Rotary “Roses for Camrose” Campaign
During the 1955 Alberta Golden Jubilee year and the year Camrose became a city, an historical section of the Camrose Canadian was entitled “From Seedling to the Tall Blooming Rose.” Perhaps this was the impetus for Rotary’s campaign the following year to make “Camrose the Real Rose City of the West.”
The project to promote the culture of roses was chaired by Jim Anderson. The club ordered 1,000 hardy roses in pink, red, white and yellow and went door to door offering the roses for $1.25 each. The final tally was about 1,100 roses planted in Camrose (400 red, 400 yellow, 200 pink and 100 white) − a good start in our claim to the nickname the” Rose City.” Profits went to support work in Rotary Park.
Rotary Four Seasons Park
In 1993 (with the aid of an Alberta Urban Parks Grant), the City of Camrose developed a system of paved trails in the creek valley, starting from Rotary Park south across 44th Avenue to the Railway Trestle. This paved trail increased the use of the parks. In 1994, the Rotary Club of Camrose began a program called 1000/1000 in which $1,000 were allocated towards landscaping and improvement of the trails, and 1,000 hours of volunteer labour towards cleaning the area. This program also resulted in the planting of trees around the ski lodge.
In 1995, Rotarian Dr. Franco Leoni presented the club with a proposed extension of that program. The cross country and biathlon trails developed by the ski club were paralleled by an almost flat trail that starts at the south end of the paved trail and continues all the way along the creek before heading uphill to the biathlon range. The proposal was to develop this trail as a two-way, four-season, easy recreational trail for hikers, skiers and bicycling.
The project would be divided into six areas:
- Survey and mapping by the city and Ski Club
- Removing the remnants from the areas dumping ground days. Surveying, cleaning garbage, tires, concrete, wood and metal fences, etc. As the trails were being cut over the years, old trees and branches were thrown into the surrounding bushes and were to be partially cleaned to allow for new growth.
- Modifying the trail slightly in some areas, making easier turns and widening the trail as necessary. Addressing erosion spots with drainage.
- Signage for the trails and kiosks identifying the trail system.
- Adding trees in the open areas where the trail identity is lost. This is similar to the work Rotary completed the previous last year in the stadium area.
- Replace or refit the present ski lodge
The budget for the project totaled $55,000 over three years:
- $15,000 for the first 7.5 km of trail
- $5,000 for mapping and signs, including four kiosks
- $5,000 for planting trees and landscaping
- $10,000 for a further 7.5 km of trails
- $5,000 for landscaping and signage
- $15,000 for modifications to the ski lodge
Work on the project began in the summer of 1995 with the focus on the trails between 44th Avenue and the lagoons. Some machinery work was done by Dave Brager to make the trails more usable, to make turns easier, and to develop new sections. Rotary members and other volunteers planted hundreds of willows, poplars, and spruce trees along the trails, put up 1.2 kilometers of cedar fencing, and built and installed three trail map kiosks.
In the first year of the program, Rotary spent $25,000. In the words of Dr. Leoni, “The actual amount was $25,000, but if you put in the hours spent and the donations of wood and materials it was in excess of $50,000 that we did this year.” For him, the best part of the project was the opportunity to work with other volunteers.
“Basically, almost everyone at the Rotary Club participated with this project”, he said. “I had a lot of fun and the most beautiful part of it was the fellowship we had between Rotarians and people outside the Rotary Club. We made a lot of friendships just working together.”
I should add that the homemade pizza at the Leoni’s home after work sessions are a piece of club legend.
The Rotary Four Seasons Park was officially opened January 27, 1996 during the local cross country ski loppet – now the Ole Uffda Ski Loppet. A time to celebrate!
Now, years after the project has been completed, the club continues to maintain the split rail fencing.