The Oakville Community Centre For Peace, Ecology and Human Rights

The 32nd annual Earth Day Clean Up of Oakville Nature Sites
on Saturday, April 22, 2023 was organized by the:
Oakville Community Centre for Peace, Ecology and Human Rights (OCCPEHR),
P.O. Box 52007, Oakville, ON L6J 7N5
(905) 849-5501, info@oakvillepeacecentre.org, oakvillepeacecentre.org

Media Release: Monday, April 24, 2023

1,000+ Volunteers Pitch-in at Sixty-one Nature Sites:
Earth Day Clean Up in Oakville a Big Success Despite Inclement Weather!

Mother Nature tried but could not stop the Earth Day Clean Up in Oakville from removing a significant amount of waste from our beautiful parks, ravines, woodlots, lakefront and trails!

The 32nd annual Earth Day Clean Up of Oakville Nature Sites was a big success on Saturday, April 22 despite stormy weather and strong rains in the morning.

The rain was strongest exactly in that window of time between 6 am and 10 am when all site coordinators and volunteers were no doubt wondering if the event was going ahead or being postponed or what!

Sixty-one of the record seventy-two nature sites scheduled for the Clean Up on Earth Day were cleaned up with site coordinators reporting that more than 1,000 volunteers pitched-in on Saturday morning and afternoon.

Postponed Clean Up’s now rescheduled to Saturday, April 29th:

Seven of the eleven sites which cancelled on April 22nd have rescheduled their events to Saturday, April 29 from 9am to 11am including at Old Abbey Lane Park, Valleywood Court, Perkins Passage, Glen Oak Creek Trail North, Stratus Parkette, George Savage Park and at Palermo Park.

In addition, the already scheduled Clean Up at Lions Valley Park also takes place on April 29 but at 10 am. 

The 2023 Earth Day Clean Up produced many notable highlights:

The theme for this year’s community-wide event is that we are “for a clean, green, litter-free Oakville” and in the aftermath of the 2023 Earth Day Clean Up, Oakville is cleaner, greener and more litter-free!

This year’s Clean Up was sponsored by Oakville’s Parks and Open Space Department, Halton Region Waste Management, Film.ca Cinemas which provided free popcorn coupons to all volunteers, Panago Pizza which baked fifty pies for volunteers at fifteen various sites, local businesses, resident associations, faith groups and community organizations.

The site coordinators worked hard to ensure a successful Clean Up by greeting the volunteers, handing out bags and gloves and directing them as to where to pitch-in. There were fourteen new site coordinators in 2023 and there was a 20% increase in the number of nature sites being cleaned up from 60 in 2022 to this year’s 72 nature sites.

A little more than 8 metric tonnes of garbage and metal was trucked away by Miller Waste Systems on Saturday. The total weight of all items was 18,400 pounds.

The greatest attendance was at the Glenashton Park site which had almost seventy members of the Oakville Chinese Senior 99 Association led by Jinglie Dou. Apparently the inclement weather will not stop everyone from pitching-in for Earth Day!

More than 250 new volunteers registered in advance for the event. Students from many schools pitched-in and received volunteer hours needed to graduate high school. 575 students at W.H. Morden PS are pitching-in this school week. Volunteers from Oakville Titans Football staffed a site at Arbourview Park in the morning and joined the afternoon Clean Up at Kerr Street North. There was a wide variety of interesting items picked up and removed. 

We also learned we need to build a really big team of volunteers to tackle the mess of trash around the trails both north and south of Postridge Drive, east of Trafalgar Road. We look forward to building a team to pitch-in here in May.

The annual Earth Day Clean Up is now organized on a Ward by Ward basis:

In Ward One, seven sites were scheduled to be cleaned up including Bronte Bluffs Park, Bronte Creek Provincial Park, Bronte Harbour, Bronte Road and the QEW Carpool, Burloak Drive and QEW, Lakeshore Woods and Valleyridge Park.

