Vision

Annually, our docent (teaching volunteers) group does what is called "Docent Day." This is a full day docent training session that adds to our regular 2-hour monthly sessions. On Docent Day, each docent picks a topic and teaches the rest of us about it. Recently, Joy Killen chose the topic of "vision" and read us this lovely article that she wrote. We thought we would share it with you.

The Arboretum we love so much is here because of the vision people who walked here before us had of a protected place where trees and shrubs would be preserved, studied and propagated. This is a place to enjoy forests and parks, specimen trees and gardens, as well as the wild animals and plants that make their homes here,

In 1939, 76 years ago, Professor Leslie Hancock first proposed the idea of an arboretum to The Ontario Agricultural College. His proposal percolated for almost twenty years until Dr. R.J. Hilton proposed to the president of OAC to establish an arboretum. Ten years later the project was approved in principle. The Board of Governors at that time envisioned a 'living laboratory'. The Arboretum was for both research and education. The founding director was Dr. Hilton, who had proposed the arboretum in 1956, and oversaw the start of planting which began in 1970. At last his vision was beginning to be realized! A pasture for sheep and cattle, old growth and second growth forests and wetlands were transformed step by step according to the Master Plans into The Arboretum we know today.

Planting began in the nursery, followed by maples, poplars and willows. There are now over 30 collections of trees and shrubs. The OAC Centennial Arboretum Centre opened in 1974. It was truly a beautiful building for the site, designed by the famous architect Raymond Moriyama. The building had a reflecting pool that was later transformed into a pond where geese nested. This then became a reflecting pool again.

Professor Alan Watson envisioned an education program for local schoolchildren and The J. C. Taylor Nature Centre opened in 1978. Because of Professor Watson's vision, thousands of children and adults have benefited from the interpretative program established at The Arboretum. A wonderful program, The Five Thousand Days, about environmental responsibility, was established by Dr. Keith Ronald and Jane Dougan. This course was popular to both the university community and to the people of Guelph. While the various programs have changed over the years, the standard of excellence has not. People come from all over Ontario and beyond to learn from the workshops offered here.

Another person who had vision looking far into the future is remembered by a plaque beneath a beautiful Bur Oak in the part of The Arboretum called 'The Park in The Garden' comprising east and west lawns. Frederick Law Olmsted, born in Hartford, Connecticut in 1822, was a man who made parks. There is a very long list of parks he designed all over North America including Central Park, N. Y., Mount Royal, Montreal, and Montebello Park in St. Catharine's. His vision was for peaceful areas, protected visually from the surrounding city, where all people, especially those who worked in factories, could easily come to restore their spirits from the harsh realities of their lives.

It was a novel idea to have parks for the working class. Olmsted had seen walled and locked parks in England where only the well-to-do who lived nearby had keys to enter the park. He is credited with the design of many urban parks we enjoy today. There were separate pathways for walkers, horse-riders and vehicles which flowed unhindered through the parks, curving through areas of meadows, gardens and woodlands. In Central Park there is still a well-used skating rink.

Our 'Park in the Garden' was designed by Christopher Campbell, a summer undergraduate landscape architecture student. Christopher used the principles of Frederick Law Olmsted in his plan. In 1998, the park began to be planted on a rolling pasture area. Paths and benches made 'The Park' a welcoming place for people to stroll. There are vistas from many angles. A gazebo was added adjacent to The Arboretum Centre for focal interest and many weddings take place on the lawn. The large space allotted to each specimen tree lets gardeners envision how trees they plant at home will look when they mature.

The Arboretum is here because of the vision of many forward-thinking people. Some of their names are remembered with the names of buildings and installations: J.C. Taylor Nature Centre; R.J. Hilton Centre; Ivey Trail; Francis Ball Rose Collection; Gosling Wildlife Gardens and The David G. Porter Memorial Japanese Garden are just a few. Many more individuals and groups who appreciate and support this place are named in gardens, plantings, benches and on inconspicuous plaques. People give their money, time and labour because The Arboretum is so important to them and they want it to be here for future generations.

The Arboretum has grown and changed since it was first proposed 76 years ago. Change is a certainty in life. May the vision of today's leaders, to whom we are indebted for carrying forward the founders' dreams, continue, in spite of difficulties. We volunteers, who each hold The Arboretum close to our hearts for various reasons, follow our predecessors' big footsteps. We all have a vision for this wonderful and treasured place.

Thank you so much, Joy!