Centennial showed Earth Day LOVE
By Kathy Rowe
Community Earth Day on April 20 was once again a massive success. The weather cooperated and families flocked to the Port Union C.C. throughout the day to participate in all the education and activities that we had to offer.
There are so many community players to thank. To start, I want to thank Rudy Kirpal who barbecued lunch for over 100 volunteers. On a more poignant note, Rudy generously donated funds to cover the cost of the materials for the cedar planters for the kids. Rudy did this in memory of his dog, Tyson, who passed away in February at the age of 11. Rudy recalled, “Tyson’s unconditional love and affection inspired others to adopt dogs of their own. He brought so much joy into everyone’s lives. He will forever be in our thoughts and in our hearts.”
Big thanks to the Port Union Seniors who registered area cleanup volunteers, donated tea and coffee and served lunch. Robert Lalonde and Zane Biblow did a wonderful job preparing and helping with the many workshops where kids built their own cedar planters.
Many thanks to West Rouge Sports and Recreation President Louise Bonnycastle who prepared all of the materials for the children’s crafts and grew umpteen seedlings for the planters. Thank you to Repair Café and to the many educational Earth Day themed displays. The displays consisted of: Rouge Butterflyway, Friends of the Rouge Watershed, West Hill Lions Rain Barrels, the Port Union Youth Group, and Catharine Gregory’s community herb garden beds. We couldn’t have an Earth Day event without you all.
I want to acknowledge filmmaker Jamie Day Fleck who kindly screened her film In My Backyard for residents who were happy to learn about the art of backyard farming. Thanks to library staff, particularly Shakib, for the use of their space, screen and sound equipment.
Paper shredding company Iron Mountain donated their time and services again this year and the community loved this. Thank you Sue Anfang for the delicious donuts that were offered while folks waited by the Iron Mountain truck. The free compost courtesy of Deputy Mayor Jennifer McKelvie was a welcome boost for our community gardeners. The compost was gone by 1 p.m.
Kudos to our Earth Day partners, the 2nd Highland Creek Scouts, who executed a big fundraising recycling drive over at the West Rouge Community Centre. Dozens of area residents were able to drop off their electronic waste, textiles and more. Less for the landfill!
I want to acknowledge Port Union Community Recreation Programmer Rob McMulkin. Rob allowed Earth Day to take over the recreation centre and his cooperation was much appreciated.
Our Community Earth Day would not have been possible without the many volunteers and the combined funds from the CCRA, WRSR and WRCA.
Lastly, I want to thank our residents for coming out to such an important event. We had a huge number of volunteers who participated in the area cleanup. Our community is cleaner and our residents are more environmentally conscious than ever now!