We often hear how a budget tells us what a city values, and one of the things that residents clearly valued in the City of Guelph budget was funding for the park stewards program. We often talk about environmentalism and civic pride as big reasons to live in Guelph, so is the park steward program the ultimate expression of that, and if it is, why didn’t we talk about it before we almost lost it?

According to the City of Guelph’s website, the steward program is a series of community-led projects where groups come together to ‘adopt’ and help care for parks city-wide, which can mean just about anything from planting native plant species, cleaning up litter, or helping to protect habitats. Several stewards came out on the budget delegation night to speak in defense of their program, which was among the initial round of proposed cuts before the funding was restored.

To learn more about the stewards, what they do, and why they’re so dedicated, we’ll talk to Margaret Middleton, a steward for Rickson Park who delegated at the aforementioned council meeting. Rickson Park is situated along the Royal City Trail, and between two schools; there’s a lot of greenspace, and it services all kinds of people in the area from families, young kids, university students, and dog walkers. So what kind of person takes on the responsibility for making their local park better?

Middleton will join us to tell us about the Rickson Park she knows, how she found about the park steward program, and what the relatively small amount of money they receive from the City of Guelph pays for. She will also talk about how the program is rooted in sustainability, and working with other stewards and groups across the city. And finally, she will discuss organizing for the budget fight and how you can get involved either in Rickson Park or your own area park.

So let’s head down to the park – in spirit – on this week’s Guelph Politicast!

To learn more about the park stewards program you can visit the City of Guelph’s website, and you can also find a link to the list of parks that are presently taking part in the program. You can also send an email to stewardship [at] guelph.ca get in touch with the steward at your local park or perhaps to volunteer as the steward of your local park.

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