NEWMARKET, ON (November 12, 2018) We have something to celebrate and we’re doing it with the Nottawasaga Inn and Conference Centre. To mark the 25
th anniversary of the Latornell Conservation Symposium and the 50
th anniversary of our favourite venue – the Nottawasaga Inn and Conference Centre – a special commemorative Eastern White Pine tree was planted at the Inn on Monday, November 12
th .
The Latornell Conservation Symposium and the Nottawasaga Inn have been in partnership delivering one of Ontario’s premier environmental events since 1994. The tree that will be planted to commemorate their anniversaries is the Eastern White Pine, native to the Alliston area.
The Eastern White Pine was central to many aspects of the lives of the local Indigenous peoples, including ceremony. At a Council held in January 1840, Ojibway Chief William Yellowhead spoke on the renewal of the peace between Anishinaabe (Ojibway) and the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) and stated: “…a beautiful white headed eagle was placed upon a very tall pine tree, in order to watch the Council fires and see if any ill winds blew upon the smoke of the Council fires”.
Since 2008, 52,000 trees have been planted in the Nottawasaga Valley watershed on behalf of all the speakers at Latornell to offset their carbon footprint created to attend the event held just outside of Alliston, Ontario. The Symposium donates $3,000 per year for tree planting and the Nottawasaga Inn provides an additional $5,000 per year. Forests Ontario and the Nottawasaga Valley Conservation Authority also partner on the initiative and are responsible for buying and planting the trees.
"We hope the commemorative Eastern White Pine tree planted on the Inn’s property will remind people of those who came before us as well as encourage us to maintain our connections to the natural world and strive to maintain a life of peace," said Scott Peck, Chair of Latornell Conservation Symposium.
For more information:
Jane Lewington, Marketing & Communications Specialist, Conservation Ontario
