n September 23, ECOS, its partners and over 120 residents of Old Ottawa South ignored the rain and unveiled eight bilingual, interpretative plaques and staged a wetlands festival at Brewer Park. It was a festive event with many participants wearing new ECOS T-shirts.
There are five interpretative plaques on the lookout by Brewer Pond, one at the eastern entrance to Pond area and two by the entrance just west of the Dunbar Bridge. These plaques were funded by the Millennium Bureau of Canada and our other partners.
The first plaque at the lookout is titled Pitching In. It is fitting that Jim Watson, our ex-mayor and long-time ECOS supporter, joined John Wright, manager of the Interpretative Program, in unveiling this plaque. The plaque celebrates the role key groups and individuals, such as the Bond family, Cognos Inc and the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority, especially Charles Billington, have played in restoring Brewer Park and the Rideau River.
The second plaque, Changing Course, was introduced by Doug Stickley on behalf of OSCA and David Pratt, MP for Nepean, representing the Millennium Bureau of Canada. This plaque explains the history of Brewer Pond since 1800. It draws on Siobhan Bond's research and her maps, and concludes byinviting the viewer to imagine what was and is again possible.
Charles Billington of the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority and Mike Lascelles of ECOS presented the third plaque, Greening Brewer Pond. This plaque explains how ECOS has planted thousands of trees and transformed a sterile, urban wasteland into a nature preserve in the heart of Ottawa for birds, mammals, muskies, frogs, mayflies, and turtles.
Inez Berg and Deb Irwin of the City of Ottawa unveiled the fourth plaque, Sharing a Vision. This vision, which provides a master plan to renaturalize our stretch of the Rideau, was first developed in the early 1990s and then later enhanced. This plan was used to develop our Millennium Bureau projects in partnership with the City, the Region, the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority, the Canadian Museum of Nature and Corush, Sunderland and Wright.
Mme. Munter and the students of Westboro Academy joined Ian Gregory, the artist who created the interpretative plaques, to unveil the fifth plaque Making a Difference. The plaque features the fine drawings the talented students at Westboro Academy produced under the guidance of Mme Yolaine Munter, Colleen Scott, and Jenny Paroli. Come and see the beautiful art of the budding artists and share their dreams for improved habitat by thePond.
Clive Doucet and Mary Trudeau of the Region, which paid for the plaque, and Mike Loewen of ECOS introduced the sixth plaque, Water Quality Starts at Home, which sits by the eastern entrance to the Brewer Pond site. The plaque identifies 21 actions people can take around their homes to reduce water pollution in the Rideau. Come to Brewer Park to read the plaque and learn what you can do to make water quality better.
Lurking Tigers in the Rideau is the seventh plaque located by the embayment just to the west of the Dunbar Bridge. The lurking tigers refer to muskies that prowl the river like tigers reigning in a jungle. The plaque refers to the fish bay carved out of the bank to make a spawning area for the various fish species including the one at the top of the food chain: the muskie. Hedrik Wechelka, who has championed ECOS's efforts to improve fish habitat, unveiled the plaque. Joining Hedrik was Mike Rankin, the "turtle guy" and Marim Moreland, a stalwart ECOS member who also manages our accounts.
The eighth plaque the Scout Bridge, was unveiled by Craig Turner, who organized the project and harnessed the scouts energy, and Gary Howard, a professional environmental engineer who lives in Old Ottawa South. The plaque tells the inspiring story of how a group ofdedicated young people helped plan and build a footbridge. And, of course, the bridge meets a very real need.
ECOS and the Regional Government then staged a wetlands festival featuring Mike Loewen's presentation on water quality, a short ramble with Hedrik Wachelka, Mike Rankin's live display of musk, painted, and snapping turtles, and a birding tour with Bruce DiLabio. Despite the pelting rain, Bruce and his crew spotted twelve interesting types of birds, including a Cooper's Hawk perched in a dead tree by the river.
Inez Berg and the ECOS organizers were about to leave when they spotted a band of students picking up garbage. The TKE fraternity at Carleton University, which has adopted the sports part of Brewer Park, were cleaning up. Hats off to the fine people from Carleton University who are all-weather stewards of the Park!
David Kennedy of sitesUnseen and Whittaker computers produced ECOS's web site www.restoretherideau.org. Special thanks to the Region of Ottawa-Carleton which financed the site. Please visit the site for an overview of what ECOS has accomplished over the past five years.