IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: A version of this article was first published on ThoroldToday on Nov. 3.
The bulldozed frog pond on the corner of Decew Rd and Richmond St has finally been restored. On Wednesday, a tree planting ceremony was held to commemorate the occasion.
Members of eco-activist group ‘Friends of the Richmond Street Forest’ and several councillors were present to witness the tree planting.
“This is a very important place for my family,” said founder of the ‘Friends’ group Carla Carlson in a speech. “While I’m sad about what happened I’m very grateful this restoration resulted from that. It could have been different.”
The ecologist in charge of the pond’s restoration Anne Yagi said that she is proud to have been part of the project.
“This is a wonderful accumulation of both the political side and the community side and the environmental side and the developmental side,” she told the gathered crowd.
Mayor Terry Ugulini also gave a speech in which he promised to put a city committee in place to make sure that things like the bulldozing of the pond won’t ever happen again.
The ‘Friends’ group received several tree donations to be planted on the site.
Emily and Hannah Cressey from Huntsville donated four native trees that were grown and cared for by their Thorold grandfather, and yesterday’s ceremony saw the planting of a Flowering Dogwood.
The tree was an anonymous donation that came with a request for it to be planted in memory of Carla Carlson’s late sister Laurianne Beth Carlson.
“Because of the anonymous donor donating the Flowering Dogwood in memory of my sister I feel very at peace,” Carla Carlson told ThoroldToday. “Otherwise I think I would have felt a little bit sad but this way I feel at peace and happy.”
While the restoration of the pond is now complete, it's still a guessing game whether or not the frogs will sing again next spring.
