>NewsNow readers choose the Best In The West, Pgs. 1A-24A > Purdy racks up another video award Pg. 3 > Ida gets to meet her “angels” Pg. 6 > Special Olympics athletes shine Pg. 9 Thursday, August 7, 2014 Vol. 3 Issue 15
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Rare woodlot jeopardized
Up Front Pharmacy hosts garage sale Rexall Pharmacy in Smithville will host a garage sale Friday. The store, at 144 Griffin St., will run the second annual event on Aug. 8 from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. All proceeds go to the Rexall Foundation.
Why would Region want to remove such a key piece of Niagara’s history?: owner
Calling all artists, no matter the medium Are you a painter? A poet, perhaps? Maybe you play in a band? Grimsby Public Art Gallery has an event for you. GPAG has opened its “call to artists” for its ArtsWalk, held Saturday, Sept. 27 from 1-5 p.m. in various sites around town. “It really is a wonderful event - bringing together practitioners of all areas of the arts, and running it in conjunction with Doors Open,” said GPAG director Rhona Wenger. To apply, email: gpag@grimsby.ca or call 905-945-3246 for more details.
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Dwarfed by the majesty of a 250-year-old red oak, Ja Irish, right, and Bruce MacKenzie discuss the plight facing Irish’s Hunter Road woodlot. Grant - Photo
By Katherine Grant For NewsNow A walk through the woods just beyond the western urban boundary of Grimsby is a revelation. Towering pines, oaks and shagbark hickory trees, many hundreds of years old, provide a majestic buffer, softening the sounds of traffic off in the distance. Largely untouched over the past centuries, this 25-acre Grimsby woodlot is now being threatened by a proposed extension of Livingston Avenue. The Region of Niagara is carrying out an Environmental Assessment for the proposed extension of the road from Casablanca Avenue to Oakes Road. The proposed road would cut right through the heart of the woodlot threatening its continued existence. The land has been fortunate to have been owned by excellent land stewards who have cared deeply about the natural heritage. Ja Irish, owner of Original Greenscapes, has a deep affinity for the property. “My grandfather started to work on this land in 1915 and soon it will be a century of stewardship that the Irish family have taken towards this significant woodlot,” said Irish as he walked through the greenspace. He pauses to point out an old slab of concrete, all that remains of his grandparents’ home, lost to fire in the 1970s. A bit further down the path are a few small outbuildings dating back decades. An old wooden wagon still sits inside one of them. That is how little this land has been touched by modern times. “A century of care and the care of the previous owners of this treasured woodlot is severely threatened today by a road project that is not needed,” says Irish. “Why would the Region of Niagara want to remove a key piece of this irreplaceable part of our history and legacy in the Town. Why would the Region plan on spending
See WOODLOT, Page 2