HEATHER BOA Bullet News GODERICH – Five flatbeds of trees, their roots tied tight with burlap and branches held down by mesh, were led into Goderich’s downtown in a parade of sirens today.
They did two ringers around The Square while people lined the streets to welcome the trees that will replace those in the Court House Square that were destroyed by the tornado on Aug. 21, 2011. People bundled in mitts and hats clapped and hooted as the trees were driven by. Despite the festive air, a few broke down and cried at the memory of the tornado ripped through the downtown, flattening trees and ruining many historical buildings and homes in a matter of seconds.
One by one, the flatbeds backed into the mud in The Court House Park, manoeuvring around piles of dirt lying beside freshly dug holes for the trees.
Workers climbed aboard the flatbeds to free the trees from their coverings, and begin the planting. The trees require 320 km of rope and more than 3 km of burlap to tie and protect the root balls.
A fence separated a handful of workers, politicians and media in hardhats on the work site from a crowd of onlookers who gathered to watch the first few trees be planted. It was a slow process as each the hole was lined with topsoil and the root ball carefully balanced to move from the ground into the hole. The tree roots will remain covered in burlap that eventually breaks down and the roots will push through into the ground.
There were no speeches to mark the arrival of the trees yesterday, but one day the $150,000 donation from Bruce Power and its employees, and the $50,000 donation from the City of London, as well as others, will be acknowledged in ceremony. (Bruce Power donated an additional $30,000 that was used for other tornado-related purposes.)
A few trees with a 12- to 16-inch diameter, along with many medium-sized trees, will be planted in the west quadrant that faces West Street, where the underground servicing is complete. About 25 per cent of the 157 trees have arrived, with planting led by PAO Horticultural over the next three weeks. Michael Ormston-Holloway, arborist from The Planning Partnership, will also oversee the work.
The trees are dormant now, but when PAO Horticultural returns in the spring to see how well the plantings fared, the trees will be fertilized in time for the growing season.
Trees include sugar maple, river birch, pin oak, red oak, Ohio buckeye and redwood.
PAO Horticultural has dedicated part of its website to the replanting.
To see photos from today’s event, please visit our photo album.
4 Comments on "Trees arrive in Goderich downtown park as part of tornado rebuild"
Wow. Congrats are in order to those that pulled this off.
Great to see, but a little thanks to those who donated the funds to make this happen should be in order.
No one person pulled it off that I can tell. It was the result of many skilled individuals, with support from the community and donors from far and wide.
It would be a mistake to think that this was the work and effort of just one person.
Just one person!! And all along I thought that this whole spectacle was of the doing of the Mayor and his Deputy. How could have I been so lead astray!!