For Ward Two, there were 13 sites confirmed for the Clean Up including Aldercrest Park, Burnet Street Park, Coronation Park, Forster Park and Hogs Back Park, Glen Oak Creek Trail South,  Hopedale Park, Indian Ridge Trail, Kerr Street North, Kinoak Arena and Brook Valley Park, Old Abbey Lane Park, Valleywood Court, Woodhaven Park, and the YMCA.

Ward Three’s eight sites included Busby Park, Clearview Park and area, Dunvegan Park, Gairloch Gardens, Lakeside Park, Maple Grove Park, Oakville Curling Rink, and Perkins Passage (which includes Post Park, Maple Valley Park and the Cornwall Sports Park).

Ward Four hosted a record seventeen Clean Up sites including Arbourview Trail Park, Bloomfield Park, Castlebrook Park, Fourth LIne at Upper Middle Road, Glen Abbey Trail, Glen Oak Creek Trail North, Heritage Way Park, Langtry Park, Millstone Park, Nottinghill Park, Ravine at Third Line and Upper Middle Road, Sixteen Hollow Park, Sandpiper Road at Pheasant Lane, Stratus Parkette, Summit Ridge Drive Trails, West Oak Trails Park and Woodgate Woods.

Ward Five had ten sites including Harman Gate Park, Martindale Park, Memorial Park, Memorial Park Playground, Munns Creek Park and Margot Street Park, Neyagawa Park, Oxford Park, Pelee Woods Park and the Nipigon Trail, River Glen Park and Sheridan College trails.

There were eight sites in Ward Six including Algrove Park, Bayshire Woods Park, Glenashton Drive Bridge and ravines, Glenashton Park and Iroquois Ridge Community Centre, Iroquois Shoreline Woods, Litchfield Park, The Brownstones and Valleybrook Park.

And in Ward Seven in north Oakville there were nine sites, up from just four in 2022, including Buttonbush Woods Park, Fowley Park, George Savage Park, Gladeside Pond, Glenorchy Conservation Area, Isaac Park, Lions Valley Park, Palermo Park, and William Rose Park.

Tens of thousands of Oakville residents and students have participated in the annual environmental event over the past three decades. High school students earned volunteer hours by pitching in, too.

The five goals of the campaign are to promote awareness and respect for nature and Oakville’s many waterways, beautify local neighbourhoods, build community through environmental activism, protect wildlife and increase awareness of the need to protect biodiversity in Oakville.

The oakvillepeacecentre.org website features the list of sponsors. It will also feature a gallery of photographs taken by site coordinators this spring.

This event has been organized since 1992 by the Oakville Community Centre for Peace, Ecology and Human Rights, an incorporated, not-for-profit social movement organization.

Coronation Park – Ward 2

Kerr Street North Ward #2

Dunvegan Park – Ward #3

Castlebrook Park – Ward 4

Langtry Park – Ward 4

Bayshire Woods Park – Ward 6

The 32nd annual Earth Day Clean Up of Oakville Nature Sites
on Saturday, April 22, 2023 is organized by the:
Oakville Community Centre for Peace, Ecology and Human Rights (OCCPEHR),
P.O. Box 52007, Oakville, ON L6J 7N5
(905) 849-5501, info@oakvillepeacecentre.org, oakvillepeacecentre.org

FOR A CLEAN, GREEN, LITTER-FREE OAKVILLE ON SATURDAY, APRIL 22, 2023, 9 AM

“The 32nd annual Earth Day Clean Up of Oakville Nature Sites will take place on Saturday, April 22 beginning at 9 am sharp at seventy nature sites which is an all-time record,” remarked Stephen Dankowich, co-Founder and Executive Director of the Oakville Community Centre for Peace, Ecology and Human Rights (OCCPEHR).

“April 22 is also the actual Earth Day, first celebrated in 1970. Join in with millions of people around the world who will be doing something positive for the protection of the natural environment and all living things on Earth Day by pitching-in at the annual Oakville Clean Up,” he added.

The Theme for the 32nd annual event is that we are “For a clean, green, litter-free Oakville.”

HOW TO REGISTER FOR THE EARTH DAY CLEAN UP

Residents and students are encouraged to pitch-in at any of the listed Clean Up Nature Sites! 

