June 1998 - News and Updates

The next event is a variation on last summer’s Trunk Sale/Rubber Ducky race. This year, on Saturday, July 11^th, the Grand Trunk Trail will sponsor the Second Trunk Sale. The Sale will be held at The Flats again. The Registration fee is $20 per car and we do all the advertising for you. The Sale is scheduled between 8 am and noon on July 11^th. You will be allowed space that is roughly equivalent to the width of the trunk of your car and a chair to put along side it.
Contact Marlene at 284-1357 to register.

The variation to last year’s event is the first River Poker Rally. Spend a relaxing paddle above Little Falls while trying your luck in accumulating cards for a winning poker hand. The event will take place between 10 am and 12 noon beginning at The Flats. To enter, there is a fee of $10 per registrant (i.e. per person in each non-motorised water vessel). Registration can be done in advance at the St. Marys Recreation Office at the VIA Rail Station before July 11 or between 9:30 and 10 am at The Flats. Of course you will have to provide your own canoe/rowboat/non-motorised vessel but you will also have to provide a Personal Floatation Device (Lifejacket) for each person. Prizes will be awarded to the 3 best poker hands. Participants must be 18 years or older or children must be supervised by an adult. For more information on the Grand Trunk Trail River Poker Rally contact Patrick Donnelly at 284-4207.

You may have noticed that
the railing is now installed along the Sarnia and Emily Street Bridges. The cement pads at each end of both bridges have been laid courtesy of

Blue Circle Cement and Leo Nicholson. The planks are the next items to be installed. The St. Marys Kinsmen Club is co-ordinating this project. We are waiting for the planks to arrive from the pressure-treatment process and then the work will begin. When the planks are laid, the end of Phase One will be completed. And most of the money raised so far has been spent to get to this point. (Some monies have been donated for special projects and have not been used for materials you see on the bridges.) Phases Two and Three involve lighting the Trail from Ingersoll Street to James Street, laying a stable walking surface, providing benches, waste bins, erecting signage along the Trail and in approved locations downtown to help visitors find the access points and planting indigenous flora in the form of trees, bushes and flowers. Whew! Lots to do yet.

And still the ideas abound. We have just mentioned the flora but we aren’t forgetting the fauna. The Grand Trunk Trail committee proposes a Bird House Project to begin in September or October so this is one idea to keep tucked in your memory for the autumn.

The project will be open to children and adults, wood will be provided by Bob Baird, plans for the bird houses will be provided in information packages. We hope that children and teens will participate through school, or other organisations such as Brownies, Guides, Cubs and Scouts. Adults are encouraged to participate in their own category. The bird houses will be judged for creativity and skill but the important part is your participation and contribution to the naturalisation of the Trail. More information will be available in the late summer/early fall.

The lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer are upon us.
And the heat is on…there are lots of planks that need to be sponsored. If you’re just waiting for the right time to make your contribution, the time is now. Donations can be mailed to:

P.O. Box 998 St. Marys N4X 1B6;
dropped off to Mary Smith at the St. Marys Museum;
or made in person at the GTT Trunk Sale/Poker Rally at The Flats during the Stonetown Heritage Festival on July 11^th.

Whatever the method, the donation will help to make the Trail happen.

Make your cheque out to Grand Trunk Trail – St. Marys. Your tax-deductible receipt will be in the mail not long afterward.

Please click here for donation form.

Kinsmen to begin laying planking on Sarnia Bridge this month
Although 600 sold, 1,400 planks needed to complete decking

Anyone who looks north up the Thames River while strolling along the riverbank at the Flats or while crossing the Queen Street bridge will know that progress on the Grand Trunk Trail is moving with amazing speed.

The railings are now in place right across the old Sarnia Railway Bridge. The concrete on the bridge abutments has been poured, courtesy Nicholson Concrete and Blue Circle Cement. The next step will be laying the runners along the bridge to support the deck planking.

Then comes the part that everyone has been waiting for: laying the planking so that the walkway across the bridge will be useable.

The Grand Trunk Trail Committee is delighted that the St. Marys Kinsmen have agreed to do the bulk of the work of fastening the planks in place on the bridge. It is hoped that they can begin by mid-June.

However, other volunteers will still be needed. If you wish to be part of the process, call Ron Plaquet, Chair of the Design Subcommittee, evenings, 284-4353, for dates when volunteer work is being done. Tools will be provided but Ron emphasises that there are a few restrictions for safety reasons. Everyone working with the planking will be required to wear safety boots. Adults only (no children) will be permitted to work on the bridge.

If people want to help in other capacities, volunteers are still need for brush cleanup along the access areas. Again, Ron Plaquet is co-ordinating this project and will be happy to provide a work schedule.

Plank Donations
Approximately 600 people have donated money for name plates on the planks.

These name plates will not be installed on the planks right away although this will be done as soon as possible. All the name plates will be engraved at once and before they go to the engraver, time and care will be taken to check and recheck the names for accuracy and correct spelling.

There are also some special requests to be satisfied -- for instance, some family members wish to have their name plates placed on the bridge side by side.

Although 600 name plates seem like a lot, it will take approximately 1,400 planks to complete the decking right across the bridge. In other words, if you haven't yet "bought" a plank, there is one waiting for your name plate.

Remember, name plates make great gifts for special occasions such as anniversaries, birthdays, retirement or graduation.

And the Grand Trunk Trail still needs donations. Some of the money that is registered on the fundraising thermometer by the VIA Station has been earmarked for special projects, such as beautification of the trail with shrubs and trees, and cannot be used to pay for the bridge walkway.

Remember, names plates can be obtained -- and other donations can be made -- at the VIA Station, at the Town Hall and at the St. Marys Museum. Receipts will be issued for income tax purposes. Watch for Grand Trunk Trail information booths on location at many upcoming special events.

Environmental study on Grand Trunk Trail Walkway reveals 177 species of flora
Professional consultant was hired by Perth County Stewardship Program

At a meeting of the Grand Trunk Trail Committee, Thursday, May 28, Ken Maronets, Perth County Stewardship Network, presented the trail project with a bound report: an inventory of vegetation along the Grand Trunk Trail, the banks of the Thames at the Flats and the Riverview Walkway.

The Perth Stewardship Network is part of a program introduced by the Ministry of Natural Resources in 1994. Its goals include efforts "to bring community members together to advocate and implement resource stewardship ... to achieve and maintain a healthy and sustainable environment that will contribute towards both the viability of agriculture and natural resources in Perth County, as well as the social and economic well being of its residents."

A professional consultant, hired by the Perth Stewardship Network, identified 177 species of flora along the St. Marys walkways, 103 of these native species of grasses, wildflowers, aquatic plants, bushes and trees.

The report includes recommendations for the use and development of the walkways to preserve these species and also suggests plantings for regeneration and beautification. It includes recommended species of trees for commemorative plantings.

The report will be a valuable reference and educational resource for groups, including schools, that plan to use the trails as an outdoor natural history classroom. It also makes good reading for anyone interested in plant species, native and non-native, that can be found close to home.

A copy of this report can be read at the St. Marys Library. Its full title is: "An Inventory and Assessment of Vascular Flora for the Development of the Grand Trunk Trail." It was produced for the Perth Stewardship Network by Aqua Terra, Mildmay, Ontario.