By Judy Sauve,
President, Eganville and Area Horticultural Society
It was a cold day but a tiny oak sapling recently planted in Legion Field in Eganville received a very warm welcome on November 7, This is the traditional time to stop and remember and this tree is a permanent symbol of why we do that.
This sapling is descended from acorns sent home to what is now Scarborough after the battle at Vimy Ridge, France in 1917. Seeing the total devastation after the battle, Canadian soldier Lt. Leslie Miller found some acorns and mailed them to his parents. They planted them and some of the original oaks still stand. When he returned home, he took over part of the farm and called it Vimy Oaks, tending carefully to those trees. He always had a dream of repatriating them at Vimy.
Lt. Miller has passed away of course and the oaks are on what is now the property of a church. A young man named Monty McDonald later worked with him at that farm and admired his determination and took on the project with the help of a local nursery, determined to send 100 saplings to Vimy Ridge for the battle’s centennial this past spring. A plan was drawn up for the area at France’s Vimy Memorial where they would be planted. He enlisted the help of several individuals who formed the Vimy Oaks Legacy Team. But they hit a number of obstacles: a year of low production of acorns when they needed them for planting; an oak disease that meant Canadian oaks were barred from entry in France; and finally, word that the area could not be cleared of materials that could detonate in time for the centennial. His new target is Remembrance Day, 2018.
With saplings ready to plant, the Team decided to offer them throughout Canada to groups who wished to plant them in significant places to honour the centennial.
The Rotary Club in Eganville and the Eganville and Area Horticultural Society jointly applied for a sapling with the intention of planting it in Legion Field. They considered it an appropriate spot because it once belonged to the Legion and was sold to the municipality for $1 so it could be used for community activities. It is now the home of the Curling Centre, the Farmers’ Market, soccer and ball fields, tennis and volleyball courts, a youth centre and there are plans to add new features in the very near future.
The application was successful although the Scarborough nursery warned that the harsh winters in this area required that extra care be taken to help the sapling survive. It arrived during a hot spell in September so the sapling remained at the home of Horticultural Society President Judy Sauve waiting for more appropriate planting weather. It was gradually acclimatised as the weather cooled. Her husband Cam found an appropriate granite stone on their property and arranged for engraving at Yolkowski Momuments in Cobden. All costs for the tree and stone were covered by the Rotary Club. The Parks and Recreation staff planted the sapling and although they placed the stone in time for the dedication ceremony, they plan to prepare a base of cement for the stone in the spring.
Then began the plans for the November 7 event. The most impressive part of it is the level of participation from the community. Again, the Horticultural Society and the Rotary Club teamed to co-ordinate it and Rotarian Dave Clark emceed the event. A Colour Guard from the Legion was present and Claude Jeannotte spoke on the Legion’s behalf. Dave Lemkay, a well known figure in the Valley, is a member of the Vimy Oaks Legacy Team and provided a brief history of the Vimy Oaks project. Other speakers were Renfrew County Warden and Bonnechere Valley Mayor Jennifer Murphy, and History teacher John Pierce from Opeongo High School who spoke on behalf of his students who visited France’s Vimy Memorial in the spring. June Hansen spoke on behalf of the Horticultural Society and was also the representative of Military Families because her husband is retired from the military and her son is currently on assignment in Iraq. Corporal Trevor Livingstone from the military base in Petawawa joined Warden Murphy in unveiling the commemorative stone. Musician and recent inductee to the Ottawa Valley Music Hall of Fame Jon Park-Wheeler coordinated the sound system.
A reception followed in the Curling Centre lounge, co-ordinated by the Horticultural Society and funded by Bonnechere Valley Township. All agreed that the event was a very fitting tribute to all military and in particular, those who fought at Vimy Ridge.
Jon Park-Wheeler expressed it best when he commented on two shovels left near the tree in case they were needed. He felt one symbolised the deaths at Vimy and the graves that resulted, and the second one represented new life and the planting of this tree. From a poet and songwriter came a very wise and beautiful reflection.
This tiny sapling will one day be a mighty oak that provides shade for those enjoying family activities at Legion Field. The stone will insure that no one forgets its significance.
