It is hard to believe that the Aurora Community Arboretum is about two decades old; a beautiful parkland stretch located in the East end of our town. The Aurora Community Arboretum is a unique green park and is accessible from many locations. Each entrance location is unique in its own way. I must say that there was no single trip I ever made to the Arboretum where I didn’t find something intriguing. And there are the Fields of Gold, a field full of beautiful daffodils.
I hope that one day the school boards and municipal government will join forces and will recognize this green space as an important resource for our local schools and will incorporate it into student studies. As a matter of fact some teachers already do.
“Matthew have you gone back and visited the Arboretum lately during your summer vacation and noticed how it changed,” a letter from his teacher read. Yes, the Aurora Community Arboretum volunteers and the town, over the years, provided excellent educational and recreational enhancements to the Arboretum that sparked occasional attraction from the neighbouring schools.
“I wish we had a richer story to tell, but perhaps 180 years of good, productive farming, unexciting as it may be, is to be treasured. ~ Jacqueline Stuart”
The land itself has history dating from before 1900s. How is that possible one may ask, since there are no signs of dwellings or ruins? Well, it was farmland before. What it became today is, perhaps not exciting, but a long story. If only the old majestic oaks could talk. What they have seen exactly before Aurora was born, a long time ago, we will never know. But we don’t have to go back that far. What happened in two decades here is in fact interesting to tell.
I was once told to go visit the blooming Fields of Gold in the Arboretum. So I did; however, first I had to find the place. After all it was a fun, long and fresh spring walk. I knew that I had a better chance of finding the garden eventually, if I started to walk from one end of the Arboretum to the other. Nowadays, since its discovery, I use the Lambert Willson Park entrance off Industrial Parkway.
The Fields of Gold is a field of beautiful daffodils. The yellow strip of blooming yellow heads can be partially seen from the Industrial Parkway sidewalk. The yellow accents were prominently standing out even more during last week’s heavy rains that partially flooded a couple of Arboretum paths.
The Fields of Gold, is also a name of a campaign that was started in 2011 by Nancee Webb and Dan Thomas. A campaign to raise funds for the Canadian Cancer Society whose mission is to eradicate cancer and to enhance the quality of life of those living with cancer. The campaign aimed at creating beautiful lasting legacies by planting a daffodils garden to honour and remember loved ones lost, celebrate survivors and recognize caregivers.
The daffodils are a bright symbol of hope to everyone touched by cancer and the Aurora Community Arboretum has graciously offered a home for this ‘bright and beautiful‘ garden of hope. Since 2011 a total of 5,500 daffodil bulbs were planted and every year in the early spring the daffodils come back and graciously pop their beautiful heads, renewed signs of strength and hope.
Anna Lozyk Romeo
Aurora, ON
