The 31st annual Earth Day Clean Up takes place on Saturday, April 23, 2022 and is organized by the:
Oakville Community Centre for
Peace, Ecology and Human Rights,
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 23, 2022, 9 AM
“The 31st annual Earth Day Clean Up of Oakville Nature Sites will take place on Saturday, April 23 beginning at 9 am sharp at a record sixty-one nature sites,” stated Stephen Dankowich, Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Oakville Community Centre for Peace, Ecology and Human Rights (OCCPEHR).
The Theme for the 31st annual event is that we are “for a clean, green, litter-free Oakville.”
LIST OF SIXTY-ONE CLEAN UP LOCATIONS BY WARD AND COORDINATOR
Residents are encouraged to pitch-in at any of the following 61 Clean Up Sites:
WARD ONE (7 Sites)
– Bronte Bluffs Park: Shelley Thornborrow, Harry Shea and the Bronte Village Residents Association (BVRA).
– Bronte Creek Provincial Park: Colleen Moriarty and the Friends of Bronte Creek Park; receive your bags and gloves upon entry into the Park; (Colleen is a New Coordinator in 2022).
– Bronte Harbour (Meet at East Street and Ontario Street): Lesley McVean.
– Bronte Road and QEW Carpool: Peter Vandermyden and family.
– Burloak Drive and QEW green spaces: John Kraft (New Coordinator in 2022).
– Lakeshore Woods (Great Lakes Boulevard and Creek Path Avenue): Lynda Zylik.
– Valleyridge Park (Dundas Street West and Bronte Road area off of Valleyridge Drive): Bruno Sousa and the Green Party of Ontario, Oakville.
WARD TWO (12 Sites)
– Aldercrest Park (located behind Loyola SS): Cathy Buchanan.
– Burnet Street Park: Lesley Henshaw and the West Harbour Residents Association (WHRA) meet here to also clean up at Waterworks Park, lakefront and other neighbourhood green spaces.
– Coronation Park: Seema and Pradeep Kumar and the H2O Canada Youth will be joined by students and staff from Appleby College.
– Forster Park and Hogs Back Park: Vanessa Dorrington, Joe Williams and the West River Residents Association (WRRA).
– Glen Oak Creek Trail at Monastery Drive: Stephen and Connie Wei and the St. Simon Anglican Church. ALREADY DONE! PLEASE VISIT ANOTHER SITE.
– 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 the Il Fornello plaza across from the Canadian Tire.
– Kinoak Arena and Brook Valley Park: Toaster and Sabrina Dementros and The Oakville Independents.
– Old Abbey Lane Park and area: Donna and Emily Morano. POSTPONED! SORRY!
– Valleywood Court: Christine and Robert Schultz.
– Woodhaven Park and Sedgewick Forest: Tracey Ehl Harrison and family.
WARD THREE (8 Sites)
– Busby Park: Stephen Cull and CharterAbility.
– Clearview: The Clearview Oakville Community Alliance encourages residents to pick up a bag and glove and tidy up their section of the neighbourhood. Meet at 2924 Kingsway Drive (close to James W. Hill school) for your supplies. The event goes from 9 am to noon.
– Dunvegan Park: Stella Zhang and Sean Hua and family (New Coordinators in 2022).
– Gairloch Gardens: David Bird and the Chartwell Maple Grove Residents Association are gathering here; (the CMGRA are New Coordinators in 2022). Start at 10:30 am.
– Lakeside Park, lakefront and lighthouse: Julie Hawryszko, Julian Kingston and the Oakville Museum; (New Coordinators in 2022).
– Maple Grove Park and Arena: Elizabeth Chalmers and the Joshua Creek Residents Association (JCRA).
– Oakville Curling Rink and Georges Square: Kimberly Cranfield and the Trafalgar Chartwell Residents Association (TCRA are New Coordinators in 2022).
– Perkins Passage including Post Park, Maple Valley Park and the Cornwall Sports Park: Lynne Dolan and family.
WARD FOUR (13 Sites)
– Glen Abbey Trail: Nicole and Paul Panabaker.
– Castlebrook Park: Rashed Chowdhury and neighbours look to tidy up the trails and ravines in this area of town (New Coordinator in 2022!).
– Glen Oak Creek Trail North (at Fourth Line and Upper Middle Road): Denise Severin-Prior.
– Heritage Way Park: Weidong Zhu and the Glen Abbey Neighbourhood Association (GANA).
– Langtry Park: Devnand Nambiar, a High School student and representative of Ontario Heroes (New Coordinator in 2022).
– Millstone Park: Bill and Marlene Keay.
– Nottinghill Park: Jennifer Monte and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, St. Matthew’s Parish (New Coordinators in 2022).
– 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 (New Coordinators in 2022).
