Ribbon cutting at “The Point”

Wilma Kenny | Jun 08, 2016

By Wilma Kenny

Last Saturday a ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrated the newly-restored shoreline at the Loughborough Memorial Recreation Centre. Described by Recreation Chair Mike Howe as “a work in progress’, the two swim areas now have pea gravel beaches, and a soon-to-be-paved walkway provides full accessibility. Due to lack of rain, the seeded areas did not germinate well, and will be re-seeded in the fall.

The project was initiated when the Ministry of the Environment insisted that sand must no longer be dumped at the swim areas, as had been done for many years. Storms blowing from the east have combined with the natural current of the lake to continually erode the sand from the swim areas and build up weed beds on the naturally rocky lake-bottom. Now, large stepped stones flank the pebble beaches providing seating, and the rail ties around the tip of the Point have been replaced by limestone.

Three people were invited to cut the ribbon, each for a very special reason. Shirley Fox represented the Sydenham and District Women’s Institute, for without the foresight of this group, there would be no public access to Sydenham Lake today. In 1947, when the traditional village swimming hole came up for sale, members of the WI and the long-defunct Board of Trade put up money from their own pockets to place an option on the property.

Ron Vandewal as mayor represented the township, which accepted ownership from the WI in 1971, of what is officially named Loughborough Memorial and Recreation Centre, as a living memorial, in perpetuity, to local men who died in the wars.

Abby Saunders was eight when she addressed a public meeting about the importance of keeping a sandy children’s play area, and it is because of Abby’s eloquence and courage in bringing this to Council’s attention that the design was altered to include two large sand play areas, well above any likelihood of erosion.

Throughout the ribbon-cutting, one small person continued his enthusiastic excavation of a (for him) waist-deep hole in the nearby sand.