Lakeview Terrace celebrates it 70th – with trees!

Thanks to a $4,900 grant from Gatineau’s Fonds vert, the Lakeview Terrace Resident Association (LTRA) will distribute tree seedlings to every resident in the neighbourhood to mark the 70th anniversary of Lakeview Terrace. Gatineau announced the winners of the Fonds vert on April 8.

Jocelyn Plourde, LTRA President, was thrilled that Gatineau will fund the entire request. “With the money, we can buy trees between 30 cm and 1 metre high, which have a better chance of survival,” said Plourde.

Mr Plourde explained that the project is more complex than it first appears. “We want 20 varieties of trees in order to improve our community’s biodiversity. We will also index all valuable trees in our neighbourhood. This is a really cool project.”

Caroline Piché and Josée Soucy, two Terrace Lakeview residents (also biologists and self-described “tree lovers”), are behind the project.

The LTRA will celebrate its 70th anniversary on  January 16, 2017,  the date when the first residents’ meeting occurred. According to historian Diane Aldred, “It was on February 6th that residents decided to have a charter under the name of Lakeview Terrace Ratepayers’ Association. To join, residents had to pay 50 cents each. It was during that first meeting that residents chose the name of Lakeview Terrace as well as the names of streets. Tom McConnell and Bob Percival erected signs to direct delivery people.” This was an important event for the community, built on the old Clark Farm; the Ottawa Citizen published a summary of the meeting.

Two important subjects at that meeting were landscaping and horticulture. According to Ms Aldred, “It was the first regional leader, E.J. Tapp, who encouraged residents to landscape their property and to plant trees along the streets, in front of the houses.”

Mr Plourde added that “the LTRA is the oldest residents’ association in all of Gatineau. It’s a dynamic association. When you live in Lakeview Terrace, you feel that you are a part of a community. This doesn’t happen like magic, it happens because people work hard, because people know each other and talk to each other and, frankly, it’s fun.”  (Transl.: CB)