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Volume 3, Issue 21
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
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Leamington Peace Garden marks 200 years of peace By Bryan Jessop
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From left to right, Leamington Manager of Culture and Recreation Amanda Smith, Binational Alliance Executive Director Arlene White, Leamington Councillors Chris Chopchick and John Jacobs, Deputy Mayor Charlie Wright, Mayor John Paterson, Southwest Region Project Facilitator Kyra Knapp and Leamington Marina Manager Ronan Oliver perform a ribbon cutting ceremony for the Leamington Peace Garden Friday, June 15. (SUN Photo)
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Leamington’s role in the War of 1812 may have been relatively minor, but its involvement in commemorating the event’s bicentennial has been anything but. On Friday, June 15, residents of the area converged on Leamington Marina for the dedication of the Leamington Peace Garden, part of a binational program involving communities in Ontario and the U.S. states of New York and in one case, Georgia. Leamington’s Peace Garden was built by its public works department over a course of about six weeks, featuring Canadian and U.S. flags, as well as miniature cannons on its corners. The garden is displayed east of the marina’s docking area. The dedication in Leamington was the first on the Canadian side of the border, with two previous events held in towns Victor and Burt, New York (May 27 and June 1, respectively). The following day, dedications were made in Grimsby, Ont. and Sackets Harbour, NY. In 2008, arts councils from both Canada and the U.S. suggested commemorating the bicentennial by focusing on the two centuries of peace between the nations rather than the war itself. Arlene White, a Fort Erie resident and executive director of The Binational Alliance, has been receptive to the idea since it was presented about four years ago. “This is a really important legacy project that we’ve created,” she said at the Leamington dedication. “I thank this community for letting me be a part of it.” The dedication’s agenda began with remarks by the municipality’s manager of culture and recreation services Amanda Smith. Smith expressed gratitude toward the public works department as well as organizers who made Leamington’s contribution to the 1812 Binational Heritage Peace Garden Trail possible. “Today would not have been possible without the enthusi-
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astic support of our committee members,” Smith said during the dedication. Leamington Mayor John Paterson looked upon the Peace Garden Trail chain of events in much the same fashion as White, emphasizing the importance of partnerships formed between Canada and the U.S. over the past 20 decades. “I’ve thought of this not as a chance to celebrate a war, but rather the longest unprotected border in the world,” Paterson noted. “Our nations have since supported each other economically, in times of war, in good times and in bad.” White noted that while all 22 peace gardens are based on a War of 1812 theme, each participating community has been free to approach its share of the project in whatever means it sees fit. Leamington’s was the first to include a water theme. “When a lot of community projects begin, you’ve got people asking ‘show me the money’ before anything gets started. For this idea, people just jumped on board. It’s great to see how quickly support grew on both sides of the border.” Requirements for participating communities included access to their gardens that is free to the public, a safe and secure location and an area of 400 square feet or more. The red geranium became the official flower of the trail, in memory of Ruth Redmond, who owned Lundy’s Lane in Niagara Falls. Redmond, who was particularly fond of the red geranium, owned and demanded the historical preservation of Lundy’s Lane. During the War of 1812, Isaac Brock, an officer in the British army, crossed and spent a night at Point Pelee during his westward travels. “Leamington has really embraced becoming part of the 1812 community,” said Southwest Region (Windsor-Essex and Chatham-Kent) project facilitator Kyra Knapp. “Despite having a smaller role in the actual war, we’ve got a great team player here in Leamington.”
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Bank Theatre receives grant from Council Leamington Council had to deal with a difficult request from the Sun Parlor Players theatre group. They sent a letter at the end of May asking for a rebate of their building permit fees for the renovations to the former Bank of Montreal. The building permit, costing $415, was issued in early June and paid for by the community theatre group (which is a registered non-profit charity). There is no policy for forgiving building permit fees to anybody. There is a by-law that specifies what the fees are, and absolutely no provision for ‘forgiving’ those fees. On the other hand, were the Community Improvement Plan and its enabling by-laws in place, the group would not only qualify for a grant equalling the permit fees, but also financial aid toward the reconstruction of the building into a community theatre. Council passed a motion to give a grant in the amount of $415.
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