The Chamber would like to honour Dr Hewitt for the amazing array of trees he brought to Bellingen and encourage people to plant a food tree or ten! Half of the money raised will go towards the restoration of the Dr Hewitt Arboretum at the Bellingen Hospital. A raffle will be held with one major prize only - a Permablitz team to come and permablitz your garden! (Permablitz turns lawn into edible gardens)

Dr George Hewitt was born in Sydney on the 27th November 1900 and moved to Bellingen in 1927 and immediately became interested in the local hospital, its growth and advancement, firstly with additions to the building and the introduction of advancements in medicinal services. In 1950 Dr Hewitt hit the Australian and world headlines when he delivered the Sara Quads. Although still relatively uncommon, quads in 1950 were extremely rare, especially in a small country hospital like Bellingen.

Dr Hewitt was also interested in trees and spent a lifetime planting and cultivating thousands of trees in Bellingen and especially around the Hospital Arboretum. His work has turned the surrounding countryside into a rural showpiece. The many different species of trees are a feature of the Bellingen landscape and are due almost solely to the work of Dr Hewitt. He imported seeds from overseas countries, growing many varieties in Australia for the first time, later to be propagated in other areas where interest was shown, including the Sydney botanical Gardens. One such shrub was the Tibouchina, an avenue of which was planted by Bellingen rotary of which he was a foundation member in honour of his work. Dr Hewitt said “I used to try and plant 100 trees a year. I planted poplars and cottonwoods along the valley. I planted a few willows from Chile and some jacarandas from the Argentine including some white jacarandas and a pink jacaranda. We also have imported trees from China and Taiwan.”