Keep Tillsonburg Beautiful Day
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Saturday was Keep Tillsonburg Beautiful Day.
More than 100 people pitched in to clean up and plant trees, said Paul DeCloet of the Tillsonburg Lions, and chair of the Keep Tillsonburg Beautiful Day committee, a subcommittee of the Heritage and Beautification committee.
“A lot of people will come and pick up garbage in their own chosen locations,” said DeCloet.
“I believe this is the ninth year we’ve planted trees, and the third year at this location.”
“A lot of people went down the pathway,” said Sue Saelens, who was in charge of Saturday’s cleanup in the Memorial Park area.
“Some worked in that area,” she said, pointing toward and area between the baseball fields and the lake, “and we worked around the complex.”
“And the Sea Scouts did quite a lot of work around Lake Lisgar,” said DeCloet.
“They were in boats out on the water,” nodded Brian Stephenson.
“Quite a few people do their own thing, and they all contribute to keep Tillsonburg beautiful,” said DeCloet. “All aspects are equal and important.
“Kelly Batt, and his staff, do all the background work to make it possible. Without their support and leadership, this wouldn’t take place.”
Tillsonburg’s Guiding groups stepped up Saturday with participation from the 2nd Sparks, 4th Brownies, 1st and 2nd Guides, and 1st Pathfinders.
“Not all the girls are here today,” said Dorothy Cooper from the 4th Brownies, “but with all the (Guiding) units we are about 76 girls strong.
“We focused on tree planting today, but they did pick up some garbage. Nice to say there wasn’t as much garbage this year. Nice to see citizens in general being more respectful of their environment. In other years we’ve been down here and there’s been all kinds of garbage we pulled out. So it’s much cleaner than it was – not near as much as it used to be.
“People are being more responsible… at least I’d like to believe they are.”
The cleanup ties in well with the Guiding programs, said Cooper.
“Leave nature the way we found it, always leave things better than how we found it. No trace camping and hiking. Always respect nature.
“It’s good exposure to come out and help, and it’s one of our mandates – to help other people – and this helps our community. The tree planting does fit in with some of the program work, but that’s just an added bonus.”
“It’s incredible,” said DeCloet, looking around the Memorial Park Pavilion where dozens of young participants were enjoying lunch provided by Chrissy’s Catering.
Numerous community sponsors contributed toward Saturday’s cleanup and tree planting.
DeCloet said it was encouraging to see the number of children and teens who chipped in.
“That’s the nicest part about today. Those children did an incredible job planting trees. I was really impressed and pleased. And they were enthusiastic about it – that was the nice part.”
A total of 125 trees were planted along the Trans Canada Trail near Fourth Street – 50 black oak, 50 red oak, and 25 red pine.
“The significance comes in the yearly, incremental gains,” said DeCloet. “That’s the best way to describe tree planting – you must continue to do it all the time. All together, over nine or 10 years, we’ve planted more than 1,500 trees.”
“We were planting in very rocky soil, but these were northern Ontario type trees, so they’ll like that rocky soil,” said Cooper. “We were planting them between old (railway) ties.”
The 2nd Guides returned with rocks they picked up along the way. The stones will be cleaned, painted to identify the Guides, and preserved at the planting site.
“They’re going to be ‘milestones,’” said 2nd Tillsonburg Guide leader Cathy Campos. “Just to commemorate all their hard work. These young ladies – all of them – have gone above and beyond to recycle, reduce, reuse... enjoy the environment but protect it at the same time.
“They want to leave their marks so that their kids, and their kids, can go back and see that tree and know that they planted that tree.
“And an extra thanks today to Kelly (Batt) who just took us on a little turtle tour (at Lake Lisgar),” Campos summed up. “We saw little ones and some big 20-pounders. Definitely, this is going to be a place we can bring Girl Guides for years to come.”