Engage the community
Re: Lest we forget, Sept. 15-21
Seanus Howley “can’t stress enough how unfortunate it is we're spending this kind of time over what kind of tree we should have.” Much better use of time if everyone would just agree with him, I suppose. Well, if the community had really been engaged during the process we might be more agreeable. Instead, we were treated to a Jan. 26 public meeting where the district’s landscape architect unveiled “the plan” and informed us that the memorial trees were coming down. It was pointed out these were historical trees and therefore protected. This as it turns out was the extent of the “input” from the community. The district’s plan shows Red Maples (kissing cousins to the ones cut down) all in a line from Fernwood towards the school, right beside the new chain link fence. I suggest everyone interested go and take a look for yourself and decide if there is enough room to plant 14 trees and allow them to grow for the next hundred years. I respectfully suggest that the replanting of these historically significant trees has been “business as usual” for S.D. 61. Now lets get those Red Maples in the ground before anyone makes more trouble.
Floyd Martin,Victoria