Making a REAL Difference for 30 Years
REAL came about after a gathering held October 31, 1989. So 2019 marks 30 years of REAL activities in our community. REAL is making plans to celebrate all year long. Check this page often for new developments.
Eighteen REAL people met January 10th, 2019 at the Smiths Falls Community Health Centre to brainstorm possible projects to draw attention to our 30th anniversary year. After coming up with about 15 possibilities, we narrowed it down to several projects to investigate further.
- Fall Dinner. Our annual Local Foods Dinner will be used to celebrate our 30th anniversary. The Legion has already been booked for Saturday, October 19th, and Joanne Edwards will be creating a wonderful feast of local foods. So mark your calendars! Our very first local foods dinner took place in 2004 for our 20th anniversary and has since become an annual event.
- Projects and Contests in Schools and Classrooms. The team has a number of ideas but will need to synchronize them with school schedules. So look for some announcements in the fall of 2019.
- Demonstration Rain Garden at the Smiths Falls Public Library. REAL has had it’s eye on the Smiths Falls Public Library as an ideal location for a demonstration rain garden for years, but there have been various obstacles. We have been setting money aside for this project, and hope that 2019 is the year! A rain garden is specially designed to temporarily hold rainwater in a small depression, typically from a roof, and allow the rainwater to soak in within 48 hours.
- Tree Planting. Our modest goal is to plant 30 trees over the next three years. The trees will be in various locations, potentially schools. The first few will be on the REAL Deal site as part of our Monarch Garden.
- Monarch Butterfly Garden. A team intends to establish a butterfly garden on the site of the REAL Deal. The idea is to provide habitat for the endangered monarch butterfly, but will benefit other butterflies and pollinators as well. The group organized a Rain Barrel Fundraiser to raise some of the funds required.
The Rain Garden, Monarch Garden and tree planting will leave a visible and lasting impact in our community. Encouraging youth to participate in environmental activities is key to a healthy environmental future for us all. Thirty years for a small local environment organization is an accomplishment that needs to be celebrated! Please contact us if you would like to learn more or become involved in any of the above projects.
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