Hello WCAFI community,

I have been having a great, hot, and clean air summer. How are your summers going?

Well, my adventures to promote initiative have taken a wonderful turn. Thanks to North Bay M.P.P. Monique Smith, 13 Nipissing Riding group representatives were lucky enough to meet the Queen of England, through an event called the Celebration of Service. Some of the other groups that were represented at this event were the Red Cross, First Nations, and the Girl Guides. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II honoured volunteers who have made the province a better place in a ceremony at Queens Park, Toronto, Ontario which is located in front of the Ontario legislature, where I happened to be on July 6th. You know I always bring a Clean Air Tree Kit or 5 where ever I go, so while we were being briefed on protocols when meeting the Queen, the Clean Air Tree Kits (2) were given to her assistant for the Queen to receive later. The tree kits the Queen received were different, one was a Canadian globe, and the other one was specially made with a coir pellet and pot, and United Kingdom Scotch pine seeds. So, after the briefing, our group headed down to the lobby, where an hour later I actually got to meet Her Majesty Elizabeth II, even if it was brief. She asked me if I had planted a lot of trees, and I said that I had been raised to plant. Also, I got to meet Ontario’s Premier Dalton McGuinty, who thanked each of us for coming. I wasn’t the only one who got to meet Her Majesty though! My new friend Kate got to hand flowers to Queen Elizabeth II! Altogether, this experience is one of my best, so don’t think you can’t ________ (put dream here); because all you need is a little initiative and a lot of heart.

Pictured above: Mackenzie Willis (AKA Root 1) and First Nation Chiefs

Pictured above: Kate Smith and her flowers for the Queen

Pictured above: Mrs. McGuinty, Prince Philip, Monique Smith, M.P.P., Queen Elizabeth II, Premier of Ontario Dalton McGuinty

Pictured above: Mackenzie Willis (AKA Root 1) and the Canadian Girl Guides

Pictured above: Minister Smith invited a group of Nipissing residents to join in this special occasion. They included: Anita Spalding, Bill and Madeleine Eisen, Jack Burrows, Marguerite Martel, Mary-Lou Rainville, George Onley, Lana Mitchell, Jim Marmino, Mackenzie Willis, and Kate Smith

Got Clean Air?

ROOT 1