Maybe we could all use a little bit of ‘Charlie’ in these tumultuous times.
Barrie is a greener place thanks to late Rotary Club member Charlie Wilson, whose commitment to community was a driving force behind the Rotary Club of Barrie’s tree-planting program.
It saw thousands of trees planted across the city — and points beyond — over more than 60 years.
If you have a favourite tree along your street, or at a school or in a park, there’s a good chance Wilson and his hard-working crew put it into the ground.
Barrie Rotary Club past-president Dr. Peter Dean — who recently celebrated 60 years of perfect attendance in the club — fondly remembers toiling away with his friend Charlie beginning way back in 1961. He says Wilson’s passion for trees came from his commitment to community service.
“That was one form of beautifying the city of Barrie,” Dean tells BarrieToday.
“A lot of places that are older subdivisions now were pretty bare back then and a tree meant a lot to a homeowner and the street,” he says. “He’d chair the whole project and a have a committee of four or five people who would look into talking to the city, ordering the trees, (positioning) the trees and so on and following up to make sure the trees weren’t dying.
“He served without thought of reward. He would always step up and he just enjoyed volunteering.”
The late Rotarian Bill Clarke, who was the owner of Barrie Tent and Awning way back when, and Wilson both came up with the idea of a tree-planting program, Dean says. Their first foray into tree planting was in the early 1950s when they oversaw the planting of about 3,600 trees on the east side of (the brand spanking new) Highway 400 just north of the Holland Marsh in what is now Bradford West Gwillimbury.
Later, they would turn their sights on Barrie and, with lots of help, plant thousands of trees and shrubs at schools, public spaces, parks and more around town. And fellow club members were happy to volunteer.
“There was no coercion needed,” Dean says with a laugh. “Everybody in the club looked forward to the annual tree planting. You might get anywhere from 15 to 30 Rotarians and spouses and friends and family out. We worked in shifts; one crew would be at the Southshore and the others could be anywhere.
“We paid for all the trees and planted them with help from the city. We would ask people if they’d like a tree and we’d define the lot and location and plant the trees,” he says. “It was a really well organized effort.”
Just how beautiful the results of the tree-planting program have been over the years is no more evident than along Lakeshore Drive, where 100 maple trees — with leaves now a bright red — were planted in honour of Rotary’s 100th anniversary.
The club’s Charlie Wilson Environmental Award, an annual award given to a person or group within the city of Barrie that demonstrates environmental activism and consciousness, is keeping Wilson’s vision in focus, according to Rotary Club of Barrie president Jody Patfield.
“Charlie was a wonderful, wonderful human being,” Patfield tells BarrieToday while standing next to a marker near the Southshore Centre recognizing Wilson’s efforts. “He did so much for the community, which is really what Rotary is about and our motto ‘service above self’. Certainly in these last two years we’ve been through (with the pandemic), it’s a way to be.”
Patfield says there are many ways everybody can make their community a better place.
“Be nice to people. Pick up a piece of garbage. Hold a door for someone. Do something not for yourself, but to benefit somebody else,” he says. “No matter how small or big it is, help out. Be kind, be loving, be forgiving, be tolerant. Charlie embodied all of that in his work.”
Wilson was “up and down the streets planting trees” into his later years and made a difference, Patfield says.
“We’d be living in a more fortunate world if everybody had the same qualities as Charlie. He was a tireless worker and just so giving and passionate about the community and giving back," he says. “If that isn’t the definition of ‘service above self’, I don’t know what is.”
