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Wednesday, May 29, 1996 ROTARY PARK SUPPLEMENT Page 5 The Rotary Park, which officially opens Sunday, June 2nd, brings to downtown downtown Bowmanville something old and something new. What's new is the two acre park which is destined to become a leafy, green showcase showcase for the centre of town. The park includes the handsome clock tower, the lawns, a gazebo, flower beds, shrubs, trees, washrooms and a stairway which connects the park to the Bowmanville Creek valley. What's not so obvious from a casual stroll through the property is its historic connection to Bowmanville's proud past. You might begin with the clock tower, which is not only a new landmark for Bowmanville, but also a lasting tribute to the Colville brothers. These three World War Two pilots gave their lives in the Second World War. The monument also connects the peace of today with the sacrifice sacrifice of so many from this community in World War Two. However, the site itself is an important piece of Bowmanville's history. For one thing, it overlooks the Bowmanville Creek valley where pioneers first established their pottery works, sawmills, gristmills distilleries and all the other industries of the 1800's. It's tme that the park site served a more lowly purpose as a garbage dump in the early years of this century. But, in 1930, the Bowmanville Rotary Club saw the opportunity to turn the old dump into a thing of beauty and set about the task of creating "Rotary Park." Their efforts proved that concern for our natural environment and the longing for green spaces in our urban centres is by no means a recent phenomenon. The Rotarians of the 1930s built the park and tended it themselves, with the site becoming a popular popular place for carnivals and special events. Then, in 1948, the property was transformed transformed once again -- this time becoming the heart of Bowmanville's sporting community. community. Over four decades, the arena was home to thousands of pleasure-skaters, hockey players and figure skaters. And the tales of heart-stopping hockey action and athletic rivalry that went on in the old Bowmanville Arena would quite easily fill the pages of this edition. But that's another story. With the opening of Rotary Park this weekend, we have come full circle. The site developed by the Bowmanville Rotarians over half a century ago as a place of beauty and a focal point of the community has been re-bom with much the same purpose that the original Rotarians must have seen when they looked at the empty lot at the foot of Temperance St. Like the song says, everything old is new again. Enjoy your new downtown park. Visit it often for a quiet picnic, a walk, a band concert in the gazebo or a winter outing on the skating rink. Above all, treat it with the respect it deserves. It belongs to all of us. Ceremony Starts At 1:30, June 2nd Sunday's dedication ceremony at Rotary Park will begin much the same way as the proceedings in 1931 when the first park at the site was turned over to the community community and a local brass band began the ceremony On Sunday afternoon, a performance by the Clarington Concert Band will begin the proceedings and will play until the arrival of the Legion Pipe Band, which will lead visiting dignitaries, politicians and guests past the cenotaph to Rotary Park. Once there, the dedication of Rotary Park will begin. The plan is that this part of the program will be short, with a special thanks going to the Bowmanville Rotary Club for their ongoing support of community projects and programs. The second part of the program will concentrate on the dedication of the clock tower and will include a fly-past by three historic Harvard aircraft supplied by Hannu Halminen. Bill Calver, a member of the organizing committee says there will be former RCAF members from across Ontario coming to the event. Numbers though are hard to predict. "At a dedication ceremony held in Kingston we expected 200 and had 1,000 show up," Calver recalled. The networking that has been going on could produce many, many people, he said. "Once you get a hold of one, it spreads." The park opening and dedication ceremonies are starting starting at 1:30 p.m.. M* A tribute to Other Flyers recall William, Alexander, World War Two missions and John Colville Page 15 Pages 6 and 7 • • Rotary Club Gives Brothers remembered original downtown Park to as talented athletes "[DS 6~6 ip; IT digfu O Bowmanville in 1931 Page 17 • Josephine Colville honored as • Bowmanville Rotary Club Silver Cross Mother founded in 1923 Page 50 Page 58 Groups Join Forces to Create Park and Tower tile by Laura J. Richards On Sunday afternoon, June 2, the residents of Clarington will be commemorating the opening of Rotary Park, and remembering three brothers who gave their lives in war. The park, which has been in the works since 1992, has gone through a number of stages, beginning first with a committee to investigate the possibility of turning the former former Memorial Arena property into a park. "It was more involved when working with a committee, committee, but I couldn't have asked for a better group to work with," Jim Cameron, of Clarington Public Works Dept, noted. Some of the groups which had a part in the developing of the downtown downtown park are: Bowmanville Rotary club, the Royal Canadian Legion, Bowmanville Lions Club, the DBIA, the Lawn Bowling Club, and the local anglers' association. "The park was built in three phases. First, the bridge and staircases went in. Then came the underground servicing and finally the aboveground aboveground structures," Cameron said. The park, which occupies occupies about two acres, consists consists of a bandstand/gazebo, bandstand/gazebo, heated washrooms and change room facilities, facilities, a clock tower and an outdoor rink area for win- ter - x y There's lots of grass, and there will be plenty of space to hold outdoor events, such as evening concerts in the summer. Cameron described the park as "a supplementary facility" facility" to the town square just up the hill on Temperance Street. i-.'j -ts-vr -V . fl B %/ If 4 Some of the members of the Royal Canadian Legion Color Party are pictured on the cover page of this special section, section, alongside the Colville Memorial Clock Tower. The flag- bearers are: Les Cooper, Sterling Mather and John Greenfield. They are also shown in the photo on this page. Look for the Royal Canadian Legion, Branch 178, Pipe Band which will lead visiting dignitaries, politicians and guests to the park for the Sunday afternoon ceremonies. Cameron said the park cost the municipality $750,000, but the money is not a direct cost to local taxpayers. "The money came from the lot levies," he explained. These levies are paid by developers when they build new subdivisions subdivisions and a portion of the fees are set aside for future park requirements Also, covered in the cost of the park were two special plaques, one regarding the dedication of the park, and one dedicating the clock tower in memory of the three Colville brothers who gave their lives while serving as pilots in World War Two.