Linden Woods goes to the birdhouses

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This article was published 23/04/2021 (1667 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It won’t be just sparrows and wrens seeking a good nest site this spring in Linden Woods.

People will be roaming the streets, looking for birdhouses set up for the Linden Woods Community Centre’s spring scavenger hunt.

Hunt organizers Leslie Duhamel and Laura Thomas hope the hunt will foster a sense of community in these pandemic times.

“The houses are spread throughout the neighbourhood, in the parks and on people’s trees in front yards,” Thomas said. “We thought this would be a neat way to get people outside, walking around and connecting, at a safe distance, with their neighbours.”

The hunt, which started April 19 and runs to June 26, features 10 birdhouses posted per week, for a total of around 150 brightly painted houses. Everyone who takes a selfie with one of the birdhouses will be entered into a random draw every week for a gift certificate to a local business.

Duhamel said the hunt received a wellness grant of $2,000 from Coun. John Orlikow (River Heights-Fort Garry) to fund the cost of the materials, including buying some birdhouses and the paint. The amount was matched by the Linden Woods Community Centre.

“My husband and I were thinking of ways to help people beat the isolation we all experienced in the winter months thanks to COVID-19 restrictions,” Duhamel said. “This past summer, one of my son’s friends had a Mario Kart scavenger hunt. We thought we could organize this for our community.”

Birdhouses and paint were purchased, along with the metal hooks to hang the houses from trees or structures.

“We contacted two local schools, Linden Meadows and Van Walleghem, to get the students involved in painting the birdhouses,” Duhamel said. “We also have many people making their own birdhouses, including a number of seniors, and some craft groups.”

In case birds decide to nest in the tiny structures, the organizers are asking property owners to keep the birdhouses up for the duration of the contest, if not longer.

“My kids had a great time hanging the birdhouses,” Duhamel said of her children Dylan, 11, and Ashley, 9. “They love participating in this project. We’ve been driving around and asking people if we can put a birdhouse in their yard

When local businesses caught on to the contest, many offered to supply gift certificates as prizes, Thomas said.

“A local massage therapy group offered gift cards, and we received some for Jensen’s Nursery from the Linden Woods neighbourhood magazine group,” she said.

Other sponsors include Serratus Movement Centre, the Trans Canada Brewing Company, a local Boston Pizza and Calabria Market, among others, according to Duhamel.

Two days after the community club launched the scavenger hunt, photos of people posing with birdhouses started being sent in, Thomas said.

To participate in the scavenger hunt, check out the weekly photos of the birdhouses to hunt for, and send a self-portrait by email to LWCC.manager@shaw.ca or post on Instagram at #LWCCgivesback

For more, see www.lindenwoodscc.com/special-events