Deerly Beloved - Spirit Park Cleanup 2013
by Glenna BarronIt has been said that Anmore deer will eat the siding off your house if they are hungry enough. The deer have never had a go at my house siding, though the bears have, but that’s another story. Given that the deer prance through and gobble the high-end buffets that are our gardens (my husband and I can’t help but groan as we drive past new houses with the types of hedges that are guaranteed deer food), one would hope that those clovenhoofed menaces could at least, once a year, develop some desire to help the community, uprooting and eating the horsetail, grasses and sundry other weeds that choke our Spirit Park beds. But of course, that will never happen. They prefer to hang out near the forest edge, watching us toil to get the park beds looking good. When we leave, they move in to sample the new growth on the plants, making some of them look like poorly designed lampposts. They are smart little miscreants. Last Sunday, 29 volunteers showed up to weed the beds in Spirit Park. They worked hard until a combination of heavy rain, snow, hail and high wind made it too uncomfortable to continue. Tuesday afternoon, a group of seven from the Anmore Garden Club worked for a few hours to tidy things further. In the end, a giant pile of weeds and prunings sat outside the park and the beds looked much better. Each year, I see familiar faces and some new faces at the park cleanup, and am reminded that the spirit of volunteerism is alive in Anmore; that there are people here who reach out and give back to the community. You don’t have to look far to meet someone who volunteers in the village. The Spirit Park Cleanup is only one of many events in our village where volunteers have a positive impact and it is one of the things that
makes Anmore such a great place to live. That...and perhaps the deer.
A very heartfelt thanks to the wonderful volunteers who worked in Spirit Park
by Glenna BarronIt has been said that Anmore deer will eat the siding off your house if they are hungry enough. The deer have never had a go at my house siding, though the bears have, but that’s another story. Given that the deer prance through and gobble the high-end buffets that are our gardens (my husband and I can’t help but groan as we drive past new houses with the types of hedges that are guaranteed deer food), one would hope that those clovenhoofed menaces could at least, once a year, develop some desire to help the community, uprooting and eating the horsetail, grasses and sundry other weeds that choke our Spirit Park beds. But of course, that will never happen. They prefer to hang out near the forest edge, watching us toil to get the park beds looking good. When we leave, they move in to sample the new growth on the plants, making some of them look like poorly designed lampposts. They are smart little miscreants. Last Sunday, 29 volunteers showed up to weed the beds in Spirit Park. They worked hard until a combination of heavy rain, snow, hail and high wind made it too uncomfortable to continue. Tuesday afternoon, a group of seven from the Anmore Garden Club worked for a few hours to tidy things further. In the end, a giant pile of weeds and prunings sat outside the park and the beds looked much better. Each year, I see familiar faces and some new faces at the park cleanup, and am reminded that the spirit of volunteerism is alive in Anmore; that there are people here who reach out and give back to the community. You don’t have to look far to meet someone who volunteers in the village. The Spirit Park Cleanup is only one of many events in our village where volunteers have a positive impact and it is one of the things that
makes Anmore such a great place to live. That...and perhaps the deer.
A very heartfelt thanks to the wonderful volunteers who worked in Spirit Park