Published in The BANAR June 2024
Jaclyn O’Shaughnessy & Lisa Margeson
Mother Nature treated us to a beautiful sunny morning on April 27 as Blackburn Hamlet residents and volunteers of all ages came to lend a helping hand for our annual Spring Clean-Up, and made a remarkable difference in our community.
As participants lined up outside the Community Hall to be assigned a section of the Hamlet to clean up, they enjoyed some light refreshments provided by our local Tim Hortons. Before heading off to pick up trash in our parks, along the roads, in parking lots and even the Green’s Creek toboggan hill, everyone was equipped with gloves and garbage bags. Some of the bags and gloves were provided through the City of Ottawa’s Cleaning Up the Capital Program. In all, over 165 people generously donated their time and effort to clean up our whole community! They collected over 150 garbage bags and brought back larger items they found, including some old patio chair cushions, car tires, clothing, scrap metal, an axe and large pieces of cardboard.
After the work was done, participants were treated to BBQ’d hot dogs & hamburgers, plus cold drinks generously donated by the Blackburn Shoppers Drug Mart. Thanks also to Metro for their support. Then there was a draw to win one of the many prizes from BCA and City Councillor Laura Dudas. In addition, there were tree saplings for participants to take home. They had the choice of Black Walnut and White Pine, both of which are endangered species.
This event could not have been possible without the hard work of the volunteers, as well as the BCA team and others who gave their time to plan and set up before the event, handed out supplies, worked the grills and cleaned up the hall after it was all over. A big THANK YOU goes out to everyone involved in making this event a success – and making Blackburn Hamlet a cleaner place to live and play this spring and summer.
