Bruce Middleton and Glenda Samuels-Greenidge helped sort some of the stuff that was brought to Port Union C.C. for the Scouts’ recycling drive on April 27.


By Denise Bacon

CCRA, West Rouge Sports and Recreation Association, Port Union Seniors and 2nd Highland Creek Scouts hosted a fantastic Earth Day celebration on Saturday, April 27. Despite the cold and blustery winds, many residents still came out to Port Union Community Centre, which was buzzing with activities.

Children and grownups learned about the terrible impact of plastic waste in rivers, lakes and oceans. Mikhail Goshu, a Grade 5 student, said he learned a lot about the effect of pollution when he heard that 100 pieces of plastic, 50 pieces of Styrofoam and four flip-flops were found in the stomach of a dead whale. Mikhail will be a strong supporter of keeping the Earth clean!

Zane Biblow has been running the birdhouse workshop for kids for about 20 years. Kids and parents built  birdhouses with the kits that Zane prepared again this year. Four-year-old Priyanka Raghubeer, her little brother Pranav, and three-year-old Zoya Khattak were excited to take home their treasures so that birds would come to visit. Jacob Campbell, 8, was quite a pro as he assembled his bird house all by himself!

Grade 8 student, Zoe Lee, helped the little ones make bird feeders with pine cones dipped in Crisco and then rolled in birdseed. Emily Campbell and sisters Christina and Emily Mangos were up to their elbows in birdseed and fun as they made their feeders.

Outside, the 2nd Highland Creek Scouts had cars, trucks and vans lined up for most of the day to drop off recyclable items. Over 100 people from Beavers, Cubs, Scouts, Venturers, Rovers and Scouters as well as  parents helped with this monumental effort.

The community looks very clean, thanks to everyone who picked up trash and recyclables in the neighbourhood. Sarah Musatheek, a Grade 10 student, and her mom, Katheeja were happy to do their part to clean up.

Thanks to the Port Union Seniors, all volunteers were treated to lunch just as the sun was breaking through to wrap up the Earth Day events.