We encourage everyone to register early on, thank you very much!

Send a quick e-mail to info@oakvillepeacecentre.org to let us know which site you will be pitching-in at.

Also, please let us know how many other people might be with you in your e-mail and if you or others are high school students who will receive a Form Letter acknowledging your volunteer hours that morning or afternoon.  

We will then contact the site coordinator at that location to let them know of your interest in pitching-in at their site and to be ready to welcome you on Saturday, April 22nd at their sign-in table.

You are welcome to also contact us by telephone at (905) 849-5501 to confirm your participation in the Earth Day Clean Up or to answer any queries you may have about volunteering at this community-wide environmental Earth Day event.

You can also register on the day at the site. See you there!

LIST OF 70 CLEAN UP LOCATIONS BY WARD AND COORDINATOR

WARD ONE (8 Sites)

• Bronte Bluffs Park: Donovan Cox and the Bronte Village Residents Association (BVRA).
• Bronte Creek Provincial Park: Joanne Wright and The Friends of Bronte Creek Park; receive your bags and gloves upon entry into the Park.
• Bronte Harbour (Meet at East Street and Ontario Street): Lesley McVean rallies the neighbourhood starting from here.
• Bronte Road and QEW Carpool: Peter Vandermyden and family.
• Burloak Drive and QEW green spaces: Emillie Kraft (Meet in the Kelsey’s parking lot).
• Lakeshore Woods (Great Lakes Boulevard & Creek Path Avenue): Linda and Lauren Zylik.
• South Shell Park: Sundeep Khosla and the Rotary Club of Oakville clean up 3x a year here.
• Valleyridge Park and trails: Susan Dane and the Halton Outdoor Club; coffee available, bring your own mug!

WARD TWO (14 Sites)

• Aldercrest Park (located behind Loyola SS on Blackthorn Place): Park Ambassador Cathy Buchanan.
• Burnet Street Park: Beginning 9:30 am, tidy up Waterworks Park too with Lesley Henshaw and the West Harbour Residents Association (WHRA).
• Coronation Park: Seema and Pradeep Nambiar with the Organization of Oakville Keralites encourage Appleby College students to pitch-in here again this spring.
• Forster Park and Hogs Back Park (Meet at Forster Park): Vanessa Dorrington, Joe Williams and the West River Residents Association (WRRA) gather people together for the event.
• Glen Oak Creek Trail South at Monastery Drive: Erik Brodner and family.
• Glen Oak Creek Trail North at Monastery Drive: Stephen and Connie Wei and members with the St. Simon Anglican Church meet in the Loyola SS parking lot.
• Hopedale Park: Earl and Sharon Weise.
• Indian Ridge Trail (Meet at the entrance to the trails on Lindsay Drive): Donna Sheppard and the South Peel Naturalists’ Club (SPNC).
• Kerr Street North and the North Service Road West: AFTERNOON SITE FROM 2-4 PM; (Meet at entrance to Il Fornello across from the Winner’s plaza). Site coordinators Ann Osana and Dagmar Wilhelm encourage High School students to pitch-in here!
• Kinoak Arena and Brook Valley Park: Toaster and Sabrina Dementros of the Oakville Independents welcome the neighbourhood to meet in the arena parking lot.
• Old Abbey Lane Park and area: Donna and Emily Morano.
• Valleywood Court: Christine and Robert Schultz rally the neighbourhood here.
• Woodhaven Park and Sedgewick Forest: Ehl Harrison family and friends. All are welcome!
• YMCA: Join Heather White and family for a wide neighbourhood tidying up of Suffolk Park, Glen Oak Park, Rebecca Street from Dorval to Fourth Line, Blakelock high school and St. Thomas Aquinas secondary school.

