O•S•C•A•R© 15 and Counting at Westboro Academy OOS River Run

The
O•S•C•A•R
©
The Community Voice of Old Ottawa South
Year 37 , No. 7
JULY/AUG 2009
The Ottawa South Community Association Review
OOS River Run
By Kathy Krywick
U
nder sunny skies over
350 people joined in the
inaugural Old Ottawa South
River Run on Sunday June 14th. The
course wound its way through the
neighbourhood from Brewer Park
to the Rideau River and back. The
contributions of the many runners
and walkers will help fund new
equipment at the renovated Firehall.
A big thank-you to all of the sponsors
plus the many local merchants who
generously donated prizes. And a
tip of the hat to race organizer Larry
Ostler and his team of volunteers.
Congrats to all the participants who
helped make the day a success (check
out your results at www.sportstats.
ca) and watch for the run again next
year!
More photos on pages 24 and 37
Photo by M.A. Thompson
15 and Counting at Westboro Academy
Westboro Academy Grades One to Eight Students
by Ann Winters
T
his school year marked the
15th anniversary of Westboro
Academy’s beginning from
one class of boys in shared space to a
co-educational, bilingual elementary
school from JK to Grade 8. Through
the years, we have seen many
changes. Westboro Academy (WA)
is now an educational institution with
a reputation for enriched learning,
outstanding academic results and by
a code of conduct consistent with its
core values of excellence, integrity
and respect. These characteristics
personify WA’s students.
Looking back
Now, at the end of the school year,
WA students and their parents can look
Cont’d on page 29
Page 2
The OSCAR
- OUR 37th YEAR
OSCAR
The
The OTTAWA SOUTH COMMUNITY
ASSOCIATION REVIEW
260 Sunnyside Ave, Ottawa Ontario, K1S 0R7
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The OSCAR
Page 3
- OUR 37th YEAR
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
The OSCAR welcomes letters on subjects of interest to the community or in response to previous articles. All letters must disclose the name of the
writer, as well as the address and phone number. Lettters may be edited for length, clarity, and libelous statements. The opinions of the writers are not
necessarily those of the newspaper or its editor. Email your letters to [email protected] or leave in print at the Firehall.
Frank Clair NIMBY
By John E. Martin
P
eople in the Glebe and Ottawa
South have been called “over
privileged
whiners”
and
“NIMBY” (not in my back yard)
complainers over the Stadium debate.
So-called “NIMBY” statements are
valid complaints, but easily derided, as
we have seen.
But lets look at some facts.
Stadium location near rapid transit
is standard practice. That is why Frank
Clair ranked 6th in the City Stadium
Site Review by CRG since it has none,
has terrible road access and inadequate
parking.
There were two sites tied for first,
Bayview Yards in Hintonburg and
Carleton University, both with better
road access, better parking and with
rapid transit.
In the case of Hintonburg it is City
owned land. Of course the questions to
ask are:
Does Hintonburg want the stadium?
Does the City have the money and
Has there been a business analysis
of whether a stadium makes sense right
now?
Let’s assume for the moment the
money and rationale are there and
Hintonburg wants the stadium.
The Bayview Yards Site in
Hintonburg is importantly located at the
end of the O-Train and will be on the
E/W Light Rail Transit (LRT) line.
It is currently adjacent to the E/W
Transit Way.
Two major arteries, Scott and the
Parkway border the site.
Existing community center with
baseball diamonds and a hockey arena
are adjacent.
And the real kicker?
New stadium construction will
be about half the projected cost of the
estimated $150M anticipated for the restructuring of Frank Clair (including the
garage).
As an example, the 20,500-seat
stadium BMO Field in Toronto cost
$62M with $35M of that paid under
Fed/Prov infrastructure.
The proposed expansion to Saputo
Stadium in Montreal, with rain cover,
would have been a $37M project for
all 21,000 seats had it been done at the
outset.
The full bells and whistles proposal
in Kanata with rain cover and integrated
concert stage would have been $100M
for a 30,000-seat stadium.
Averaged out, stadium prices
without a roof are anywhere from
$1,800.00 to $3,400 per seat.
Ottawa is looking at a 25,000-seat
stadium that is soccer specific, with rain
cover and an integrated concert stage.
