In this ongoing series, The Citizen will be profiling locals who strive to make our little corner of Manitoba a better place. Each month, we’ll be featuring a person, family, or business that helps brighten the world in some way. If you have someone in mind for a future month, please nominate them: jlavin@nivervillecitizen.com.
Beth Downey and her sister-in-law Alexa Sawatzky are this month’s Super Citizens. The pair have spearheaded a massive undertaking—the revitalization of Opa’s Park in Niverville.
Opa’s Park is in a perfect area for a leisure spot. It lies just to the north of Roselawn Bay and can be accessed through walking trails from Roselawn, from Edelweiss Crescent, and from the Niverville Commons.
Over the years, though, the park had become neglected and wasn’t being used to its full potential.
In spring of 2021, Downey was walking through Opa’s Park and had the brainwave that she could be the one to revitalize the greenspace. She recruited Sawatzky and the pair began their work—knocking on doors, meeting with town representatives, researching, planning, recruiting volunteers, and finally digging into the dirt… these two women did it all.
Downey is the point person for the revitalization, so it was she who was nominated as Super Citizen, but she immediately pointed out that she and Sawatzky are partners in this venture and that she couldn’t accept unless Sawatzky got equal recognition for her equally hard work.
Janeen Lange was one of the people to nominate Downey because she has been impressed with the incredible amount of work that has been done.
“As someone who grew up on Roselawn and loved that park growing up, it has made me feel so happy, nostalgic, and proud to see Beth’s work in fighting to ensure the park gets enjoyed for many more generations to come,” says Lange.
Danae Doerksen also nominated Downey and Sawatzky for their hard work. “Beth Downey, with Alexa, has spent countless hours planning, organizing, planting, and watering Opa’s Park. She has worked extremely hard revitalizing a park that felt forgotten, trying to turn it into a place people will travel to see. She is super positive and makes it a pleasure to volunteer to help. Although this project will take a couple years to complete, she is in it for the long haul.”
Niverville is where Downey grew up. More importantly, she says it’s the town she has married into.
“This is where my children will grow up, where their grandparents are, and where they will have their first lessons in what citizenship and community really mean,” says Downey. “From the beginning, I want them wrist-deep in relationship with the ground, the people, the non-human neighbours that constitute home.”
Sawatzky grew up in Niverville, too, and has many memories of biking down to Opa’s Park to play with friends.
“The park was like a little hideaway,” Sawatzky says. “A well-kept secret playground within Niverville.”
Sawatzky has been a passionate gardener ever since she volunteered on a small farm in Portugal eight years ago. Since then she’s worked in greenhouses and market gardens and completed a permaculture design course and a diploma in horticulture, so she was a natural fit to team up with Downey.
“When Beth called me up one fall evening in 2021 and asked if I’d be interested in designing a few gardens for Opa’s Park, I quickly got to work dreaming up a large native prairie garden and a circle garden where visitors could explore the colours, scents, and tastes of perennial plants,” Sawatzky says. “Thanks to Beth and her incredible organization and determination, the park project is in full swing and its future looks bright! And thanks to many amazing volunteers, we now have two large gardens installed. And I’m so excited to see them in bloom!”
Downey sums it up: “Opa’s Park has given so much to my family over the years, and I just happened to have the tools needed to do something about making it better.”