Coves Clean-up a Success!
Project: Coves Cleanup
The air was warm, the sun was shining and the Coves Subwatershed got a little bit cleaner.
From 9:00am to noon on Saturday April 18, about 100 volunteers signed up to plant trees, pick up trash and remove graffiti at several sites in and around the Coves. Base camp was located at Greenway Park where volunteers were assigned their tasks.
Volunteers sign in at Greenway Park
Why Greenway Park? Greenway Park is the stretch of open space between the Coves ponds and the Thames River making it an ideal place for tree planting. At one grassy spot at the tip of the West Pond volunteers encountered numerous artefacts as they were digging holes for new trees and shrubs. Many volunteers commented that they were feeling more like archaeologists than tree planters!
These were some of the more interesting items that our tree planters dug up between the West Pond and Greenside Avenue
Volunteers of all ages planted dozens of native trees and shrubs to expand the buffer zone at the edge of the West Pond
Eager volunteers and staff also fanned out to places such as Euston Park, Murray Park and Briscoe Woods where there was no shortage of tires, shopping carts, recyclable containers, construction waste and regular ol' garbage.
A hula hoop, a smashed computer monitor and kiddy pool were among 75 bags of garbage, 20 bags of recyclables, 17 tires and 12 shopping carts that were collected and properly disposed of on Saturday.
Four members and staff from Youth Opportunities Unlimited kindly volunteered as Coves Captains to help supervise groups of first-time tree planters.
The Coves Clean-up is part of the larger Thames River Clean-up, which brings hundreds of people together every year, all with the collective enthusiasm and motivation to keep our community clean and green.
The Friends of the Coves thank everyone who participated in the 18th annual Coves Clean-up. Special recognition goes out to the Hillside Church group that focused their efforts on cleaning up Euston Park and Southcrest Ravine. Another big thank you goes out to Ed Holder, MP for London West, who generously provided pizza and refreshments for the hungry volunteers. Thank you also to the London Canoe Club for going out into the Coves ponds into normally inaccessible places. And thank you to Youth Opportunities Unlimited for assisting in the tree plantings at Greenway Park.
Many thanks to all who came out to make the 18th Annual Coves Clean-up a success!
William J. Lyons, Community Involvement Coordinator