It also needs a bit of added length
for the CFL end zones of 137m (current
MLS Soccer fields are 109m).
So the price range is anywhere
from $45M to $85M for a 25,000 seat
stadium.
Jeff Hunt, Director for the proposed
CFL team, wants to attract the Gatineau
crowd. What better location than
Hintonburg? Just across from Gatineau
via two bridges and a future LRT route
using existing track across Lemieux
Island.
The access to the stadium for
Ottawa is along Scott, the Parkway,
Bayswater and the current O-Train
rapid transit, and the Transit way, which
in the future will be the LRT. All major
events such as CFL take place off peak
on weekends.
Frank Clair is not eligible for Fed/
Prov Stimulus. The Hintonburg site
is eligible for Federal and Provincial
stimulus money making it even more
beneficial.
So logistically and financially the
alternate location makes better sense.
The so-called NIMBY complaints
for not having a stadium at Frank Clair
are backed by sound financial and
logistical arguments.
And for the stadium contract?
Create an RFP (Request for
Proposal) with the requirements
and open the competitive bidding
door to experienced stadium design
architectural firms.
Frank Clair is a beloved stadium
that needs to be respectfully laid to rest.
Existing Steel and Concrete from
Frank Clair can be used at any new site
allowing for both an environmental
good use of materials as well as a
passing of the torch so to speak.
And if the CFL fails and the MLS
never comes, you add a track and have
a year round training facility for the
community of Ottawa for athletics,
soccer and football, with an inflatable
dome. A track component makes the
facility eligible for Commonwealth
games, Canada Games and International
events.
In summers you have a site for
outdoor concerts adjacent to the Blues
Fest.
The 67’s and underground trade
space are scaled for the Lansdowne
site and are a very small footprint,
have manageable numbers and would
provide needed winter attraction and
revenue. You can more easily approach
a renovation of those two components
with the stadium out of the way.
Cost to renovate the arena and trade
space is estimated at $15M dollars.
Lowering the height of the stadium
Cont’d on page 7
M
Apologies
To Red Mulch Lovers
y apologies to those who use dyed red mulch and love it! While
not meaning to chastise those who choose to use it (well maybe
a little bit, wink wink), I did point out that it can be visually
distracting. But what’s visually distracting and unnatural looking to some
is bright and cheerful to others. So, with tongue firmly planted in cheek,
I offer up one more pet peeve: linden trees. Whoever thought up this tree
must have been napping – they continuously sprout on their trunks, drop
twigs and are extremely late shedding their leaves in the fall (and then
drop them all on one day!) Let’s boycott them ;c)
Ailsa Francis
I may not agree with what you have to say, but I will
defend to the death, your right to say it. ....Voltaire
Send your
comments to
[email protected]
or drop them off at the Firehall,
260 Sunnyside Avenue.
Page 4
The OSCAR
- OUR 37th YEAR
JULY/AUG 2009
Brief Notes From the Firehall
Get A Move On This Summer
By Regis Alcorn
O
ttawa South Community
Centre has set the date for
the moving truck to arrive:
Monday June 22. By the time you
are reading this article we will have
moved the Community Centre to
the temporary office space at the
Southminster Church at 15 Alymer
Ave. at Bank St. (See the back page of
the OSCA Summer 2009 Recreation
Program Guide for directions). Call
613-247-4946 for all updates.
Let’s make it happen by having
your children pack their day bags and
get ready for an urban adventure with
our welcoming Summer Day Camp
staff from Ottawa South Community
Centre. Discover what’s in the plans
for a variety of daytime activities in
and out of the sun. Our camps are
sure to deliver them the best that
summer has to offer with friendships,
water play, park visits, games,
laughter and so much more. They’ll
enjoy some crazy, hazy and perhaps
lazy days when the temperatures are
on the rise. Let us share with your
child, from ages 3 to 13, the summer
tradition of camp time in your own
neighbourhood.
Visit the OSCA
website at www.oldottawasouth.ca
or drop-by our new temporary office
space at Southminster Church at Bank
and Alymer (across from Sunnyside
Library).
OSCA is looking for After Four
Counsellors/Co-ordinator for the
upcoming school year, September
2009 to June 2010. If you’re at least
16 years of age, have experience
working/volunteering with children,
like to work in a team setting, show
enthusiasm, creativity, patience and
have good communication skills, this
opportunity is for you. Must also have
a current 1st Aid and CPR certification
and be available 2 to 3 days a week
after school.
