Making History Come Alive in Kingston Park!

Your neighbours and friends who worked to bring more trees to our neighbourhood had so much fun, we have embarked on yet another project to make our area even better -- a small history project to express our gratitude to all volunteers that help protect our community during the flood season.

We propose to install some interpretive panels in English and French that explains who Lawson Ogg is, and the significance of the 1950 Flood in our area. And who is Lawson Ogg, you ask? Read more about it all below!

Sign our petition to help us make our next project a reality!

(The City of Winnipeg Parks department asked us to gather signatures from the 'hood to make sure people are in support of the project.)

• History: Robert Orr (our very own tree planting neighbourhood initiator) learned of the death of Mr. Lawson Ogg in the1950 Flood while researching the history of our community. He learned that Mr. Ogg died on Kingston Crescent and was the only fatality in the city due to the flood. The information we found about the forgotten tragic drowning of Mr. Ogg while sandbagging led us to consider a permanent memorial for him and his family within the context of the 1950 Flood.
• Project: After much thought, we propose to develop two bilingual interpretive panels to be mounted near the mail boxes in the small triangular part of the park. One panel will feature Lawson Ogg's picture, tell his story, and express gratitude to all people who help during flood season. The second panel will tell the story of the 1950 flood in our area, including pictures and how we work to protect the area from future floods.
• Honourary Street Name: The small unnamed lane in the middle of Kingston Park will be named "Honourary Lawson Ogg Way". Our City Councillor, Brian Mayes, is sponsoring the street naming initiative at our request, and this portion of our history project has been approved by the City.

We hope to obtain funding from a historical fund to cover the costs of the design, manufacture and installation of the interpretive panels in the park.

The unveiling of the street signs and interpretive panel (if permissions and funding is approved) is estimated to be May 6th, the anniversary of Lawson Ogg's death in 1950. And the whole neighbourhood will be invited -- hopefully by then -- to an outdoor socially distanced event where up to 100 people can gather safely! (Fingers crossed!)

Friends and Neighbours working on this History Project:

• Robert Orr,
• Barb Bristow,
• Roxana Mazur,
• Lorraine Thomas,
• Diane Poulin, and
• Heather Bidzinsky.

Contact us in the street, or send an email to: kingstontrees@gmail.com if you have any questions!