Mary Barton Way honours daycare founder

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This article was published 18/09/2020 (2072 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Three generations of Riverview residents got to their feet to applaud the woman who played an instrumental part in their young lives, at a recent ceremony unveiling Mary Barton Way.

The centre of attention was Mary Barton, one of the founders of the Riverview Ashland Child Care Centre, at the honourary street sign ceremony in the park at the corner of Churchill Drive and Montgomery Avenue on Sept. 16.

Barton said she is delighted by the honour and the tributes made in her name.

“Thank you to this community, to my dear, dear friends, co-workers, neighbours and of course, my family,” Barton said, as she held a hand to her heart, and said she misses everyone very much.

She went on to describe how she feels the daycare’s children are future leaders in the world.

“When your child enters a daycare like Riverview Ashland, they are quite likely to spend up to nine years with the same homeroom teacher, that enhances security and consistency in a child’s life,” Barton said. “As we all know, good quality child care is not dependent on the bricks and mortar, the quality of the equipment and furnishings, but the quality and commitment of the staff who are present and connected to your children each and every day.”

The ceremony featured speeches by people associated with the daycare, Coun. Sherri Rollins (Fort Rouge-East Fort Garry) and The Purple Potato song by a choir of children from the daycare, during which Barton was presented with flowers by the kids.

Jeff Eastman, the president of the board of the daycare, said Barton is a huge reason why the daycare has such great values.

“She recognized the need for a daycare in Riverview 35 years ago. While operating her own home daycare, she was one of the founding members, and sat on the first board,” he said about the daycare which began operations in 1982.

Barton retired in 2019 but has had a lasting influence on so many neighbourhood children, making genuine connections. Eastman attended the daycare, worked at the daycare as a youth, and now has his own children attending there.

In fact, Dominic Lloyd, the master of ceremonies, asked the crowd to raise their hands if they attended the daycare, if they worked at the daycare, or if they have a child who attends the daycare.

“That is amazing,” he said at the response. “I love that fact. It makes it pretty obvious how important this institution is in our community.”

Julie Hamilton said she’d heard about the Riverview daycare before her brother Ian Buckingham had his son Finn. The duo are behind the application to get the honourary street sign set up by the City of Winnipeg.

Hamilton read remarks written by her brother, describing how when he first walked through the door of the daycare, he was met at the door by a “ball of energy.”

“I put out my hand, she slid past my hand, wrapped her arms around me and said, ‘I’m Mary, and I do hugs’,” Hamilton said about Buckingham’s experience, also describing the amount of love and caring in the building as off the charts.

“Little did I know that this is one of the mysteries about why my neighbourhood is so great. It was right here in front of me,” she said on his behalf.

Rollins said she loves the idea of recognizing an early childhood educator like Barton.

“Mary has been a gift to Riverview parents and the generations of children who have been raised by her,” Rollins said, as she declared Mary Barton Way officially open.

Barton said more respect needs to be paid to early childhood educators.

“We are not really recognized as the first and vital step in a child’s journey,” she said, adding ECEs are often a forgotten part of the work force. “They’re growing and learning and being loved and nurtured, all those years.”

Barton, who hales from Northern Ireland, said she and her husband Paul Barton, felt immediately at home in Riverview when they moved there many years ago.

“We’re so lucky to live in Riverview,” she said.

After the ceremony concluded, Barton said she’ll be delighted to walk along “her street” on her daily walks with her dog Peanut, and see her name on the honourary sign atop the post along Churchill Drive.