Please Drop-off your resume at
the Ottawa South Community Centre
office at Southminster Church by
Monday August 12. For more info.
Please call Regis at 613-247-4946.
Watch for the fall Recreation
Program Guide in the September
OSCAR newspaper which will be
delivered the third week of August.
Our Fall line-up will include a variety
of programs from Infants to the young
at heart. Registration will begin on
Wednesday September 2.
A Fond Adieu
By Brenda Lee
O
n Sunday May 24th approximately 75 people gathered to
say a fond farewell to the Firehall. Given it was the first
warm and sunny day that we had in May the turnout was
amazing.
Participants danced to the rockin tunes of Another Round and
were pleased to be able to say a “Hello” to Dinos!!
The cake from Colleen Forer was appreciated by all, as were
the drinks and goodies from Starbucks. For those of you who
now feel addicted to Colleen’s cakes she can be reached at www.
yummycookies.ca).
Paintings by Ric Eves were much admired and his prints
sold like hot cakes. A great keepsake and a way to look back and
remember what the Firehall once looked like.
Memorabilia was pored over and many memories were
revisited. Remarks such as…”oh I forgot the floor looked like
that!” and “ I remember when the walls were that colour”….and
“look how young everyone looks” were heard over and over again.
Children and adults alike found old photos of themselves and those
they knew and began to recount tales of when the photos were taken.
It was very touching to look back and remember past experiences,
people and events.
Also amazing were the archival items that Leo Doyle provided.
My favourite was the drawing of the original Firehall with stalls for
the horses and hay to be stored. Young minds were in awe of the
thought that fire engines were first horse drawn engines.
Another popular feature was the art project for the new Firehall.
When the new Firehall opens there will be a very colourful painting
of many handprints from community members. The youngest
participant was April Davis. One can’t help but think ahead and
wonder what her memories of the new Firehall will be and what she
will think when her parents point out her wee baby handprint to her.
That is the wonderful thing about these kinds of events, they allow
for one to look back and reminisce, but also encourage one to step
out of the now and look towards the future.
Thank you to all who helped and participated in this event. If
anyone wants to add a memory to the memory book, please drop
by the Firehall office and ask for the book. It will be there for a
few weeks more, until it goes into storage for a year. We’ll dig it
out again though and reminisce once more over our experiences,
laughter, and many many fond memories that we have had and will
have with our beloved Firehall. It really is true that life is made of
our experiences, our friends, our relationships and our memories of
these things. I know that I have been blessed to have these “Firehall
memories” in my life and I know that many others have been as
well. While we bid a fond adieu to our old Firehall, we are thankful
for her opportunity for change, and look forward to seeing what she
will become. It is comforting to know that future generations will be
equally as blessed and that this does not end with us.
Bonnie, Deirdre and Brenda remember years gone by
Photos by Tom Alfoldi
JULY/AUG 2009
The OSCAR
- OUR 37th YEAR
Page 5
OSCA PRESIDENT’S REPORT
Have A Safe And Happy Summer Everyone!
By Michael Jenkin
Lansdowne Park Developments
T
he proposal by the Lansdowne
Live development group to
redevelop the park is getting
more attention - and opposition from community groups. By the time
you read this, the Glebe Community
Association will have held its rally
on June 14 and you will no doubt
have seen some of the press stories
falling out from the meeting the GCA
sponsored on the true costs of the
development for the City and critiques
of the sole source Lansdowne Live
process.
The sheer scale of the retail and
commercial development proposed for
the site and the potential $125 million
price tag for the City to renovate the
stadium (with little or no access to
the revenues from the development)
could have significant negative
impacts on our neighbourhood and
for us as taxpayers.
Unfortunately, the details of
the final design and the financial
arrangements will not be clear until
July when the final package negotiated
between the City and the Lansdowne
Live group is unveiled. We will have
very little time to assess it, figure
out what the impacts will be on us
as a community and make our views
known. The Board and OSWATCH
will stay on top of this issue and keep
you posted, if necessary through
the OSCA website and community
e-mails. Stay tuned as this may prove
to be a very rocky ride.
