Saugeen District Secondary School construction teacher Bud Halpin (yellow helmet) helps his students carefully roll a tree into position at Fairy Lake April 25.
Hub Staff
Helpful hands bare rain and mud as the restoration project at Fairy Lake in Southampton got underway April 25. Thirteen Saugeen District Secondary School (SDSS) students from Grades 10 through 12 worked under the watchful eyes of teachers Bud Halpin and Keith Day as well as Town of Saugeen Shores Parks Manager Frank Burrows as they planted approximately 26 soon-to-be-large trees and 160 seedlings.
A handful of G.C. Huston students with spades also helped plant close to their school and in the area of the Bruce County Museum & Cultural Centre. \
Trees native to the area were selected by SauGREEN and planted with larger trees purchased from Everest Trees in Port Elgin. Tree species included red oak, silver maple, sugar maple, hemlock, white spruce, burr oak and hackberry. Aisha Alibrahim, a student at SDSS said that she probably planted over 50 trees, including seedlings during the morning of April 25.
Construction teacher Bud Halpin said the SDSS students plan to dig more holes on April 26 and that the damp weather didn’t dampen spirits.
Although many students had never planted a tree, Haplin said they were prepared for the day. “We did some safety training...working around machines and what’s required for that. We made a site plan and discussed all the safety risks and the hazards.” He added that he asked the students if they wanted to forego the day due to inclement weather but after a quick survey the “dedicated crew” were ready to plant. “They said, ‘no we’ll go out, we’re ready to go so let’s go’. They're hearty students,” added Halpin.
High school students Aisha Alibrahim, Mikhayla Messer and Jacob Kubiak with Town of Saugeen Shores Parks Manager Frank Burrows, plant trees at Fairy Lake April 25.
G.C. Huston students Summer (left), D.J., Keenan, Wesley and Mia were armed for tree planting April 25.
Jacob Kubiak readies the ground for planting.
From big to small trees, it was all hands on deck at Fairy Lake April 25.
Cole Whalen with some maple saplings.
Larger trees came from Everest Trees in Port Elgin.
