Tribute Tree Planting at Adelaide

MESSAGE FOR STUDENTS, PARENTS AND STAFF

of

ADELAIDE HOODLESS SCHOOL

from

VON/VICTORIAN ORDER OF NURSES HAMILTON ALUMNI GROUP

JUNE 4, 2021

Tribute Tree Planting – Adelaide Hoodless School

We are pleased to tell you about a special tribute tree planting in the front courtyard of Adelaide Hoodless School. The VON Hamilton Alumni group together with Principal Nanci-Jane Simpson representing Hamilton Wentworth School Board and three community organizations – Hamilton Naturalists’ Club, Environment Hamilton and Trees for Hamilton, are participating in this project. Four native trees were planted on June 4 to commemorate and honour the work and dedication of VON Hamilton nursing and community services staff and volunteers for their exceptional services during the 2020 and 2021 Covid-19 Pandemic.  All native to our Carolinian area, the trees include a hack berry, a service berry, and two red buds. In addition, VON Hamilton Alumni are planning for a red maple to be planted this fall, at which time we will place a commemorative plaque to honour VON’s work during the Pandemic and its ongoing role in contributing to healthy neighbourhoods.

In the fall when we expect it will be safe for us all to gather, we hope that students, staff and friends of the Adelaide Hoodless School community, will join with the VON Hamilton Alumni group and representatives of our collaborating organizations in a special event to mark and celebrate this special tree planting.

During our discussions with Principal Simpson, we learned about the wonderful effort that has been made in recent years to restore and “green” the playground and areas surrounding your school. Together, we recognized that there still remains an area in the northwest corner of the school yard that requires further remediation to create a welcoming outdoor space for the very youngest children. Trees for Hamilton, one of our collaborating organizations has indicated that they would be interested in working with members of your school community to plan and assist in additional planting for that area. Perhaps this is a project you might wish to undertake in the next school year.

Your school was selected by the VON Hamilton Alumni Group for this tribute tree planting because of its special association with Hamilton citizen and educational reformer Adelaide Hoodless, who with Lady Ishbel Aberdeen wife of the Governor General, was instrumental in the founding of the Victorian Order of Nurses (VON) in Canada in 1897.  Looking to the future, we hope that you will remember this special connection as you care for these newly planted trees and watch them grow to maturity.  In so doing, you will be honouring not only your school’s history but also the extraordinary contributions of VON Hamilton’s health care and community services workers and volunteers during this past historic Pandemic of 2020 and 2021. We thank you for looking after your new trees, which in turn will be making your neighbourhood a healthier place for you to grow!