So, you're saying there's an opening? - The Chaff with Scott Stephenson
North Huron Council has made a decision. Whether it made the right decision is a matter on which thoughtful people clearly disagree. Council has chosen to relocate the Alice Munro Literary Garden to the Alice Munro Library, while others remain convinced that Riverside Park, near the Wingham and District Horticultural Society President’s Rock, would have been the more fitting home. The discussion has been earnest, well-informed and, judging by the reaction from the community and the letters now appearing in this newspaper, unlikely to conclude any time soon.
The Chaff has no intention of settling that debate. For one thing, enough intelligent people have already made intelligent arguments. For another, The Chaff became distracted while reading the staff report and has been unable to think about anything else since.
Like all good municipal reports, this one sets out to answer one question and inadvertently answers another. Staff were
not tasked with deciding where the garden should go. Instead, they carefully evaluated two potential locations according to accessibility, visibility, cultural fit, site readiness, operational impact and community benefit. They considered educational opportunities, tourism potential, barrier-free design, maintenance considerations, landscaping possibilities and the relationship between the proposed garden and its surroundings.
Council chose the Alice Munro Library because it offers what many viewed as a direct and meaningful connection to Alice Munro’s literary legacy. That is a compelling argument. Libraries and literature have enjoyed a productive relationship for quite some time, and nobody can reasonably accuse council of ignoring symbolism by placing an Alice Munro Literary Garden beside the Alice Munro Library. It is difficult to imagine the garden arriving there and feeling out of place.
Equally compelling, however, is the care with which the report describes the option council did not choose. Riverside Park is presented as a quiet and reflective environment, rich in natural character and open space. It offers flexibility in landscape design, opportunities for strategic seating, existing horticultural features, manageable maintenance requirements and the possibility of creating an inviting destination within an already attractive public park. It is described so warmly that one begins to suspect the report has developed an emotional attachment to the location.
The intriguing part is that Riverside Park is now available.
Staff have already completed much of the difficult work. They have identified a site with strong public accessibility, tourism potential, operational practicality and a welcoming atmosphere. They have effectively assembled a detailed catalogue of reasons why this particular corner of Riverside Park deserves something culturally significant.
Quite accidentally, they may also have completed North Huron’s first comprehensive feasibility study for a Betty White statue.
The similarities become increasingly difficult to ignore. The report praises the site’s quiet and reflective nature. Betty White spent the better part of a century encouraging people to smile, laugh and be kind to one another. A peaceful riverside setting hardly seems incompatible with that legacy. The report celebrates the surrounding flora and fauna. Betty White’s lifelong devotion to animals scarcely requires elaboration. It recommends thoughtful seating. Of course it does. Nobody should have to stand indefinitely while enjoying the company of Betty White, even if she happens to be made of bronze, granite or stainless steel.
With a municipal election approaching, one imagines an observant Reeve candidate might eventually notice the opportunity that has been left sitting, quite literally, beside the President’s Rock. The campaign will rightly include discussions about roads, budgets, infrastructure, housing and all the other practical matters that occupy municipal government. They deserve that attention. Yet somewhere among those larger conversations lies a thoroughly evaluated, highly accessible, tourism-enhancing, operationally practical piece of Riverside Park that has already survived one council debate. It now waits patiently to discover its true purpose.
The Chaff therefore recommends that council receive this column for information purposes; and further, that council acknowledge that the Alice Munro Literary Garden discussion remains one upon which reasonable minds may differ; and further, that if anyone should happen to be passing the President’s Rock, they take a moment to imagine the view improved ever so slightly by the reassuring presence of Betty White.