The Beautiful Joe Heritage Society has been actively fundraising for a pedestrian bridge to make Beautiful Joe Park accessible for all to enjoy. They received an early Christmas present with a major $30,000 windfall from the Stanley Knight Heritage Society. The Knight family has been integral in many community projects and are not strangers to Beautiful Joe. If you’ve been to the park in the last couple of years, there is a lovely memorial bench dedicated to the Knights family, at the start of the pathway beside Beautiful Joe’s statue.
The pedestrian bridge across the Bighead River will join Beautiful Joe Park to Legion Park, another municipally-owned but under-utilized property. The bridge will create safe and level access for all to enjoy this shady downtown oasis, and Legion Park will provide improved parking. The steeply sloped driveway to Beautiful Joe Park is hazardous for those walking in from Edwin St. using mobility devices and even families with strollers. The driveway is too steep and the parking lot too small for tour buses and large RVs to gain entry and turn around to exit. The pedestrian bridge is the solution and will enable future events to be held in this special place. Tourism will further develop as buses would be able to offload on the Legion Park side and the new bridge will even make it a shorter walk to enjoy Meaford’s downtown.
The Meaford 150 celebrations renewed interest in Meaford’s famous dog and he was incorporated in the 150 logo. The Beautiful Joe Heritage Society have been diligently promoting the Beautiful Joe story and that of its author, Margaret Marshall Saunders, and of course, Beautiful Joe Park where the dog is laid to rest. Their tours have educated and entertained many from our area and beyond – in fact, from outside Canada. These tours provide insight not only into Joe’s story, but how the park and its monuments came to be.
The Stanley Knight Heritage Society’s donation brought the fund-raising effort to over $115,000 of the $130,000 goal. Funds were raised from the sale of plaques, books, and other items. Donations primarily came from the Grey-Bruce-Simcoe area and around the province – even a few from other provinces and the United States. The Beautiful Joe Heritage Society anticipates reaching their fundraising target later this year and is grateful for the public’s kindness, enthusiasm, and support for this project.
The Beautiful Joe Heritage Society is a registered charity and you can donate at www.beautifuljoe.org, by mail, or by contacting admin@beautifljoe.org. For personal contact, leave a message 519-538-5895.
