Dear Editor,

The PUC (Public Utilities Commission) dock at King and Beverley has been one of Kingston’s favourite summer swimming spots for generations.

Arriving for a swim this warm September evening, something was different. There was a crew of young men and women, some wearing Queen’s engineers’ jackets, picking up cups, food wrappers and bottles and putting them in garbage bags that they had brought to the park. When asked if they were members of a particular group, they said, “No, we just really like swimming at the dock. We were told that if the mess wasn’t cleaned up, the authorities would close it. So we decided to do a clean up.” After more than an hour of work, they carted bags and boxes away in two car trips.

Thanks to these Queen’s students, the authorities should have no reason to stop students and non-students alike from enjoying this feature of our lakefront. Kudos to the students for their civic-minded contribution even when the PUC and City refuse to place refuse containers on or near the dock.

— Molly Higginson (Arts ’66), Mary Ann Higgs (Law ’85) & Ken Ohtake (Arts ’70)