Connie Tabbert
Editor
Several volunteers were out Wednesday ensuring the beauty of Beachburg will continue to be seen as people pass over the bridge near the LaPasse Road turn-off.
Down on his knees , Cameron Dube used a wire brush to help take off the weathered paint on one of the steel gerders, his mother Dawn beside him. Across the road, his father Pierre worked alongside Greg Arminen another gerder.
“The bridge needs some paint,” Cameron said, adding, “We have to keep this town looking nice.”
His mother agreed, saying, “The Beachburg Fair’s coming up. We have lots of visitors coming for the fair and we’re proud of Beachburg.”
The clean up the bridge was the idea of Cindy Jamieson and her dad Art, a former politician in Beachburg.
Following a discussion with her father, Ms. Jamieson called the county, who agreed to donate the paint for the railings and gerders. The cement portion of the bridge will be done by the county, since specialized paint is required, she noted.
“We wanted to clean up the bridge,” she said. “It clearly needs another coat of paint and a little love. With the fair this weekend, we thought it would be nice to do a bit of beautification in our hometown.”
Once the decision was made to do this job, Ms. Jamieson sent out an email to a few people she knew and the word got spread around.
Mr. Jamieson said it’s been at least two decades since the bridge had some tender loving care.
“I’m thinking it was last painted probably 20 to 25 years ago,” he said. “So, it’s long overdue.
“It’s not going to get done by itself. I thank the county for providing the paint. We’re doing the manpower to clean it up.”
While it’s expected new gerders will be put up, Mr. Jamieson said the current ones will be painted so they will at least look nice.
Mr. Jamieson said even with budgets tightening all the time, there is still work that needs to be done.
“We do what we have to do,” he said. “The bucks simply aren’t around anymore to do things, budgets change over the years.
“It doesn’t mean we can’t have localites jump in and do little projects. I would like to see the main street be like it was 25 years ago, with flowers pots hanging from the poles, even some flags for the poles.”
The bottom halves of the hydro poles will be painted by employees of Ottawa Rver Power Corporation, he said.
“We need to put some life back into the town,” Mr. Jamieson said.
