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Wednesday, April 18, 2012 1937 - 2012 · Celebrating 75 Years Orono Weekly Times - 3 PROMISE Continued from pg 2 after a short business meeting. Suzanne Elston is the Senior Environmental Coordinator for the City of Oshawa and has the responsibility for developing Oshawa's environmental strategic plan, as well as implementing innovative stewardship programs. She has been an environmental journalist for more than 20 years. Suzanne is a powerful voice for environmental awareness, promoting individual stewardship and action and has won several awards for her work and support of environmental issues. Like most of you I have walked through the Linton Trail and many of the other half dozen or so trails that stretch through the Orono Crown Lands but was oblivious to the amount of work put in by the volunteers that help to steward this wonderful natural resource Clarington has until I joined the Board. Nature is beautiful, but to be able to sustain that beauty while making it accessible to you and me doesn't happen by accident. It takes many volunteers to keep trails cleared, trees and plants and wildlife fed and protected through harsh winter conditions or summer drought. Waterways need to run freely, bridges need repairs, and garbage of all kinds, either blown by the elements or carelessly discarded by visitors, must all be gathered up and disposed of properly for this fantastic landscape to thrive and flourish for us and future generations. Of course with the best will in the world none of this work can be done without financial support and while the Orono Crown Lands Trust has some wonderful support from within the local business community and is always on the look out for more corporate sponsorship for specific projects, it is the time and donations from our stewards that keeps the work of the OCLT moving forward. Everyone, steward or not, is invited to the AGM and we will welcome with open arms anyone who wants to become a steward or donate to the work of the OCLT. Being a steward costs $10 and gets you a copy of our wonderfully colourful and informative newsletter, The Steward. If you have the time to volunteer that's wonderful, but just knowing that you have contributed to the upkeep and development of one of the most beautiful parts of your community is a great feeling believe Pictured from left to right: Jennifer Adcock, Brian McPhillips, Darrin and Rachael Sanders participated in the Titanic event held at Walsh's Snug in Newcastle on Saturday night, the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. me. If you are nervous about coming out to the OCLT AGM know this, you couldn't be more nervous than I will be having to speak to a crowd of people who all love the Crown Lands and want to be sure that with the rest of the Board I am going to do a good job of helping to safeguard it. We will entertain you, give you a little refreshment, excite you about stewardship and yes, hopefully make you want to sign up to join us as we try to keep the Orono Crown Lands a safe and beautiful place for you and your family to enjoy for years to come. So come out and meet the Board. I promise we don't bite. If you can't join us on April 18 check out OCLT at: http://www.oronocrownlands.c om/contact-us.html Stakeholders meeting in the works At the request of the Claringtion Older Adult Association (COAA), a committee will be formed to find solutions to the parking situation at the Beech Centre. Councillor Joe Neal's motion to form an advisory committee to work on a parking solution that is satisfactory to all parties concerned was approved unanimously by councillors at Monday night's council meeting. The committee will be made up of representatives from the COAA, the Beech Ave. neighbourhood, the tennis club and municipal staff, and will report back to council in mid June. Council also approved extending the lease for the Bowmanville Tennis club, for their courts on the Beech Centre property for another five years. Ever since the Beech Centre with its 50 parking spaces was acquired by the municipality in as the home of the Clarington Older Adult Association, lack of parking was identified as an issue. In 2002 the municipality added an additional 27 parking spaces, but with a membership of over 1,500, parking continues to be a problem at the Centre. Clarington's Community Services Department provided three options to councillors at the April 2nd committee meeting; increasing the available parking at the Centre by 54 spaces by paving some of the green space at the west of the building, adding 51 spaces by relocating the tennis courts to another park in Bowmanville, and continue to use on-street parking with no increase in spaces at the Centre. Councillors opted to go with the option that would add zero additional parking spots, which is a "do nothing" option," COAA Executive Director Angie Darlinson told Councillors at Monday's councillor meeting. The request for a meeting of all the stakeholders was made by Jim Boate, Vice-President of the COAA at Monday's meeting. "By working together on a foundation of trust, we can resolve these issues," Boate stated. In a statement to The Times following the meeting Darlinson, said her group felt the results of Monday's meeting were positive and "they really look forward to working with all the groups involved." ~ Happenings ~ Wednesday, April 18th, 2012 - Orono Crown Land Trust AGM, Orono Town Hall, 6:30 p.m. Saturday, April 21st, 2012 - Bluegrass & Old Time Country Music Benefit Concert, 7 p.m., Orono United Church Saturday, April 21st 2012 - Euchre Express, Kendal Orange Lodge, $10.00 per person. Sunday, April 22nd, 2012 - 2nd Annual Country Jamboree, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., Kendal Community Center, Tickets $10.00 each, featuring Mike Pollard, Christine Vaillancourt, John Lester, Angie Austin, and many more. Thursday, April 26th 2012 - Orono Horticultural Society House Plant Show, 7:30 p.m., Speaker Elaine Davidson,Topic: Growing Herbs in Containers