(Before there was a Crane Mountain Landfill... before the recycling bins we have now... there was a movement in the River Valley to get on the recycling bandwagon. This column from the summer of 92 describes those first green attempts.)
On most clotheslines around here at this time of year you'll find clothing hanging out to dry. Not on ours. Oh sure there'll be the odd shirt or pair of socks drip drying out there in the fresh Grand Bay air. But the clothes are never alone on our line. Most days they share space with about a zillion plastic bags, clothes pegged and flapping in the breeze. We take all the plastic bags from milk and bread and everything else that comes wrapped in them, wash the bags, hang them on the line to dry and then re-use or recycle them.
We do the same with glass jars, aluminium cans, cardboard and old newspapers, except we don't hang them on the clothesline. We recycle in this house and that's good according to all the experts. The Fundy Solid Waste Action Team urges us all to follow the three R's of waste reduction, Reduce, Re-use and Recycle.
Being environmentally responsible isn't the easiest thing to do in the River Valley. We can take plastic bags to the Co-op or Sobeys for recycling but cans, glass and news print have to go into the city. We drop the stuff off regularly at Saint John Recycling on Rothesay Avenue. Storing it all in the house until there's enough for a drop off and then making the trek into town is sometimes inconvenient. But that's about to change.
Recycling is coming to us. Brand new recycling containers are standing near Pauls Restaurant. They're called bells. One is for aluminum cans and the other for white glass. There's also a specially designed container just for newspaper. We have the Kiwanis Club of Western Kings to thank for this. Vaughan Morris is the chairperson of the Kiwanis Recycling Committee. He came to the conclusion this would be a good project for the Kiwanis after noticing his wife loading the car with glass and paper for a trip to the city. The business community and the Chamber of Commerce soon became involved with a pledge of financial support for the project. They're going to try it for a year but Vaughan is confident it will continue.
"We've watched these environmental problems happen and we've let them happen." Vaughan says. Eventually he'd also like to go into the schools with programs to educate younger people about recycling. "We have to do things to help our community that will have a bearing 25 years from now." says Vaughan.
The official opening of our local recycling depot is on Saturday, May 23/92. It's being held in conjunction with "Green Up Day". That's appropriate because both contribute to making the River Valley a cleaner and greener place to live. Now that recycling is easier to do let's hope more of us around here start doing it. And who knows, one day there may be more plastic bags hanging on clothes lines than socks.
Monday, July 23, 2007
Friday, July 20, 2007
The Bird House Lady of Westfield
(This weeks Retro-Rambler column was first published in the River Valley News on June 25/1992. That was 15 years ago. I don't know if Jocelyn still makes her bird houses or not.)
Jocelyn Steeves is sitting on the front porch of her Westfield home enjoying the morning sun. From here she can see all the way up the Long Reach. In between sips of orange juice, Jocelyn is making entries in her bird diary. She keeps records of bird sightings for the naturalist club. It's quiet this morning, except for the occasional car passing by and the birds. They're everywhere. Blue jays, rose breasted grosbeaks, sparrows, all taking turns at the feeder and all chirping loudly.
Jocelyn is known as "The Bird House Lady of Westfield". She has sixteen purple martin and tree swallow houses scattered around her property as well as numerous feeders. When Jocelyn moved to Westfield eleven years ago there were no birds around here. That changed when she started building the houses and feeders. It's a hobby she's had since she was a kid. Jocelyn makes them all from scratch in her shop above the garage. She sells them at craft sales and from her home and people are buying. Her biggest bird house is an apartment block for purple martins. It weights about fifty pounds and has up to sixteen separate compartments for the birds to live in.
"A lot of people are surprised that a woman is making these bird houses," Jocelyn says, "They expect to see an older, retired gentleman doing the hobby." Many of her customers come back year after year to pick up something new and to ask questions. Lately she's even had requests for bat houses. "Maybe that's the next thing I'll get into," she says with a laugh.
As a bird watcher and naturalist, Jocelyn is troubled by two things. There are no purple martins this summer. She lost them all during a cold, rainy spring two years ago and they haven't returned. Last summer she heard three of them but there hasn't been a peep from the purple martins so far this year. Her houses have been home to generations of the birds. Now they sit empty and silent. She doesn't know where the purple martins have gone and she misses them. Jocelyne's other problem is her cat. One of her four felines likes catching birds. She's attaching a bell around the cats neck to warn the birds but if that doesn't work she'll have to tie the cat up. It ust won't due for a bird lover like Jocelyn to have a cat that loves birds too. But for completely different reasons.
On the brighter side, Jocelyn is pleased to see more birds then normal at her feeders. Usually by now the numbers are down but not this summer. And nine pairs of tree swallows have made Jocelyn's yard their home. They've moved into her bird houses to live and to raise their young. And for Jocelyn Steeves, the bird house lady of Westfield, that's what it's all about.
Jocelyn Steeves is sitting on the front porch of her Westfield home enjoying the morning sun. From here she can see all the way up the Long Reach. In between sips of orange juice, Jocelyn is making entries in her bird diary. She keeps records of bird sightings for the naturalist club. It's quiet this morning, except for the occasional car passing by and the birds. They're everywhere. Blue jays, rose breasted grosbeaks, sparrows, all taking turns at the feeder and all chirping loudly.
