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McLennan Tourism Society beautifying the community
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Lawrence McNeil and Dr. Pieter De Wet, both members of the McLennan Tourism Society, have completed 10
of the promised 50 benches to be delivered to spots across town by September.
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Emily Plihal
for Smoky River Express
McLennan Tourism Society has been improving the aesthetics of the community one tree and one bench at a time.
Dr. Pieter De Wet, a member of the tourism society, says board members hope the benches and trees will improve the image of the town.
“Essentially we are trying to improve the image in McLennan,” says De Wet. “We also have a shortage of places for people to sit. Older people don’t have a place to sit when they’re taking a walk.”
Dr. De Wet says he had seen the benches in another community and thought they would be easy to make but would still add an element of beauty to the town.
“My wife thought it would be a good idea to make them memorial benches,” says De Wet. “We decided to make 50 benches, which we hope to have out by mid-September.”
Each bench will have a copper plaque stating who the bench is in memory of.
He says each bench has to be sanded and oiled before they can be put outside, currently only 10 benches are complete.
All the wood was bought from British Columbia. De Wet says many people from the community were involved in making the benches in the old curling rink.
Late last week, De Wet and Lawrence McNeil distributed the 10 finished benches through the community.
Help is still needed from community volunteers to complete the last 40 benches.
Trees
The tourism society has decided to plant 1,000 trees in McLennan to add beauty and bird habitat to the town.
“We figured that being known as the Bird Capital of Canada, we should try to have as many birds in our town as possible,” says De Wet. “We have purchased trees that feature fruits and flowers.”
Trees selected to be planted in the community include; Flowering Crab Apples, Flowering Prune Trees, Mayday, Schubert Choke Cherries, Amur Maples, American Elm, Mountain Ash and Green Ash.
“The town gave us permission to plant trees on their property,” says De Wet. “They also donated some of their employee’s time to help water the trees this summer.
The next batch of trees will be ordered this fall for planting next spring.
This summer the society managed to plant 150 trees.
If you are interested in donating to the tree purchase, or would like to help complete the benches, please call Dr. Pieter De Wet at 780-324-3055.
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