In 2020 the Unsung Champions Award was presented to Penny Lyle, Director of Community Projects, Sechelt Garden Club by Patrick Wieler, MP for her work in Sechelt on behalf of the Sechelt Garden Club.
Here is an outline prepared by Penny in 2020 of projects taken on and in progress by the Sechelt Garden Club, with the help of some dedicated volunteers including: Jean Conley, Edwin Leung, Sally & Lyall Markham, Pat & Ken Kolterman, Noel Shepperd, Gerri Randall, Margaret Acton, Marylin Roberts, Katherine Hemsworth, and many others.
2015: The Flower Wall. We helped the DoS & SCRD clean up garbage and plant flowers in the beautiful rock wall on two sides of the Sechelt Aquatic centre which is visible from the exterior and very visible from the hot tub area & other areas inside the pool
Spring 2016: The Riparian Project. As we were starting up, Diane Sanford of Moonstone Enterprises approached us to help her by mentoring the Davis Bay school children as they planted Eel Grass & Nootka Roses to rehabilitate the Sechelt waterfront after the construction of the Watermark buildings. It was a good starting place for us – educational and she is a great person to work with
Our next project, The Aquatic Centre Rock Wall was a huge job. I asked for donations from nurseries both in Sechelt & Gibsons as well as from our members. We were overwhelmed with +/- 750 plants plus a volunteer from Deluxe Nursery. Now the wall looks lovely. Although we have signed off on this program we come by at least once a year to help the staff with a major pruning & to clear greenery from the plaque we installed on a rock to celebrate. We’ve had so much positive feedback from aqua fit class participants, pool users and folks just walking by the back of the pool.
2017: The Sechelt Garden Club celebrated its 50th anniversary. The District of Sechelt planted a Sourwood Tree at the Seaside Centre Garden to honor our 50th anniversary. Our club is 20 years older than Sechelt!
We continued work at the Aquatic Centre in 2018 and 2019, including campaigning to get a hydro box covered at the outside entrance to the rock wall, and painting the nearby cardboard disposal bins bright yellow (behind pool & town hall) and then dividing them into squares for children from all Sechelt Elementary Schools to paint something “green” in their square. When not painting, the children were “entertained” by the environmental manager of Direct Disposal, Kirstin Powers, with all her labelled disposal boxes. She had the children not painting running around picking up litter for “hands on” training in correct disposal. They loved it. A fun final day, plus a dull parking lot made brighter for folks walking to and from the public market.
2019/2020 and ongoing: Cowrie Lane – Located between shops on Cowrie Avenue. When permission from the owner was granted we pruned badly overgrown shrubs, weeded and planted a hedge of small Boxwoods with colorful annuals in between. The owner is very onboard and helps out a lot. We’ve since helped them contain the growth on the two rear planters. Lots of positive feedback here as it’s such a public place. We replanted flowers in 2019 and continue to maintain the popular pathway. The owner now buys the plants while we still plant them and they maintain the area.
2020: Periwinkle Lane Project: On Hold for now. We have done some preliminary work on the patio (plaza?) in front of the Bank of Montreal, working to severely cut back & remove overgrown trees and shrubs.
Nov/Dec 2020: Pots in Downtown Sechelt: The District of Sechelt received a grant to buy large pots to put in front of shops. We were tasked with planting them. Now 18 large pots are placed along Trail, Cowrie, Inlet and Wharf Ave. with perennial base plants which will take some months to set in, so in spring we’ll flesh them out with grasses and more colorful annuals.
The hope is that merchants will water & care for the plants near the front of their shops. For now our group works in teams to check “their” pots once a month. This brings them into contact with merchants who can learn plant care and kindness from our capable members if they’re not already adept!