Firehall Renovation
OSCA Board members met with
the City staff for about 2 1/2 hours
on May 10 to review final cuts to the
Firehall design. The cuts were required
as a result of a Class A estimate on the
project that revealed that the design
was over budget by some $240,000.
Fortunately some of this cost overrun
was accounted for by a number of
errors in the specification which
included unnecessary or duplicated
design features. Nonetheless, some
economies have had to be made in
the specification which will have an
effect on the project either visually or
functionally.
The major items include:
• no renovation of the two existing
washrooms on the main floor (the
new washrooms in the basement will
proceed)
• a significant reduction in
the ceiling sound insulation in the
community hall and in the height of
the wood paneling along its walls
from about 8 feet to about 5 feet.
• elimination of built-in display
cases and shelving in the main
reception area
How “Special”
Do You Feel????
By Brenda Lee
H
ave you always had the innate ability to accurately estimate
exactly how many people that large cake will feed? Been
able to organize dinner parties that Martha Stewart would
weep with envy over? Do most of your College stories start with the
phrase…”So there was this party at our house and……” Or more
importantly do you spend your time at OSCA events and think, “I
could do this and I would add…”
The OSCA Special Events Committee is looking for new members
as well as volunteers for our various activities. Our committee plans
some of the community events in Old Ottawa South each year, such
as the Porch Sale, Fall Fest, Winter Carnival, Song Cider and Sleigh
Ride and June BBQ. We are hoping to really expand our membership
and to continue these events while looking at new options as well. If
you are interested in joining this committee to help with the planning
and execution of one or more events please call Brenda Lee at 613
733 0608 or Deirdre McQuillan at 613 247 4872. If this seems like
a bit more than you might have time for, but you would still like to
be a part of an event for a few hours, we always always ALWAYS
need volunteers. Please call either Brenda or Deirdre to be added to
the list of potential volunteers.
And keep in mind….studies do show that people who volunteer
in their communities are happier, more fulfilled, feel better connected
to their friends and neighbours ……and are just cool in general
…..some might even say “uber cool”.
• elimination of some upper
cupboards in the multipurpose rooms
• elimination of refinishing and
insulation in the exterior walls in the
lounge and rear multipurpose room
and
• elimination of the outside
benches in the courtyard, but a
reinstatement of the fence running
in front of the courtyard which had
been inadvertently removed from the
specification.
Obviously these cuts are
regrettable, but the first four items
are all of a character that can be
subsequently reinstated after the
project is finished either through
our fund raising activities or having
them undertaken by the City as minor
renovations.
Sunnyside Safety Audit
I understand from the Councillor’s
office that the City has finally staffed
the position designated to carry out
pedestrian and traffic safety studies
and so there is a good chance the
work on the Sunnyside Safety Audit
will now go ahead as it is one of the
top priority projects and has funding
allocated to it.
Old Ottawa South House Tour
This event, which was organized
to raise funds for the Firehall
renovation, was a smashing success
and kudos are due all round to the
organizers of the event. Not only
were the houses on display interesting
and impressive, but over 430 tickets at
$25 each were sold indicating a high
level of interest from the community,
and a big contribution to the Firehall
Renovation project. A vote of thanks,
in particular, to Tanya Collins who
spearheaded the event and ensured
it became a reality. Great work all
round!
The Move and Construction
There has been some slippage
on the final design work for the
Firehall and consequently on when
construction will start, which will
probably be before the end of July.
We are still scheduled to move out
of the Firehall on June 22 and start
our operations based at Southminster
United Church after that date. The
move will mean that Board meetings
will also take place at the Church after
the summer break (the OSCA Board
does not meeting in July and August).
Our September Board meeting will
take place on September 15 and for
those wishing to attend, we will be
meeting on the second floor of the
Church (entrance at the Galt Street
door). Have a happy and safe summer
everyone!
OSCA Thanks Volunteers
by Deirdre Mcquillan
1. HOUSE TOUR - thanks to coordinator Tanya Collins and her small army of
volunteers who did a wonderful job in organizing the first house tour in OOS. It
was really well organized and all six houses were fabulous - thanks to owners for
sharing. Proceeds from the tour will go to the Firehall Redevelopment Fund.
