Hi everyone, Spring seems to be on its way in Bickford. All our trees are leafing out except the usual latecomers, Kentucky coffee trees, red oaks, and beeches. The blue scillas are already fading but tulips and re-bud trees are about to bloom. In short, a great time for a walk through the park. Politically, however, the situation is not nearly as bright. Our premier is blasting a path through our environment that is as big as his girth. The immediate damage to our parks comes from his decision to cut the developer fees which used to finance, at least in part, improvements in parks. Consequently, the city issued a plea for more volunteer help to maintain parks and green spaces. Locally, we have had frequent turnovers of parks supervisors for our area, which makes it difficult to establish a reliable interaction with the Parks Department. I have no idea yet who our current supervisor is.
On this coming Sunday (April 23) at 10.30, our new councilor Dianne Saxe will be at Eggleton park, although I do not know why. If she shows up it might be a good opportunity to ask her questions and invite her to take a quick tour through Bickford Park. On that morning we could also do some work: some of us have already cleaned up section of the park, but at the south end and at the NE corner there is still some garbage. This would also be a good time to cut back invasive trees, such as Manitoba maple and Buckthorn, the latter non-native and an aggressive spreader (bring clippers).
If you can come out Sunday morning around 10.30 and help, that would be great. Sometime in early May we may also do some ornamental plating at the entrances to Bickford, so save your surplus (and robust) perennials. Happy Spring! Bernd