Jocelyn is known as "The Bird House Lady of Westfield". She has sixteen purple martin and tree swallow houses scattered around her property as well as numerous feeders. When Jocelyn moved to Westfield eleven years ago there were no birds around here. That changed when she started building the houses and feeders. It's a hobby she's had since she was a kid. Jocelyn makes them all from scratch in her shop above the garage. She sells them at craft sales and from her home and people are buying. Her biggest bird house is an apartment block for purple martins. It weights about fifty pounds and has up to sixteen separate compartments for the birds to live in.
"A lot of people are surprised that a woman is making these bird houses," Jocelyn says, "They expect to see an older, retired gentleman doing the hobby." Many of her customers come back year after year to pick up something new and to ask questions. Lately she's even had requests for bat houses. "Maybe that's the next thing I'll get into," she says with a laugh.
As a bird watcher and naturalist, Jocelyn is troubled by two things. There are no purple martins this summer. She lost them all during a cold, rainy spring two years ago and they haven't returned. Last summer she heard three of them but there hasn't been a peep from the purple martins so far this year. Her houses have been home to generations of the birds. Now they sit empty and silent. She doesn't know where the purple martins have gone and she misses them. Jocelyne's other problem is her cat. One of her four felines likes catching birds. She's attaching a bell around the cats neck to warn the birds but if that doesn't work she'll have to tie the cat up. It ust won't due for a bird lover like Jocelyn to have a cat that loves birds too. But for completely different reasons.
On the brighter side, Jocelyn is pleased to see more birds then normal at her feeders. Usually by now the numbers are down but not this summer. And nine pairs of tree swallows have made Jocelyn's yard their home. They've moved into her bird houses to live and to raise their young. And for Jocelyn Steeves, the bird house lady of Westfield, that's what it's all about.
Thursday, July 12, 2007
The First Rambler – Hiking to the top of Bald Peak
(This is the first post in what I like to call the Retro-Rambler series. Over the last 15 years I've written over 350 columns for the River Valley News. I'll be weeding through them and posting some of these old columns on a regular basis. Think of it as a trip down memory lane. You may be surprised by how little has really changed over the years. We're beginning with the very first column written for the paper. Hope you enjoy the new format for this blog. Please leave your comments and be sure to check out the new column and podcasts at doingstuffoutdoors.com)
When you first stand on the summit of Bald Peak, the combined force of the wind and the spectacular view literally takes your breath away. The Nerepis Valley stretches out to your left. Off in the distance you can see Grand Bay and a few white dots that are actually houses in Brandy Point. In front of you sweeps an endless carpet of trees, broken occasionally by a lake or bog or man made microwavetower and behind you, the even higher summit of Mount Champlain rises. This looks and feels like big mountain country and it's right here in
the River Valley.
A hike to the top of Bald Peak in Welsford is always an adventure for our family. We've been making the trek every fall since we moved to Grand Bay. I first heard about the trail from Dave Goss. He told me about a hike that starts behind the Welsford school and leads all
the way to the top of what is actually Mount Douglas. A huge rock caps the summit and that's why it's called Bald Peak. He also said it was a perfect lookout to view the fall foliage. Boy was he right. This walk has become an autumn tradition for us and for many others as we
soon discovered.
In all the years we've made the climb, we've only ever seen one other person on the trail. But the mountain was crowded this sunny Thanksgiving Sunday. Before we had parked the van we spotted another family getting out of their car. They were friends from the city and
this was their first attempt at the summit so we hiked together. We met others on the trail. Percy and Pat Perrin of Grand Bay were on their way down. We met and passed Grand Bay town councillor Michael Murphy and his family. Mike had his young daughter perched on his
shoulders. The peak was even busier as climbers leisurely soaked up the view. Five students from the Community College in St. Andrews were rock climbing on the fifty foot cliff that crowns the summit. John and Susan Sheehan of Grand Bay were there with their kids and a
relative who used to live in South America. She commented the mountains in Peru are higher but the River valley is just as pretty.
When we arrived at the peak we found Dave Jones lounging in the"Devils Chair". He's the Saint John police officer who patrols Rockwood Park on horseback. He used to live in Welsford and remembers coming up here as a child. This is where his father told him the
story of the "devils chair". It's actually a large boulder on the summit with a natural hollow in it for sitting. Smaller rocks nearby are the "Devils Foot stool" and a few feet away, indentations in the rock or "the devils foot prints" are clearly visible.
The hike up Bald Peak can be done by anyone of any age at any time of the year. I've made the climb in the snow on Boxing Day and in the spring. (I once took all the kids attending my sons birthday party.) In the new book, "A Hiking Guide to New Brunswick" by Marriane and H. A. Eiselt, the 2.5 km (1.6 mile) return trail is described as being of moderate difficulty with a return hiking time of an hour and a quarter. The clearly marked trail rises 650 feet to the summit. It starts behind Welsford school and to the right of the schoolyard. A short dirt road to the left will lead you to the base. You'll know you're there when you see a collection of old rusted vehicles. Don't worry, this unsightly junk will soon be forgotten once you start on
the climb. The trail is sheltered from the wind so at this time of year you probably won't need a lot of extra clothing for the hike but you'll need a warm jacket for the top. Normally running shoes are fine for your feet although if it's been raining rubber boots are a good idea. We usually take a back pack along full of apples, chocolate bars and other treats for the summit. A camera and binoculars are a must.
The fall foliage may be past its prime but there are still plenty of good reasons to make the trek. The climb is exhilarating. It's good exercise. It's something the whole family can do together
and it doesn't cost a thing. The view from the top is spectacular and makes it all worthwhile. Just one climb up Bald Peak and it will probably become a fall tradition for your family too.
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