2. OOS RIVER RUN - thanks to organizers Bonnie and Larry Ostler for all their
hard work in organizing a reprise of the OOS RUN - the last one they organized
was in 1994 I believe. Thanks also to everyone who volunteered to make this a
wonderful event - there were 400 participants. Funds raised will be put to good
use in purchasing equipment for the new Firehall, which we hope to move back
into in June, 2010.
3. SPRING SOCCER - Jennifer Small and Kevin Colwell were the two volunteer
organizers this year and they did a spectacular job - I do believe this is the way
to run the OSCA spring soccer league - thank you both. Also thanks to all the
volunteer coaches who helped to make soccer so enjoyable for our kids in OOS.
Rumor That AFTER FOUR
PROGRAM Has Doubled
False Prices Not True!
BY Brendan McCoy
Y
our Intrepid OSCAR reporter has determined that while the initial
registration costs $310, it is for the first and last month - just like rent. The
monthly cost is still a bargain at $155 a month. No wonder it is full again!
The OSCAR - OUR 37th YEAR
Page 6
JULY/AUG 2009
OOS Home Tour: About the Community,
For the Community, By the Community
By Tanya Collins
W
hat a wonderful feeling
to see the 1st Old Ottawa
South
(OOS)
Home
Tour Fundraiser for the Firehall redevelopment come to fruition! It all
started back in January 2008 when
I made the pitch to the OSCA board.
My darling husband, John, was fully
supportive and involved during that
time and with his passing in August
2008, it became all the more important
to me and on behalf of my children,
Alexander and Lara, to not only raise
as much money as possible for the
Firehall, but in doing so, honor John’s
memory. I felt the tour was the best
way to give back to a community that
fosters so much compassion for others
and engenders that sentimental and
intangible feeling of “home”. I hoped
that we could be the biggest fundraiser
yet all the while creating a sense of
community pride in showcasing the
beauty within a few of its homes! Yes
the weather did not completely cooperate - it was cool, we even had some
hail but all in all the blue sky emerged
after a week of pouring rain!
I want to send a big thank you
to not only the volunteers that were
involved in the effort on the day (see
the specific names printed below) but
more specifically the core volunteer
group who spent countless hours
helping to get all of the details together
and also attend many weeknight
meetings over the course of the year.
Of special mention, this tour
would not have been so well organized
or professional if it was not for our
talented Nicola Maule, who created
and developed the tour’s sponsorship
plan (the 1st of its kind I might add!
Other tours have already been asking
for her brainchild!), secured the
grocery bags for shoes, arranged all
of the print materials for marketing,
delivered most of the items, like
signs, name tags, etc to the houses
prior to the tour, mailed out and hand
delivered tickets from on-line sales as
well as many other details that I am
sure I have forgotten. We spent many
a late night on the phone hashing out
H
our next steps....It is by no surprise
Nicola runs a busy communications,
public relations, and events planning
business. Her charm and enthusiasm
was a pleasure for us all to be around!
Sheryl Bennett-Wilson with her
media connections was an amazing
resource. She wrote all the articles
submitted to OSCAR and ensured
we had exposure through key media
throughout the city. We were featured
in OSCAR, Ottawa Magazine, The
Citizen, The Glebe Report, Forever
Young, and had spots on A Channel,
CBC Radio, Rogers Daytime and were
mentioned on CTV in their community
notebook. Sheryl’s career is focused
on writing but it is her contacts as a
former television producer that proved
invaluable in promoting the tour.
Jen
Small,
our
volunteer
coordinator wore many hats - from
recruiting over 60 volunteers, to
organizing the list of volunteers for
each house, to arranging fresh-cut
local garden flowers for the homes,
to following up with thank-you notes
to the volunteers. She was very
resourceful and always able to find
time to do what was needed.
The homeowners, Sen-Mei Lim
and Eric Clark, Kathy Patterson and
Andrew Seely, Joseph Fu, Jocelyne
Nadon and Scott Clark and Jen Aiken
and Hanif Patni were exceptionally
generous in giving up of their homes
for the day and readying it months
prior to the event! They never wavered
in their commitment to the cause putting the community ahead of their
own personal plans. This is truly a rare
quality and a testament to the positive
spirit that resides in this neighborhood.
