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By Chioma Lewis It is difficult to imagine that Toronto’s Trillium Park was once eight acres of asphalt parking lot. The creation of this nature park on the Lake Ontario waterfront is part of the first phase of revitalizing the once vibrant hub of Ontario Place, an entertainment venue that operated as a theme park from 1971 until 2011. In 2019, the Ontario government formally launched a search for developers to bring the site back to life. But last year, the World Monuments Fund added Ontario Place to the 2020 World Monuments Watch, a global selection of 25 at risk cultural heritage sites. The action rejected Ontario’s vision of private development and instead encouraged Ontario Place to be an open and publicly accessible site. ....
By Chioma Lewis When Tom Springer became interested in stargazing, he started walking down the road where he lives in Three Rivers, Michigan, to watch the stars. He realized a telescope provided him with a limited perspective. “All that a telescope does is focus on something small and narrow,” he said. To find something as big as a constellation, you need a broader perspective. And Springer found one when he came across a sycamore tree with branches like a goal post. It is the tree pictured on the cover of his new book, “The Star in the Sycamore: Discovering Nature’s Hidden Virtues in the Wild Nearby” (Mission Point Press, $17.95). It’s available from Horizon Books in Traverse City, Michigan, and Amazon. ....
Seagrass. Image: Smithsonian Institution Editor’s note: This is the third part of a 6-part series called Renaissances: Environment Creative Culture by Kathleen Fitch, Anne Hooper, Chioma Lewis, Lea Mitchell & Lillian Young. By Lea Mitchell Foraging for medicinal and indigenous foods is a prehistoric practice that not only has boosts immune systems, but has gained increased attention due to the coronavirus pandemic. Plant foraging, or gathering plants like elderberry, seagrass, echinacea and ginger, provides health benefits for humans and is vital in keeping a healthy lifestyle, according to indigenous groups. “Foraging is important because the Creator gave us all these medicines so we could live healthy, balanced lives,” said Susan Chiblow, member of the Garden River First Nation in Ontario. ....
10SHARES Holland, Mich. experienced a major financial loss this year due to cancellation of its Tulip Time Festival. Image: Kristi Berens, Dutch dancing instructor Editor’s note: This is the second part of a 6-part series called Renaissances: Environment Creative Culture by Kathleen Fitch, Anne Hooper, Chioma Lewis, Lea Mitchell & Lillian Young. By Kathleen Fitch The Great Lakes region is known for its natural beauty, drawing millions of visitors every year. Tourism is one of the region’s biggest contributors to its economy. Despite the pandemic, the region received just as many visitors this summer, if not more, according to Jim Carruthers, the mayor of Traverse City, Michigan. ....
By Chioma Lewis Growing up in New York City as a “street brat,” as author Walter H. Kehm calls it, he had a nature deficit. As an urban kid, with few nearby parks to play at, he and his friends had only concrete sidewalks for games like stickball and stoopball. “I grew up with concrete, I grew up with asphalt,” Kehm said. While playing stickball, he noticed grass growing out of the expansion joints in the sidewalks, and that phenomenon fascinated him. “I used to say to myself, “How the heck does grass grow in concrete?” Kehm said. After going to school for landscape architecture, he decided to bring nature into cities for low- income, racially and ethnically diverse communities like the one he grew up in. ....