Columnists
Finding the silver linings
It’s been a tough week, what with celebrity suicides, an unpredictable neophyte cost-cutter elected as premier, and Donald Trump turning nasty towards our Justin. It calls for some silver linings to be found. I nominate three of them.
The first silver lining came last week at the County’s information session on the way ahead for the infamous vacant convenience store at the corner of Wharf and Main Streets—a puzzle created by the County’s purchase of the store so as to avoid the problems that may arise with Lane Creek running under buildings. The original idea was to demolish the store and put in a parkette. Public opinon went in favour of preserving the existing building, or erecting a new building of some sort.
What was remarkable about the meeting was how adroit Neil Carbone, the Director of Community Development and Strategic Initiatives for the County, has been. He transformed the debate—which was poised to be a battle between ‘preservationists who didn’t care about cost’ and ‘practical people who did’—into a win/win scenario that presented the preservation of the building as the least cost, all in, option. He managed to demonstrate that a thoroughgoing approach, taking expressed concerns into account and using clear criteria, had been employed to evaluate the options. Wellington councillor Jim Dunlop tells me that, assuming the details can be worked out and the costing adhered to, he supports the staff recommendation. It may well be that this project will get through council without further rancour.
A second silver lining appeared from north of Frankford, in the form of a visit to the Quinte Botanical Gardens, a new development in its first full season. The owners, the husband and wife team of Deanna Groves and John Riedl, spent nine years planning the gardens while running their landscaping business. Over the past two years they have planted some 40,000 plants over a six-acre spread, with lots more still to put in.
Even with a pre-summer visit and an unfinished garden, the results are impressive. A series of gardens—a colour garden, a white garden, a Chinese/Japanese garden, a birdbee- butterfly garden, an edible garden, a scented garden, to name a few—are connected by a winding pathway that takes about an hour to navigate.
To talk to an enthusiastic Ms. Groves for even a few minutes is to be persuaded that the gardens are a labour of love, brought to fruition by people who are knowledgeable in both garden design and business planning. Garden tourism, according to Ms. Groves, appeals to a broad swath of society regardless of class, income and ability. She also points out that there are no other public botanical gardens between Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa.
The gardens are open daily except for Wednesdays, and charge $10 admission. They are located at 664 Glen Ross Road, which is reached by following the Frankford Road spoke of the Trenton roundabout and just continuing through the Frankford traffic lights. The website can be found by searching “Quinte Botanical Gardens.”
In fairness to our home base, I note that Wellington has been doing its bit for garden tourism. The PEC Lavender Farm runs an annual festival (this year, July 7 and 8), that regularly attracts busloads of day visitors. The late Drew MacCandlish’s designs for the Oeno Gallery sculpture garden, and for the Newsroom Suites garden, still attract attention. The new heritage garden at the Wellington Museum, and the garden at the Wellington branch library, are lovingly tended to by friends of the two.
The County Garden and Flower Show is to be held this Saturday at the Wellington Town Hall. The Prince Edward County garden tour, featuring 14 local gardens, is to be held the next week on Sunday June 24. The Belleville and area Town and Country garden tour will be held on Saturday, July 7.
On to my third silver lining. Are you tired of wall-towall hockey, basketball, Ford or Trump? Well, a treat lies in store for you. The FIFA world cup of soccer tournament starts tomorrow, and promises to air up to three games a day until the winner is crowned on July 14. By sheer coincidence, my old 19-inch TV is being replaced by a 49-incher, just in time for me to be able to spot the ball when it is in play. Some things were meant to be.
With the impending barrage of games in her sights, my wife promises an early and frequent return to the Quinte Botanical Gardens. And speaking of ball handling, if I get bored watching soccer, I can always go to the County website and admire Neil Carbone’s chart evaluating the Lane Creek development alternatives.
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