Dear Editor:
To say I’m disappointed in [North Huron] council’s decision to move the Alice Munro Garden to the front lawn of the [Wingham Branch of the Huron County] library would be an understatement.
The Wingham and District Horticultural Society voted that location down. Instead of voting to choose the park on the west side of Hanna Bridge where the Garden would be seen from main street.
The library is on a back street and the garden would be crowded into the front lawn hidden by a storage building.
I don’t think the council is looking forward or they would recognize what is happening to small towns. First we lost the museum, the newspaper office and the Beer Store. Post offices are closing across the country. Banks are closing in small towns. Guess what will come next? Libraries in small towns. This is an obvious next move as computers, cellphones and AI will take care of that as they have with newspapers.
Guess what happens? The library goes up for sale and you have to move the garden again.
The Alice Munro Garden has been our number one tourist attraction since 2001, so let’s not hide on a back street behind a storage shed.
The Wingham and District Horticultural Society created, organized and fundraised the Alice Munro Garden many, many years ago.
The Wingham and District Horticultural Society are the caretakers and keepers of the Noel Poet Laureate winner Alice Munro Garden.
If you believe the Alice Munro Garden belongs in the Hanna Bridge Park as I do then get busy sending your message to council.
Verna Steffler,
Wingham
