FREEMANS Reach resident George Greentree has lived in one street for his entire life, and the only way to stop him living there would be to carry him out in a box according to the man himself.
The now 57-year-old grew up on Blacktown Road in Freemans Reach, moved house once, and then again and now lives happily in the same street, which he has no plans of leaving.
“The Hawkesbury is home. That is the only way I can describe it,” Greentree said.
“I don't know what it is about the Hawkesbury that I love so much but I just do.”
His family has been in the area since the late 1700s, after two brothers were shipped in from England.
George’s ancestor received a parcel of land from the government after his family moved out to Australia and it has led to many generations of Greentrees still living in the area.
His dad still lives in the street, his brother is one street over and his sister lives at Kurrajong.
But Greentree’s kids have broken tradition. One lives at McGraths Hill, but another has ventured out to Baulkham Hills, while another resides at Kings Langley now.
Greentree said he was sad that his children had moved away, but accepted it was a fact of life.
Nevertheless, Greentree said he was very comfortable in his current lodgings.
“I'll never leave this house unless I am carried out in a box,” he said.
“It is just the way I am, I don't ask anyone to be like I am. My kids don't understand it, they've gone off to university and have professional jobs which have taken them toward the city, which breaks my heart but that is just life.”
Greentree said the thing he was most proud of in life was raising his three children as a single parent, while simultaneously running a business which saw him up at 12.50am everyday of the week.
Greentree said he loved living at Freemans Reach, even though it had become a bit more crowded over the years.
“I've actually got neighbours now, which I didn't for a very long time,” he said.
“There was a time when you stopped and gawked at a car when it drove by.
“The bloke across the road, if his lawn needs mowing I just do it, we help each other out, that is the beauty of where I live.
“Here if you see your neighbour you stop and talk to them, most people don't even know their neighbour.”
Greentree is also the longest serving member of the Freemans Reach Cricket Club.
- George Greentree is one of the faces in the We Are Hawkesbury: 100 Faces Photographic Exhibition, which runs from June 29 to July 2 at the Richmond School of Arts. The exhibition is open 10am until 3pm each day, and entry is via gold coin donation which will go to the Hawkesbury Living Cancer Trust.