A Burk's Falls woman who does graphic design as a hobby is the "Local Champion" for October for her work on the municipality's Heritage River Walk Trail signs.
Emily Bond, who works in the human resources department at Lofthouse Manufacturing, has created 12 signs that will dot various areas of the trails and provide information on the history and heritage of Burk's Falls in addition to information about plant and animal life in the region.
Bond is a volunteer member of the community’s downtown development committee. She says as a committee member that she got involved in creating the 12 informational signs.
Bond and recreation coordinator Lacey Stevens collaborated on what information the signs should include.
She says the pair spent time poring over two history books that contain lots of information about Burk's Falls in addition to visiting government websites for data and also going online to put together their ecological information.
Using archival pictures kept at the local historical society and pictures contained in the two history books, Bond created high-resolution digital copies that will be transferred to the 12 signs.
The signs contain text that will describe what a person may be looking at or simply describe in general terms a heritage or historical aspect of the area.
Bond says all the images and text are complete and the work is now at the proofreading stage to ensure accuracy.
She carried out all the design work, including where to strategically place the images, text, and colours to use.
“The story flows on the signs and although it's one cohesive project, each sign also has its own look and story,” Bond said.
On what colours to use, Bond opted for blues and greens which are the main colours of the municipality.
But she also brought nature into her work by adding some browns and oranges as accent colours.
Bond says she worked on and off the project for several months with many hours devoted to researching the information the signs will display.
She says council gave her a lot of creative freedom on the look of the signs and she's received positive feedback from the municipality on the work to date.
Once the signs pass the proofreading stage, the community will start the printing process over the winter.
The images and text will be put on signs that are two feet by three feet and stand about three feet off the ground.
The signs will go up next June and follow a path that creates a loop along the walking trails, through the downtown, and then back to the Burk's Falls Welcome Centre.
The project cost $17,000 and partnering with Burk’s Falls on the project was the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.
The Local Champion program was approved by council earlier this year as a way to thank volunteers for their contributions in making the community a better place to live and see.
The program runs until the end of the year.
Each month people can nominate a resident of Burk's Falls, Ryerson, or Armour as that month's Local Champion.
Council goes through the list of nominees and selects the eventual winner, with the person receiving a $100 gift bag filled with goodies from local merchants.
Rocco Frangione is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of the North Bay Nugget. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada.
