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magazine / mj07
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May/June 2007 issue |
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MOSAIC
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| PHOTO: ROBERT TINKER
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Boulevards in bloom
Excerpt by Sheri Gagnon
When Carrie Yudai tore up a patch of lawn in front of her
Winnipeg house 15 years ago and replaced it with 14 varieties
of peony and assorted wildflowers, she wasn't trying to start a
beautification trend. The 65-year-old retired emergency room
nurse and resident of Ethelbert Street in the south-end Wolseley
neighbourhood just wanted a bigger garden.
"I ran out of grass," she says, "so I went to the boulevard."
Her neighbours in what is known as the city's "granola belt"
liked the idea and followed suit, eventually extending their
gardens to cover almost every boulevard on the street.
At around the same time, Sally Papso, a 64-year-old retired
juvenile corrections worker, was engaging in a little guerrilla
gardening of her own on nearby Arlington Street. Responding
to a municipal bylaw in 1992 that required residents to maintain
the city-owned boulevards, Papso planted flowers next to
the bus stop in front of her house, painted the bus stop red and
added receptacles for garbage and cigarette butts, and a bench
built from old railway ties.
When her "curbside creativity" won the attention of local
media, Papso thought she might be reprimanded for defacing
city property. But, she recalls, Winnipeg mayor Glen Murray
came by years later "and he said, ‘If anyone gives you any
hassle at all, you let me know.'"
For the rest of this story, visit your local newsstand or go to our store to buy this issue. top
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