Valentine’s Day and Cruickston Park

Valentine’s Day has significance in Cruickston Park’s history because it was that day years ago in 2002 that Mark and I chose to reveal our plans for the remaining 800 acres to be conveyed to a land trust we had created as a way to oppose active road and overpass development. 

It was this threat that, in fact, created an opportunity.  The fate of the greater Cruickston Park (and a section of the Grand River) was left for Mark and I to define.  By law, road development results in way-side pits when the subject land holds gravel.    Cruickston’s flood plain along the Grand River holds a lot of Grade A gravel: an estimated 20 million tonnes of it.  The University of Guelph was clear it would no longer participate in gravel extraction due to its local unpopularity. This was the reason they had approached us to purchase the residual land.  So the question Mark and I had to answer was whether to allow the process to just take its course and earn $20 million plus aftermath development, or whether we do the unthinkable, forgo the financial benefit, and block it as a means of preserving the land.

Of course hindsight shows we chose the latter.  Oddly, it wasn’t a very difficult decision, although some would argue  it was counter-intuitive.  After all, money is money, but does it actually bring happiness?  We decided to regard ‘money’ more loosely and in this instance we felt compelled to resist the lure of it.  Instead we chose to listen to our hearts.  Did our community really need yet another development and did it justify erasing this enormous track of nature?  While we couldn’t define the full benefit of choosing this course at the time, we inherently knew that our preservation of this extraordinary piece of land would ultimately benefit us and the community many fold more, and for years to come.

So when I think of Valentine’s Day, all I need do is scan Cruickston’s peaceful horizon or listen to the hum of the ever present wildlife here, and in that pause, recall our place within nature, and give thanks for making this choice.— Jan Chaplin