St. Andrews Park in Tiverton officially opened
By Liz Dadson
 

Feature

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 Mayor Larry Kraemer (C) joins members of the St. Andrews Park committee, Lisa Robertson-Taylor (L), Lorraine McIntosh, Marilyne Wilson and Ed Roberts, in the official ribbon-cutting to open the park Saturday afternoon

It was a special day in a special place for the special Village of Tiverton as St. Andrews Park was officially opened Saturday afternoon.

Ed Roberts of the park committee welcomed everyone who 'braved' the bright sunshine for the event and thanked the committee and the Municipality of Kincardine for bringing this project to completion. In particular, he credited Marilyne Wilson, chairperson of the park committee, for getting the best value for the buck in order to include the many amenities in the park. He said the businesses in Tiverton have picked up on the beauty of the new park and have refurbished their buildings as well.

Roberts also praised the contractor, Huron Landscaping of Lucknow, which took the committee's ideas and created this "jewel" of a park in Tiverton. "The quality design and workmanship are obvious," he said, adding that the company donated the plants on the north side the fence, facing Kwik-Way. He also thanked Mary Campbell for suggesting the name of the park. St. Andrews was the original name of Tiverton but it was changed when the post office came in because there already was a St. Andrews elsewhere.

Besides the fountain in the centre of the park, there are benches, walkways, a Blue Spruce to be decorated at Christmas time, and two checker boards. Roberts said people can get bags of checkers at Kwik-Way to play the games, free of charge, and then return the checkers when they're done.

"This is indeed an historical day for the Village of Tiverton and the Municipality of Kincardine," said councillor Randy Roppel, representative of Ward 3 (former Bruce Township). "A few years ago, people would pass through the village, but now they stop here because it's so attractive. It's you, the villagers, who have worked so hard to make this happen. I'm honoured to represent you. And I'm dumbfounded that we could take a barren landscape and turn it into something so magnificent. It'll be here long after I'm gone and probably long after all of you are gone."

He said his father asked him one time why he thought that people moved to Tiverton. "My dad said it was because the taxes were cheaper," said Roppel, "and because we had nothing here. Well, things have changed ... and so have the taxes."

Mayor Larry Kraemer thanked the park committee and everyone who put so much effort into this project. "The goal was to have it completed in time for the Tiverton Reunion (in August)," he said. "And then we hit oil and that added a new twist to it. However, it was ready for the reunion and I appreciate all who helped." He made special mention of the municipal staff who assisted council in getting through all the paperwork to get the oil tanks removed and the park completed.

"Now, we have two beautiful parks - one in Tiverton and one in Kincardine," Kraemer added, "and they are both jewels for the entire municipality."
 

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20/09/2009 11:00 PM

 Welcome to St. Andrews Park in Tiverton
 

 The magnificent fountain in the centre of the park
 

 Gerda Roppel (R) of Tiverton teaches her grandchildren, Kali Dunlop (L), 7, of Kincardine, and Tom, Bradley and Anna Roppel of Burlington, how to play checkers at one of the new tables in the park