Westport in Bloom volunteers have, once again, raked, fertilized, selected beautiful flowers, dug holes, planted and watered in record time to ensure that our flower beds are full and colourful.  It is not that we take Blooms for granted, however it is what we have come to appreciate.  And one Bloom volunteer in particular this year, spent a significant amount of time getting the flower gardens at Town Hall groomed and planted.  Extra trips to the nursery were required and even a bit of a wrestling match with the hose occurred – until she was satisfied.  You see her goal wasn’t merely getting the gardens ready for the summer.   It was important to her that the gardens were planned so they would be in bloom and filled in by June 9.  That is the day that the Canadian Armed Forces is parading in the Village, stopping at the Town Hall for the Freedom of the City event..  Extra effort and you can see the results.  Much appreciated.  (Sorry about the hose!)

Last week, a member of the Baptist Church Odd Job Squad called and asked if there was a project that they could handle for the Village.  Yes! I said.  The baseball volunteers have spent many hours grooming and revitalizing the baseball field and yet the benches in the dug outs are past their expiry dates.  The Odd Job Squad made a plan with CAO Paul Snider, picked up the benches on Saturday and returned them today.  The players and coaches will not recognize them.  You have helped us raise the standard at the ball diamond, Odd Job Squad.  Thank you.

The Heritage Committee is holding its Heritage Days on Saturday, June 2 from 9 – 4:00 p.m. at the Library.  These volunteers have been planning this interesting event for several months.  Interested in your heritage?  come on down and give ancestry.com a try – a volunteer will help you.  Lots of other things to do and many other volunteer organizations helping out.  The Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee is running a BBQ – so pls come hungry.  All proceeds from BBQ will go to the Lockwood Park fund.  The Westport Arts Council is doing its BIG REVEAL of this year’s “One of a Kind, hand painted Muskoka Chairs” at 11:00.  There are 6 chairs and you will be able to buy a ticket for the chair that you like.  The lucky winner of each chair will be selected at MUSICwestport on August 18.  By the way – did you know that the original name for the Muskoka or Adirondack chair was the WESTPORT chair.  Seriously!!!!!

There are other volunteer groups hard at it in the Village.  They don’t go home at the end of the day and watch TV.  Rather they are coaches and umpires, food bank shelf fillers, drivers to hospitals and medical appointments, fire fighters and church leaders, and take on many other roles – too many to mention.  They work as part of committees, non-profit organizations, clubs and unorganized ad-hoc groups of volunteers.  I am sure I have missed some, but their efforts are not overlooked.  I have said many times that the volunteers are the backbone of the Village … these are some of the reasons why.

Please shake the hand of a volunteer next time you see them contributing their time, effort and sweat for the good of our home town.