WARD THREE (8 Sites)

• Busby Park: Beginning 9:30 am, Stephen Cull and CharterAbility welcome you along the Sixteen Mile Creek under the overhead Randall Street bridge.
• Clearview Park: The Clearview Oakville Community Alliance (COCA) encourages residents to pick up a bag and glove and tidy up their section of the neighbourhood.
• Dunvegan Park: Residents living along Maple Grove Drive can pitch-in with the team from St. Cuthbert’s Anglican and new site coordinators David Aylward, Dawn Seto and Malcolm Little.
• Gairloch Gardens: Beginning 10 am, pitch-in with David Bird and the Chartwell Maple Grove Residents Association (CMGRA).
• Lakeside Park, lakefront and lighthouse: AFTERNOON SITE FROM 2-4 PM; Town Museum Programmer Julie Hawryszko welcomes you inside the Oakville Museum.
• Maple Grove Park and Arena: Elizabeth Chalmers and the Joshua Creek Residents Association (JCRA) clean up the Joshua Valley Park trails along the creek, too.
• Oakville Curling Club: Kimberly Cranfield and the Trafalgar Chartwell Residents Association (TCRA) bring members and residents together here.
• Perkins Passage: Gather across from the Oakville Humane Society for the clean up of parks and greenspaces on the south and north sides of Cornwall Road from Trafalgar to Chartwell, Post and Maple Valley Parks and the Cornwall Sports parks. Chopra brothers Nikhil, Josha and Jayen welcome all students, friends and neighbours to help clean up these beautiful parks.

WARD FOUR (16 Sites)

• Arbourview Park: Pitch-in with Jennifer Horner and members of Oakville Titans Football, a local not-for-profit sports group for players aged nineteen and under.
• Bloomfield Park: Brett Prior welcomes residents to pitch-in at this new site in 2023.
• Glen Abbey Trail: Nicole and Paul Panabaker meet at the Glen Abbey Gate trail entrance across from Abbey Park High School.
• Castlebrook Park: Rashed Chowdhury and neighbours will tidy up the trails and ravines.
• Glen Oak Creek Trail North (Meet at Fourth Line and Upper Middle Road): Denise Severin-Prior coordinates the clean up here between the ravines and along the Taplow Creek trails.
• Heritage Way Park: Pitch-in with Weidong Zhu and the Glen Abbey Neighbourhood Association (GANA); meet at Merchant Gate Trail entrance on west-side of Merchants Gate.
• Langtry Park: Devnand Nambiar, a university student and member of H2O Canada Youth and Ontario Heroes encourages Glen Abbey students to join him here.
• Millstone Park: Bill and Marlene Keay.
• Nottinghill Park: David Kantor and the Federation of North American Explorers, a Catholic faith youth group.
• Ravine at Third Line and Upper Middle Road (Next to the TD Bank): Amy Young.
• 16 Hollow Park and area trails: Sharon Brodner.
• Sandpiper Road and Pheasant Lane: Kimberly Sziraky and family.
• Stratus Parkette: New site coordinator Raj Patel is pitching-in here; join in!
• Summit Ridge Drive Trails: High school student Katie Turnbull and family.
• West Oak Trails Park: Karen Wilson Davis and family.
• Woodgate Woods: Voula Caffrey and family.

WARD FIVE (7 Sites)

• Harman Gate Park: Laura Shaw and family.
• Memorial Park: Gita Zoghi meets volunteers on Hays Boulevard.
• Memorial Park Playground: Councillor Jeff Knoll and the Film.ca Cinemas team will meet volunteers here and attend to the trails east of Sixth Line, south to River Oaks Boulevard East.
• Munns Creek Park and Margot Street Park: David Stefan and family.
• Oxford Park: Michelle and Jeff Sholdice.
• River Glen Park: Geoff and Mary Hospital.
• Sheridan College: Peter Watson and Treetops Estates residents meet on the west side of Marlborough Court and welcome students and other neighbours to join them.