– Summit Ridge Drive Trails: Lynne Jenkins.
– West Oak Trails Park: Karen Wilson Davis.
– Woodgate Woods: Voula Caffrey and family.
WARD FIVE (7 Sites)
– Harman Gate Park: Laura Shaw (New Coordinator in 2022).
– Memorial Park: Gita Zoghi meets volunteers on Hays Boulevard.
– Munns Creek Park and Margot Street Park: David Stefan and family.
– Oak Park Walk at Memorial Park and trails east of Sixth Line south to River Oaks Boulevard East: Councillor Jeff Knoll.
– Oxford Park: Michelle and Jeff Sholdice.
– River Glen Park: Geoff and Mary Hospital.
– Sheridan College: Stephane Dagenais and the Treetops Estates residents meet on the west side of Marlborough Court (New Coordinator in 2022).
WARD SIX (10 Sites)
– Algrove Park: Councillor Tom Adams.
– Bayshire Woods Park and Pinery Pond: Paul Butler.
– Forest Glade Park: Colin and Norma John.
– Glenashton Drive Bridge and ravines north and south: 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 (New Coordinator in 2022).
– Litchfield Park and area: Star Helmer.
– The Brownstones: Leslie Osborne and team meet at the end of Ravineview Way.
– Valleybrook Park: Joni Babulal and family.
WARD SEVEN (4 Sites)
– Glenorchy Conservation Area: Adnan Manzoor and the GKC Kite Flying Group.
– Isaac Park and north of Dundas Street Oakville: Ajay and Mamta Rosha.
– Lions Valley Park: Husnain Zakaria and the Islamic Centre of North America, Oakville Chapter.
– Palermo Park: Sunil Kardar and the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh.
NEW SITES CAN STILL BE SET UP
“Please contact us if anyone would like to become a new coordinator. There are many more beautiful nature sites that could be cleaned up for Earth Day this spring with your assistance,” remarked Mr. Dankowich.
NEW! FIRST-EVER AFTERNOON SITE. 2-4 PM. KERR & NORTH SERVICE ROAD WEST
“Not everyone can attend the morning clean up so we are very pleased to announce that for the first time in thirty-one years there will be an afternoon site that residents can pitch-in at.
From 2pm to 4pm, we will 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. Meet at the plaza entrance near the Il Fornello restaurant. Volunteers will enjoy a pizza party here thanks to Panago Pizza on Cornwall Road while the plaza Starbucks is providing free coffee.”
POSTPONED FOR TWO YEARS
“The pandemic was just starting to roar when we had to pull the plug on the April 2020 event which would have been our largest Earth Day Clean Up ever with sixty confirmed Clean Up locations throughout Oakville’s seven Wards. We were all wondering what was going to happen next and when it would all end,” he remarked. “Then, just weeks before the April 2021 Clean Up there was a new lockdown imposed and the event was once again postponed to our great disappointment.”
“Fortunately, progress has been made with the arrival of vaccines and the public’s active participation in wearing masks, washing and sanitizing hands and practising social distancing. We believe we can have the event function in a safe and healthy way on April 23. We welcome any suggestions for ensuring a successful Clean Up of Oakville’s beautiful parks, ravines, trails, wood lots and lakefronts this spring,” he added.
“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. We also are encouraging people to participate in their own ‘family bubble’,” he continued.
“This spring, we are encouraging all participants to practise social distancing at the event. Mask wearing is now optional in Ontario. Garbage bags and disposable gloves will be available on site. People will be asked to sign in for the purpose of tracing if necessary and are consenting for their own protection. Masks and hand sanitizer also will be available,” he said.
HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS TO RECEIVE FORM LETTER FOR TIME VOLUNTEERING
“High school students can earn volunteer hours by pitching in, too. Coordinators will have a letter to give students upon completion of their assignment on Saturday, April 23rd which you will take to your Guidance Department on Monday. Come as a team of friends,” he noted.
COORDINATORS WILL GREET YOU AT EACH LOCATION
“61 sites have now been confirmed for this year’s Clean Up! At each Clean Up site, volunteers will be greeted by Site Coordinators who will have bags and disposable gloves for you to use. 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.”
“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 decades. 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 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,” 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, resident associations, faith groups and community organizations.”
All volunteers will receive a thank you letter and a coupon for a free small box of popcorn compliments of Film.ca Cinemas on Speers Road between Kerr Street and Dorval Drive.
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. Do note however that the event will not proceed should there be any future lockdown prior to April 23rd due to Covid,” 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. Make every day an Earth Day,” concluded Mr. Dankowich.
PLEASE SUPPORT THE ORGANIZERS BY VOLUNTEERING AND/OR 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.
Make a generous donation by cheque to assist in our organizing more environmental events to benefit the Oakville community. Thank you very much in advance!