The Citizens for a Green Scarborough presented a plaque of appreciation to the town, accepted by Town Manager Tom Hall and Todd Souza, community services director, on July 31, as a thank-you for 10 years of banning synthetic herbicides and pesticides on town properties. Catherine Bart photo
SCARBOROUGH — Resident Eddie Woodin’s annual garden tour on July 31 featured a special award presentation to the town of Scarborough in celebration of a 10-year ban of synthetic pesticides and herbicides on town property.
Each year for 17 years, Woodin hosts a tour of his chemical-free garden at his home on 34 Clearwater Drive, and he said that 7,000 people have seen his property as of this year.
He and the Citizens for a Green Scarborough presented a plaque to Town Manager Tom Hall and Todd Souza, community services director, for their work in keeping town property free of synthetic pesticides and herbicides.
Hall was the manager when the Scarborough Town Council passed an ordinance 4-1 in favor of banning synthetic pesticides and herbicides from town property, Woodin said. In September, it will be 10 years since the council passed the ordinance in 2011. Before the ordinance had passed, Citizens for a Green Scarborough testified to the council and collected documents citing the harm of synthetic pesticides and herbicides.
“Every bit of ink that was written about that process was encouraging homeowners and people to look at their own property in their own home, and hundreds started changing and not using,” he said.
The town of Scarborough now has the Pest Management Advisory Committee, which Souza and Hall are both involved in, Woodin said.
Woodin wanted to celebrate the 10-year anniversary, he said. He and members of Citizens for a Green Scarborough in attendance each thanked the town and town staff.
“We wanted to honor the town today for their continued commitment,” he said. “If you never take that first step, you never know where it’s going.”
Souza thanked the members of the Pest Management Advisory Committee for the education they have contributed to the town and to residents.
Hall said that Woodin has always been a positive presence in Scarborough.
“What I’ve always appreciated right up through today is your positive enthusiasm,” Hall said. “Every time you’ve confronted us with a question about what we’re doing and why, you greet it with positivity, and I think people stand behind you for that.”
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