WARD SIX (8 Sites)

• Algrove Park: Councillor Tom Adams welcomes residents to join him here.
• Bayshire Woods Park: Paul Butler has been dedicated to his community since 2013.
• Glenashton Drive Bridge and ravines: Don Meade, OCCPEHR Board Member.
• Glenashton Park and Iroquois Ridge Community Centre: Jinglie Dou and the Oakville Chinese Senior 99 Association.
• Iroquois Shoreline Woods (Grand Boulevard and Upper Middle Road East): Tracy Zhou.
• Litchfield Park and area: Star and Chris Helmer.
• The Brownstones: Leslie Osborne and team meet at 300 Ravineview Way, by the mailbox kiosk.
• Valleybrook Park: AFTERNOON SITE FROM 2-4 PM. Also, clean up along Upper Middle Road from Trafalgar Road to Ford Drive as well as the Sheridan Valley Trails and parks south of Upper Middle Road.

WARD SEVEN (9 Sites)

• Buttonbush Woods Park: Pitch-in at this new location with Program Manager Anelia Tichkova and Oakvillegreen Conservation Association and learn more about their tree planting initiatives.
• Fowley Park: A new site in 2023 for this expanding neighbourhood; join Ajay Rosha.
• George Savage Park: President Ron Chhinzer and the North Oakville Ward Seven Resident Association look forward to seeing you here and are joined by Councillors Nav Nanda and Scott Xie.
• Gladeside Pond: Meet across from Fortinos to also pitch-in at Neyagawa Woods Park and the Shannon Creek North Trail with new site coordinators Serguei and Natalia Doubov.
• Glenorchy Conservation Area: Adnan Manzoor and the GKC Kite Flying Group.
• Isaac Park and green space north of Dundas Street: Mamta Rosha welcomes you.
• Lions Valley Park: NOW ON SATURDAY, APRIL 29 AT 10 AM; Husnain Zakaria and the Islamic Centre of North America, Oakville Chapter tidy up this beautiful green space.
• Palermo Park: Mr. Arpit Mittal, Oakville representative for the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh.
• William Rose Park: Sehaj Rosha is a new coordinator at this new site and a university student who encourages Ward Seven students to join him here.

NEW SITES CAN STILL BE SET UP

“Please contact us if anyone would like to become a new coordinator. There are a few more beautiful nature sites that could be cleaned up for Earth Day this spring with your assistance,” said Mr. Dankowich.

NEW! THREE AFTERNOON SITES FROM 2 PM TO 4 PM ON SATURDAY, APRIL 22

Not everyone can attend the morning Clean Up and a lot of high school students prefer to sleep in on Saturday mornings so we are very pleased to announce that for the first time in thirty-two years there will be three afternoon sites that residents can pitch-in at, including:

1. KERR STREET & NORTH SERVICE ROAD WEST:

We will again be cleaning up the green spaces from the bend at Kerr Street North and the North Service Road all the way west to Dorval Drive. This is a Ward Two site first set up last spring very successfully. Meet at the plaza entrance near the Il Fornello restaurant across from the Winner’s plaza. 

2. VALLEYBROOK PARK ON UPPER MIDDLE ROAD, EAST OF EIGHTH LINE:

Clean up along Upper Middle Road from east of Trafalgar Road to Ford Drive and also the Sheridan Valley Trails south of Upper Middle Road. This is a Ward Six site.

3. OAKVILLE MUSEUM ON NAVY STREET DOWNTOWN AT LAKE ONTARIO:

Tidy up adjacent Lakeside Park and lakefront on the east side of the Sixteen Mile Creek here in Ward Three. Visit the museum and check out the lighthouse and boardwalk!

Hey, hey! Volunteers at Kerr Street North and Valleybrook Park will enjoy a pizza party thanks to Panago Pizza on Cornwall Road who wants you to keep your energy up while volunteering!

BUILDING ON OUR MOST SUCCESSFUL CLEAN UP EVER IN 2022

“Last year, there was a record number of nature sites cleaned up by a record number of volunteers who removed a record amount of garbage.

1,200 volunteers at sixty-one sites pitched-in to haul away 7.1 metric tonnes of garbage and .86 metric tonnes of metal trucked away by Miller Waste Systems that afternoon. The total weight of all items was 17,650 lbs.

We welcome any suggestions for ensuring a successful Clean Up of Oakville’s beautiful parks, ravines, trails, wood lots and lakefronts this spring,” Mr. Dankowich added.

