GORE BAY—A former Gore Bay area resident has donated his company’s expertise and time to plant about 20 beautiful trees in the refurbished Gore Bay waterfront park, the former children’s playground.
“I like the idea of doing things here, a project like this, back home,” stated Jason Pummell, owner of Northscape, based in Toronto. “I grew up here and this is my home. I feel it’s good to give back to the community.” He pointed out the town had originally approached his father Arthur, who is well known in the area for his landscaping work with Manitoulin Golf, who had been asked to provide input and advice on the landscaping part of this project.
Arthur Pummell explained, “Roger (Chenard) (town foreman) approached me explaining the town was putting in this new park and they would like some advice on how to go about this project and what to plant there in terms of trees.”
“So I told him (Mr. Chenard) that I would contact my son (Jason) and daughter (Lise) who run a landscaping business in Toronto,” said Arthur Pummell. “I put together a preliminary design, took it to Jason who recommended a couple of changes, and I took the design back to Roger to look at.”
Jason Pummell, who has owned Northscape for the past 17 years, explained, “We came up with a drawing and layout of where the trees could be planted, and what type of trees would be good to plant here. We wanted a design that looks good from the road, is hearty and functional.”
Jason Pummell explained the parkette trees include 12 autumn blaze maple, three red crimson king maple, two subwest locusts, one red oak and two dawyk beach.
“I decided to put the three Crimson King Maple trees closer to the street side of the park, and the Autumn Blazes will be throughout the park,” said Jason Pummell. He pointed out, “The space in the middle of the park is open, and when these trees grow, they will provide a massive canopy. The blaze trees will grow to 17 metres high when they are fully grown. In 15 years’ time it will be impressive.”
Mr. Pummell was assisted by his sister Lise Pummell (office manager for Northscape), his father Arthur and town employee Wyatt Dearing, as they dug the holes and planted the trees.
“I like the way the trees were planted design-wise and I hope the town likes it and the residents use the park area for many years to come,” said Mr. Pummell.
As was reported previously, the landscaping space was a former playground, but the town decided to remove the outdated children’s playground equipment and install and area for the public to sit and enjoy the park and the waterfront view.
Additional seating areas, picnic tables and shrubbery will be added to the park this spring.
