Town plants 150 trees following receipt of green space grant

By John Watson Local Journalism initiative Reporter

The Town of Strathmore received a grant allowing for the planting of 150 trees in high traffic areas in town.

The grant was applied for and subsequently received through the TD Arbor Foundation. The grant was distributed to roughly 20 other municipalities throughout Canada. 

Operations Manager with the Town of Strathmore, Donna McCallum, said the extra trees already make a noticeable impact in the spaces they now occupy and she is excited for them to fill in.

“One of the requirements of the grant is it had to meet a carbon sink — so anywhere where it was a high-traffic area and so the Centre Street pathway was ideal.”

“It’s made a huge difference … we went from just a green space to now just full of trees. It looks beautiful. Especially once it fills in, it’s going to be really nice to walk through.”

Another requirement, she explained, was to recruit a number of volunteers to aid in the placement of all the trees. According to McCallum, the team saw a bit of a slow start, which then rapidly took off.

“We started out on Monday (Sept. 6) with 12 volunteers, and then the town did a sponsor page on Facebook, and by Friday we were up to 60.”

Despite the weather, McCallum estimates almost all the volunteers who signed up showed up to help, despite the poor weather conditions.

The strip along Centre Street was planted with roughly 125 trees. The rest were planted at Lyons Canal and in Glenwood.

“Normally the town on average, we plant about 100 trees every year so 150, we’re exceeding that. I think it’s going to have a huge impact, especially for the homeowners who back onto [Centre Street], they’re going to have something gorgeous to look at.

This year marks the first time the town has been approved for the grant. The original intention was to apply last year, but the idea was shelved due to ongoing COVID-19 restrictions and concerns at the time.

The new trees now occupying several green spaces in town consist of elm, crabapple and willows. The team of volunteers reportedly had the entire lot of them planted within an hour of breaking ground on Sept. 11.