To the editor:
Take a quick drive or walk outside right now and you are bound to see the snowy white blooms of Callery Pear (Pyrus calleryana) trees. They are everywhere in our community â peppering the streets of Fort Wayne, decorating Courtyard Park in Auburn, and lining many a rural driveway in northeastern Indiana. What you wouldnât know from seeing this vista or by visiting the big box stores and finding Callery Pear trees for sale in the ornamental garden section is that these trees are invasive and killing off our native flora. No one should be selling them and no one should be buying them.
AUBURN â Neighboring homeowners who want to buy a piece of Don Lash Park have been mowing and maintaining that section for some 25 years, one of those residents said Tuesday.
âThis land has truly been maintainedâ by the neighbors, Laura Smart told the Auburn Parks and Recreation Board. âLet us take that land over, and we will be more than happy to continue to maintain it. ⦠We are the ones taking care of it.â
Four of her neighbors who live on Portage Pass in northeast Auburn joined Smart at the park boardâs meeting in Rieke Park Lodge.
âOne of the problems we have is ⦠woodchucks and all kinds of things in our backyard when the grass would get a foot deep,â said Jerry Akey. Another neighbor said snakes can be a problem.
To the editor:
Last fall at the invitation of Janet Canino, I started attending the Auburn Parks and Receation Board meetings. After a discussion with Janet about much of the research being published on the impact of the outdoors and play on childrenâs health and well-being. She felt I might bring a different perspective to these meetings being a former elementary teacher and as someone currently working in early childhood education. Even during pandemic restrictions, I began to notice attendance at these meetings grow as she reached out to others in our community who might bring different perspectives as decisions were made about the future development of our parks. She reached out to experts in forestry and the environment, native plant enthusiasts, hikers of local trails, educators, local land owners and people of all ages and backgrounds.
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