By Craig Westcott/June 9, 2022
Ron Doyle was throwing dirt Sunday, but not the slanderous kind, which would have been out of character for the easy going, well-liked mayor of Petty Harbour – Maddox Cove. Doyle was instead tossing soil on some new trees that have been planted at the Cribbie’s Road Park and Community Garden overlooking the picturesque fishing village.
But first, Doyle had to cut the ribbon to open the rejuvenated park, which had received a $25,000 grant from TD Bank in conjunction with the Nebraska-based Arbor Day Foundation.
The Town worked with its local Development Corporation and Recreation Commission to land the money.
The Development Corporation’s treasurer, Vonda Hayes, noted that Petty Harbour is among 20 towns across North America getting a Green Space Grant this year, but the only one in Newfoundland.
“The goal of this grant is to reforest Cribbie's Park into a true green space,” Hayes said. “And thanks to a second grant of $10,000 that (the Town’s Chief Administrative Officer) Stephanie Stack applied for and accepted on behalf of the Town, we're going to have a wheelchair accessible pathway to access the park (as well). That will be happening this summer in July.”
Hayes noted Cribbie’s Park, which is located on a hill overlooking the harbour where people used to plant vegetables and keep animals, is probably the first site in Petty Harbour that was ever developed for a recreational purpose. In past years, the Town operated an outdoor rink there in winter and later it put in a ballfield, which was well used by the community’ storied softball players, a number of whom represented the province at the Canada Games and internationally.
“That was probably in the 70s and 80s,” Hayes said of the softball pitch. “Then it transformed again into a local park. Then it kind of, unfortunately, went a little bit downhill. The equipment had to be removed because of safety (concerns). So back in 2014 we wanted to revitalize this ground as a useful space for everybody in the community to enjoy. In 2021, the Town had a grant to remove all the trees that were there and put in sods. Now we've got this new grant where we will reforest the park. We've got about 30 trees altogether. There's about 16 shrubs and about 110 perennials that we're going to plant. And we're looking for volunteers. This is just a kick-start to many things that are going to happen up here this summer. And the finale is going to be August 7 when we're going to have a concert up here that everybody is going to be welcome to come join and help celebrate the completion of this. So, this is a summer long project and we'll be looking for lots of people to help us out."
Mayor Doyle complimented the members of the Development Corporation, Recreation Commission and previous and current town councils for seeing the project through.
"It's amazing the work that has gone on here over the last couple of years," Doyle said. "I guess we never thought we'd see it come to fruition. But we're delighted… It's amazing what they've done with this piece of ground. I see a great future for this area. "
Doyle said the August 7 concert will mark the start of the town's Come Home Year festival, which will run for a week and include lots of activities. Many volunteers will be needed, he added.
"Probably the reason we didn't have a festival over the last number of years was the lack of volunteers,” said the mayor. “This year, all of the committees came on board, and we have 10 or 12 people on our (planning) committee. It's a great committee."
In an interview later, Doyle explained how valuable the Green Space Grant is given the Town mostly relies on cost-shared government funding programs to pay for its recreation infrastructure.
"In this case we were fortunate to get an Arbor Grant... and we're delighted to be able to get that,” said the mayor. “It's not every year you can budget recreation money, but it's very, very important, especially for a town like us to be able to get a green space in Petty Harbour. There are not many green spaces here. This is a great day for the community."
