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| Alan Roy pulls trash from the creek in Colonel Sam Smith Park. Roy is organizing his 11th annual spring cleanup at the park this Sunday, April 27. All are welcome to pitch in, to make the area safe for kids, pets, and wildlife. |
Roy vividly recalled a morning 20 years
ago when he was walking his dog in Glen Stewart ravine off Kingston Road
in the Beach.
“It looked like something had been
murdered there. There was so much blood,” he said. “The girl carried her
60-pound retriever out of the park. Its name was Jinx. It had an awful
cut to its pad from broken glass in the stream. The vet said she was
lucky she got it there so fast.”
Jinx’s near-fatal cut compelled Roy to
organize a community cleanup in Glen Stewart ravine in 1993.
“I was the first in the city to organize a local park cleanup,” he said.
Roy moved to the Lakeshore area of south
Etobicoke in 2000 where he soon took environmental ownership of his
local park.
This Sunday, Roy leads his 11th annual
community cleanup from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Colonel Samuel Smith Park, an
extensive naturalized waterfront park at the foot of Kipling Avenue and
Lake Shore Boulevard West.
The wooded shoreline is home to an array
of migratory birds, wildlife, plants and trees, a beach and in recent
years, the city’s only ice skating trail. Its diversity and quality of
habitats has earned it a reputation as one of the premier birding
locations in the city.
Cleanup volunteers meet this Sunday on the path east of the marina.
Bring boots, gloves, rakes and shovels.
Pack a picnic lunch. Garbage bags, water and snacks will be provided.
“I love it,” Roy said of his
environmental leadership. “It has gone from me being in it getting my
hands dirty to me being there talking to people and extolling the
virtues of cleaning up the park. I’ve made tremendous friends. Barbara
Keaveney tells me, ‘I’ve got the registration table for an hour or two.
You go.’ They know how much I love to get in there.”
Keaveney is with Citizens Concerned
About the Future of the Etobicoke Waterfront (CCFEW), a group that
regularly supports Roy’s cleanup.
Often, it’s CCFEW President Brian Bailey
who helps Roy wrestle with unearthing larger refuse left abandoned in
the park.
“We pulled couches out of the sand dune
that were almost buried completely. It was a big year when we got that
out. We’ve pulled picnic tables out of the muckiest, boggiest mud,” he
said.
His weapon of choice? A five-tonne hand
winch and chain that Roy attaches to a tree for leverage: “We can pull
something in excess of 500 pounds out with the winch.”
Last year, he found a battered up canoe.
One of his favourite finds is a conch shell he found on the rocks.
In 21 years, Roy said his park cleanups
even unearthed stolen items. One year, Roy found the art portfolio of
the wife of well-known Toronto daily cartoonist Andy Donato in Glen
Stewart ravine when he was a Beach resident.
Roy also helps a friend with his annual park cleanup in Oakville.
“We’ve towed tractor tires full of silt
that weigh about 450 pounds. Really that’s my satisfaction. It’s no
longer in nature.”
Friends of Sam Smith, as well as area
residents, also come out annually to participate in the Etobicoke park’s
rejuvenation.
Roy said the annual Colonel Samuel Smith Park cleanup has made a difference.
“It has improved year over year. A
number of people return each year. We seem to be encountering a
lessening amount of garbage. People seem to appreciate nature and the
park more. If they see someone throw garbage, they take ownership. They
approach the person or they pick it up.”
With exposure, Roy said he expects those
who litter and dump will eventually become environmentally conscious.
“Any number of people say that park is
where they take their dog for a walk or take their kids. I’m saddened to
know people come in to the park and throw stuff out their car windows.
That hurts. But with exposure and time, they’ll come around and
understand the natural pleasure of that park. It’s a real hidden gem.”
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