August 15, 2003 Celebrating the Work of the Volunteer Gardeners in our Area

Many horticultural Societies and other groups and individuals make a remarkable contribution to the appearance of our communities. Today I will look at a couple of examples that have caught my eye. The inclusion of the name heritage in the North Bay Heritage Gardeners Interpretive Tour Guide encouraged me to buy their Interpretive Tour Guide booklet and tour the waterfront. The tour was a very pleasant experience. I met one of the many volunteer teams working on their particular area. The team gathers every Wednesday morning and like the many other teams have a light-hearted name --in this case appropriately - the Morning Glories. 

When the North Bay Waterfront was opened in 1987 there were over 50 islands of shrubs, trees, perennials and grasses installed along the shoreline. Over time with funding problems and other distractions, the islands were neglected and needed help. In 1996 the Living Fit group started to work on the insurmountable task. In 1997 the Heritage Gardeners Program was established. The North Bay Horticultural Society has its own jurisdiction and workload elsewhere and they cooperate with the Heritage Gardeners.

The Heritage Gardeners Interpretive Tour Guide provides a map of the waterfront showing the many gardens, lists which team overseas each garden and describes the gardens. The City of North Bay has hired a Heritage Gardens Coordinator Dorothy Stewart who has an office in the Parks Department at City Hall and helps with the development and maintenance of the gardens. Various training sessions take place and there is an annual symposium open to other groups. The North Bay Master Gardeners, who have special training from Guelph University are also involved providing their expertise. Copies of the Guide Book are available for $5.00 at the City Hall Parks Department and at the Regional Information Centre at Seymour and the Bypass for $5.00. The book is not necessary to enjoy the gardens, but provides some interesting history and philosophy and describes each of the gardens and is a handy guide for the gardener who wants to learn as well as enjoy.

Richard Lebel examines the sign in Gordon Dufoe Park in Mattawa

Mattawa Group Blossoms

The Mattawa Horticultural Society is a small but enthusiastic group of gardeners. They are doing some great work around Mattawa. The group, under the leadership of Richard Lebel, has taken on several projects and have more in mind. I took notice of their work because of my interest in the work of painter Gordon Dafoe who has a park named in his honour on the north side of the Mattawa River about a kilometer west of the bridge, on Bissett Street.

I was instrumental in establishing the park in 1988 but it needed some tender love and care. The park benches, flower boxes and garbage containers have been refurbished. Lots of weeding and new flowers have made the park a relaxing place to visit. The Gordon Dafoe sign will be repainted.

The Lions Club Park on the Ottawa River has been cleaned up and the flower boxes, benches, etc. repainted. The Mattawa Katimavik young people made a very nice contribution digging foundations for the concrete slabs for the picnic tables and painting.

Katimavik youth group painting flower box in Mattawa's Lions Park.

Six sturdy new picnic tables have been built and placed on concrete slabs along the south side of the Mattawa River in Park Mattawan west of Main Street, and many flowers were added. Much of this work would not have been done without donations of concrete, lumber, paint, etc. A recent newsletter lists the donors. New donations are appreciated and deserved. It also mentions their garden tour in late June. The society also participated in the Mattawa Forestry Appreciation Day with several log flower boxes made from large logs by the chain saw workers. The boxes were placed around the community and filled with flowers. The group is also busy fundraising and their annual blue spruce sales jumped from 100 to 150 trees this year.

Congratulations to these groups and the many others who put in many valuable hours to make our community beautiful.