“Safety is the #1 issue at the annual Earth Day Clean Up. This community-wide event is an activity that can be attended in a relatively safe and healthy manner. The Clean Up is an open-air event taking place in wide open spaces which conveniently allows for ease in social distancing for those still concerned about the hopefully fast receding covid pandemic.

Garbage bags and disposable gloves will be available on site. You are encouraged to bring your own cloth or leather work gloves and pick-up tools. People will be asked to sign-in for the purpose of assisting future organizing and for a draw to win a bike helmet donated by Cyclepath on Speers Road. Hand sanitizer also will be available,” said the event coordinator.

HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS TO RECEIVE FORM LETTER FOR TIME VOLUNTEERING

“High school students can earn two to three volunteer hours by pitching in, too. Coordinators will have a form letter to give students upon completion of their assignment on Saturday, April 22nd which you will take to your Guidance Department or Principal on Monday after the event. Bring your own form letter if your school issues them. Come as a team of friends,” he noted.

COORDINATORS WILL GREET YOU AT EACH LOCATION WITH BAGS AND GLOVES

“Seventy sites are confirmed for this year’s Clean Up! This is a new, all-time record number of sites! Way to pitch-in, Oakville!

At each Clean Up site, volunteers will be greeted by Site Coordinators who will have bags, disposable gloves, and hand sanitizer for you to use that have been provided by the Town’s Parks and Open Space Department as well as smaller biodegradable bags supplied by Pitch-In Canada that are great for kids to use at the event.

Site Coordinators are the real backbone of this environmental event which began modestly in 1992 with thirty volunteers at just one site along the Twelve Mile Creek at Bronte Road and the QEW. Thank you, site coordinators!

The Clean Up has flourished into a widely anticipated annual activity that tens of thousands of Oakville residents and students have participated in over the past three plus decades. We are making a BIG difference for our local natural environment!

Site Coordinators have stepped forward to serve their neighbourhood and have been the public face of this activity. It is thanks to their dedication and devotion to the local natural environment and to building community in Oakville that this event has been so successful in accomplishing its goals,” enthused Mr. Dankowich.

THIS CAMPAIGN HAS FIVE GOALS

“Our five goals are to (1) promote awareness and respect for nature and Oakville’s many waterways, (2) beautify local neighbourhoods, (3) build community through environmental activism, (4) protect wildlife and (5) increase awareness of the need to protect biodiversity in Oakville,” remarked the Executive Director of OCCPEHR.

THE COMMUNITY RALLIES TO SPONSOR THIS EVENT

“This community-wide environmental event is sponsored primarily by the Town of Oakville’s Parks and Open Space Department, Halton Region Waste Management, Film.ca Cinemas as well as many local businesses, eight resident associations, faith groups and community organizations.”

FREE SMALL POPCORN COUPON FROM FILM.CA FOR ALL VOLUNTEERS

All volunteers will receive a Coupon for a free small box of popcorn to enjoy compliments of Film.ca Cinemas valid when attending a movie showing at their movie theatre located on Speers Road between Kerr Street and Dorval Drive. The Coupon will be attached to a thank you letter from the Oakville Community Centre for Peace, Ecology and Human Rights and distributed to all volunteers by all site coordinators on April 22nd.

THE EVENT PROCEEDS RAIN OR SHINE

“The earth and all living things need our care. We thank everyone for their past and continuing involvement in Oakville’s annual Earth Day Clean Up and encourage new residents to join in this spring,” he added.

“Please contact the organizers at (905) 849-5501 and/or info@oakvillepeacecentre.org for more information, to get involved, or to organize your own new Clean Up site. Try to make every day an Earth Day,” concluded Mr. Dankowich.

PLEASE SUPPORT THE ORGANIZERS BY VOLUNTEERING AND DONATING

This event is organized by the Oakville Community Centre for Peace, Ecology and Human Rights, an incorporated, HST registered, not-for-profit social movement organization founded in 1992. Memberships are $20 for individuals and students; donate what you can to support community activism. Thank you very much in advance for volunteering and donating!