Spring might have officially arrived more than a month ago, but it sure hasn’t felt like it thus far. Heck, we even saw flakes of snow falling on Sunday afternoon, three weeks into the month of April.
We have experienced chilly springs in the past, of course, so this spring has not been overly abnormal, but after a chilly, snowy winter, many are naturally longing for some warm air and sunshine so that they can get outdoors and enjoy this fabulous municipality from Bognor, Leith, and St. Vincent, to the urban area of this municipality.
In spite of the unseasonable temperatures and the occasional snowfall, this community has been busy preparing for spring, and the summer months that will follow.
From the municipality patching potholes and sweeping the winter grit from our streets and sidewalks, to volunteers planning for the events that will bring us together as a community, from the farmers’ market, to Summerfest, to the Scarecrow Invasion & Family Festival; it is a busy time of year indeed.
This year marks 25 years since the former townships of Sydenham and St. Vincent, along with the former Town of Meaford were amalgamated into one municipality, which we know today as the Municipality of Meaford, and there will be a number of events this year marking that anniversary.
This is the time of year that the community comes out of its collective winter hibernation, and neighbourhoods come alive with activity.
In just a few weeks the Meaford Farmers’ Market will return to the Rotary Harbour Pavilion on Friday afternoons, with opening day set for Friday, May 15. For the past two decades, the Meaford Farmers Market has brought local food growers and producers together with consumers on Friday afternoons by the harbour. The farmers’ market always has a great energy, and you will no doubt bump into many folks you know, and you can leave with the fixings for a fabulous summer meal with the family.
Speaking of the Rotary Harbour Pavilion, before long we will see gatherings of volunteers under the pavilion putting together hundreds of scarecrows in preparation for this year’s Scarecrow Invasion, which will bring autumn joy to many in September and October. This year’s Scarecrow parade and Family Festival will be held on October 2.
In June the Friends of the Library’s Summer Sunday Concert Series will return, also at the Rotary Harbour Pavilion, for 11 weeks of musical performances with a beautiful view of the harbour area.
Music lovers will also make their way to Leith this summer for the Summer Festival in June.
Other events like Bognor’s Strawberry Social, or the annual Canada Day celebrations, whether in Annan, Leith, Bognor, or in the downtown area, also bring us together to celebrate our community.
It will soon be time for the Rotary Club’s annual community cleanup which will take place this year on Saturday, May 2. That event sees residents throughout the community collecting trash from roadsides and ditches, and from within our many parks, and that helps to spruce up the community for the summer months to come.
If you are preparing your own property for summertime, both Meaford and Owen Sound’s leaf and yard waste depots are now open, so you can drop off your raked up leaves, your collected branches, and grass clippings. Meaford’s Leaf and Yard Waste Depot is open on Fridays and Saturdays, while Owen Sound’s facility is open seven days each week for the season.
This is also a good time to remind local dog owners that the off-leash areas at Memorial Park are now closed (as of April 15), and the off-leash rules will resume in the park on November 1.
While this is a busy time of year for many of us, it is also a busy time of year for the municipality as they transition from winter road maintenance to filling potholes and preparing local parks for the season. From street sweeping to remove all of that winter sand from our roads, to maintaining ditches, to applying dust suppressants on our rural gravel roads, there is no shortage of tasks for municipal crews to address as they prepare the municipality for summertime.
Also worth noting is that spring load restrictions on our roads remain in effect until May 1, unless there is a need to extend, so local roads are currently limited to 5 tonnes per axle, which helps to prevent damage to our roads during the spring thaw.
Earlier in this column I mentioned that while we are often enjoying relatively balmy temperatures by this time in April, it is not uncommon to have a chilly spring season. The last spring like this that I can recall was back in 2018.
“It’s the middle of April and we’re still in the midst of the winter that refuses to say goodbye. But I’d like to assure Old Man Winter that it’s okay, we’ve had our fill, you can go now, we won’t be disappointed,” I wrote in my April 19, 2018 editorial. “April showers are supposed to bring May flowers, but this year we might be lucky to say a final farewell to snow and chilly temperatures by the time May rolls around, and the flowers might have to wait until June this year.”
Spring is in full swing, whether it feels like it or not, and to the many volunteers and to the municipal crews, who have all been busy preparing this community for the summer months to come, I offer much gratitude.
