape of the seat is often referred to as a ‘love seat’, which she said was very fitting as “Carterton is a lovely place”.
Although the oak tree was one of the things she loved about her property, she was thankful it was still part of the town.
Booth said the seat showed the generosity the Carterton community has been based upon for decades.
“I think it’s bloody amazing.
“In this day in age so many communities are so disjointed people pass each other and don’t even say ‘hello’ – well that doesn’t happen in Carterton.”
