Spanning from John West Way and Wellington Street East in the south and Industrial Parkway North and St. John\u2019s Sideroad to the north, the Aurora Community Arboretum was just a kernel of a dream when first envisioned by Ken Smith and a small group of supporters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From that initial dream, those first kernels were planted in 1996, growing and strengthening with each passing year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cA place for memorial trees and benches, trails and enjoyment of nature, it has become a reality, an urban oasis in the heart of Aurora, from Wellington Street, the Town Hall, all along the East Holland River Valley to St. John\u2019s Sideroad \u2013 100 acres of Town park,\u201d say supporters of the Arboretum. \u201cIt has diverse areas from the specimen tree and commemorative tree areas in the south to the meadow in the north, with forests and shelter belts of trees along the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe Aurora Arboretum is still growing, planting trees every year \u2013 though severely limited this year and last due to COVOD constraints! \u2013 growing the forest and adding daffodil bulbs to the Field of Gold for the last nine years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A small, dedicated group of volunteers keep the Arboretum going \u2013 and growing! \u2013 working closely with the Town\u2019s Parks staff to make it happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Its biggest supporters and longest-standing volunteers dub it Aurora\u2019s Urban Oasis and this foundational principle has never been truer than in these challenging times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt is amazing to see how it has grown in 25 years and to see how much work has been done and see the trees that are now 30 feet tall \u2013 it is incredibly rewarding,\u201d says Irene Clement, a long-time volunteer with the Aurora Community Arboretum who now heads their efforts. \u201cWe get a lot of compliments from people coming through and they are just so appreciative.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Adds fellow volunteer John Clement: \u201cOne of the things that has really struck us is how this place has resonated with the people of Aurora last year and this year. We found the number of people responding to taking the time on the trails has only multiplied. We stop and talk with them and they say they can\u2019t believe they just discovered this and it was here all along!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As much as any milestone anniversary is about looking at how far they have come, the Aurora Community Arboretum is also looking firmly towards the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Volunteer Gordon Barnes says he is looking forward to work on a wading stream for migrating shore birds, while other projects currently underway include a viewing platform\/observational shelter at the large stormwater pond just off Hollandview Trail, which is often a nesting area for trumpeter swans, and, by the time the Arboretum reaches the half-century mark in 2046, a canopy walk when branches on either side of the area meet overhead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But, of course, that will still take every one of those 25 extra years to become a reality unless, in the tongue-in-cheek words of John, \u201cthe trees are going to have to get bigger or the people a lot smaller!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For more information on the Aurora Community Arboretum, how to become involved, join their 300-strong volunteer list, or take part in any number of virtual and in-person events they host throughout the year, visit auroraarboretum.ca.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By Brock Weir<\/strong> Throughout our battle with COVID-19, the expansive, colourful and fragrant Aurora Community Arboretum has been a haven for people looking to get outdoors in a social, yet safe way. The volunteers who planted the initial roots of the Arboretum couldn\u2019t have foreseen a global pandemic bringing new nature lovers to the space, but that is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":29483,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29510","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/2021-06-17-03.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-7FY","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-22 17:51:17","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29510","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29510"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29510\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29483"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29510"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29510"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29510"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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