VOLUNTEER PROFILE Sarah Beckon wants you to join the grounds management sector group By Julia Harmsworth
After activities returned to normal, the chair needed support, so Beckon stepped up. Now, as chairperson of the group, Beckon said Ground Management is “really in that re-engagement process.” When it returned in 2023, she was one of only two members; now there are eight. Beckon wants to get the message out: “Hey, we’re back, and we really want to have representation throughout all regions.” The group is focused on increasing its numbers and promoting discussion on issues critical to the sector, like Toronto’s potential ban on two-stroke engines — which Beckon supports, but believes warrants serious consideration of the transition process to battery. A panel
outside of Auckland, New Zealand — which Beckon said proves a horticultural career can take you anywhere — she moved to Toronto and started at Allweather Landscape Co., where she’s been for 17 years. Allweather is very involved with LO. The company sponsors apprentices, sends their employees to LO seminars, and Beckon’s boss, owner Phil Charal, is a LO past president. Beckon had been going to Congress since her co-op days, but Allweather introduced her to the many other opportunities LO has to offer. Beckon joined the Grounds Management Sector Group a few years before COVID-19. Unsurprisingly, the pandemic paused the group’s operations.
Sarah Beckon, Grounds Management Sector Group representative to the Landscape Ontario (LO) provincial board of directors, is working hard to get Grounds Management off the ground. Beckon’s horticulture journey began with her high school co-op at her local Parks and Recreation department. “Right from there, [I] fell in love with being outdoors, and growing, and working in the parks and planting — all of it,” she said. “I loved horticulture and I had a really great mentor who directed me to go into the Niagara Parks Commission, and really, really helped me along.” After graduating and working for the Parks and Recreation department just
Tillsonburg, ON
Specializing in field grown and potted cedars along with perennials, trees and shrubs of both deciduous and evergreen varieties.
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10 | LANDSCAPE ONTARIO
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