Luck was with members of both the Chester Garden Club and Friends of Nature as they gathered on September 19th to honour Rudy and Mickie Haase in a brief ceremony at the Cove Garden. The blossoms on the garden’s hydrangeas were heavy with moisture from rain but, by 6:30 pm, in a show of “friendship”, nature cooperated with us and …
… the light rain gave way to overcast skies. Friends and neighbours were delighted to put away their umbrellas and catch up on local news while waiting for the ceremony to begin.
Once Rudy and his family arrived, and had in turn been greeted by his friends, all eyes turned to the east side of the garden where three fruit trees and a hemlock had been planted as a result of his generosity.
Rudy, along with Syd Dumaresq representing the Friends of Nature, and Heather McKinnon representing the Garden Club, posed briefly near the fruit trees and beside a mysterious green lump on the ground.
Syd then gave a brief recapitulation of the wide-ranging conservation projects that the Haases have created and supported over many years, before and after they moved to Chester. Those projects included saving an island in Maine and preserving several other large sections of land in New Zealand and in Nova Scotia as permanent conservation areas. Syd also mentioned their generous support for many cultural organizations in the province.
Helped by his daughter-in-law, Rudy then unveiled the granite boulder on which the commemorative plaque had been installed.
Following the unveiling, Rudy expressed his thanks to all who had been part of this event and, on behalf of Mickie, who was unable to attend, relayed her thanks and good wishes to all.
The participants then made their way to St Stephen’s Community Centre for a short reception hosted by the Garden Club. As an added bonus, in keeping with the theme of good stewardship of the land, a plant sale of perennials from members’ gardens provided an opportunity to pick up some bargains for fall planting.
