LEAF mascot Barkley welcomed guests as they arrived.
Over 100 people joined us at the Toronto Archives to congratulate the finalists and celebrate the winners.
The first two awards were presented by Mary Desjardins, Executive Director of TD Friends of the Environment Foundation (FEF). Mary presented the awards for Beauty and Uniqueness. TD FEF is the lead sponsor of the Great Toronto Tree Hunt. We thanked them for their generous support of this initiative and for being a leader in supporting many other urban forest initiatives across the country.
Mary Desjardins presents Uniqueness award to Jason Ramsay-Brown
The Survivor award was presented by Ann Ulusoy, Director, Management Services Branch, Parks Forestry and Recreation, City of Toronto. Urban Forestry work staff work hard on the front lines, planting new trees, protecting and maintaining existing trees and planning for the future We thanked them for supporting the Great Toronto Tree Hunt, and for providing the space and refreshments for the evening’s event.
Ann Ulusoy presents Survivor award to Chris Nolan and son
The final two awards were for Size and Heritage Potential. They were presented by Kendra Flagler, Vice-President, Environment, Ontario Power Generation (OPG). OPG is a long-term partner of LEAF, supporting our Backyard Tree Planting Program for the past seven years, as well as many of our education and outreach activities such as Tree Tours, Tree Tenders Volunteer Training and, most recently, the Great Toronto Tree Hunt. We thanked them for their demonstrated commitment to conserving biodiversity across Ontario and for recognizing urban forests as a key component of that biodiversity.
Kendra Flagler presents the Heritage Potential award to Bonita Nelson
The event wrapped up with the five winners joining us at the podium for a group photo.
Ann Ulsoy, Size winner Eric Vanderwal, Mary Desjardins, Beauty winner Jeff McMann, Kendra Flagler, Bonita Nelson, Chris Nolan, Jason Ramsay-Brown
Although only one winner was selected in each category, all of finalists and all of the entries deserve recognition – thank you to everyone for making this initiative a success!
Edith George was a finalist in three categories – Beauty, Survivor and Size.
Janet McKay is the Founder and Executive Director of LEAF. She lives in the Junction amidst a grove of beautiful black locust trees.