All of our sponsors should be
commended for their stellar support,
having been either from or linked
to Old Ottawa South. Gold sponsor
Diane Allingham and Jennifer
Stewart, brokers from Royal LePage
Performance
Realty,
generously
donated despite a recessionary
economy. Media sponsor Rogers TV
promoted the tour, and Landworks/
Homeworks offered to build a fence and
landscape when the new addition to the
Firehall is completed. Winchester Print
istorically known as Mel and
Michael’s Barber Shop, it then
became known as Super Sam’s
Barber Shop. Sam wanted to sell the shop.
But having put ten months of hard work and
energy into the shop I wasn’t going to stand
back and just give up the best place I’ve
ever worked in my life! So I called an old
colleague, Kuldar, and we bought the shop
together.
Kuldar will be joining me here soon
with the same warm friendly service I’ve
provided since last May.
After being here one year I want to thank
the residents and customers for their support
and the feeling of being welcomed to this
beautiful and strong community.
Mel McDugal was here for 45 years. We
hope to be part of Old Ottawa South for at
Tanya Collins promotes the Home Tour on the A Channel.
and Stationary (who currently print
the OSCAR) gave us special discounts
on printing our tickets and posters.
Lori Steele of Steele Design took the
sketched concept “Homes between
the Bridges” developed by Paisley
Nesmith and put it into graphic form
and created the tickets and posters.
Ryan Iler of Talltree Studios built our
website and Boomerang Kids offered
their parking lot when the Firehall
venue could not be guaranteed due to
the pending renovation. Bridgehead
offered their delicious coffee, and
Buttercream Bakery baked their
pleasing oatmeal cookies. Fine Spaces
Construction, C&M Textiles, and The
College of Physicians and Surgeons
offered a cash donation to cover our
expenses and top up the fund beyond
ticket sales. Thank you for helping
us to celebrate the beauty within Old
Ottawa South.
Lastly, thanks to everyone who
bought tickets - over 420 of you did!
We managed to raise $12,500 after
expenses! Without you, all this effort
would be for not. Perhaps we will
start doing it all over again in 2010
for a 2011 event (we will rest for a
bit :)). Stay tuned as to what charity/
institution will be supported! Cheers
and best wishes!
Sunnyside Barber Shop
least the next 45 years.
We will be extending our hours for
the summer and fall season until 8 p.m. on
selected days to serve you better!
Dan and Kuldar
Sunnyside Barber Shop
613-523-1110
Editor’s Note: This is not just a barbershop
for men: Sunnyside Barber Shop also cuts
women’s hair. This is great news for us women
who want a cut, no perm, no colour – just a
good cut. I went and am very pleased with how
Dan listened to what I wanted, and how he
didn’t try to persuade me to dye my hair, get it
streaked, straightened or curled. Just a great
cut!
Photo by M.A. Thompson
Warmly,
Tanya Collins
Thanks to our team of dedicated
volunteers and supporters namely:
Gill Alexander Assal, Jill Anderson,
Lorraine Berzins, Catherine Bray,
Maggie Brodie, Lucinda Brommersma,
Ada Brzeski, Rob Burr, CA Parradis,
Lori Camilucci, Irene Casey, Julie
Chadwick, Dawn Collings, April
Dodge, Claire Dorion, Leo Doyle,
Kerry Duffy, Escape, Maureen Fallis,
Colleen Forer, Catherine Foskett,
Christine Franklin, Jennifer Geduld,
Sue Gemmell, Elaine Gervais,
Marilyn Gillich, Jenny Haysom,
Anna Hemming, Janet Jull, Michelle
Kushner, Margery Leach, Yvonne
Martignago, Genevieve Martin, Pamela
Matthews, Mede McAtee, Brendan
McCoy, Gayle McGibbon, Wilma
McLaughlin, Kendall McQueen,
Joanne Monaghan Denise, Nadon
Paisley Nesmith, Sheila Noble, Steph
O’Connor, OSCA, Katherine Parry,
Liliana Piazze, Lucille Poisson, Marie
Anne Potter, Vanessa Riddell, Kelsey
Robin, Nathalie Rundle, Sirenas Spa,
Jessica Smith,Chris Solar, Ana Ticas,
Sue Top, Lauren Weber, Susan Wellish,
Anna Marie Wolfert.
JULY/AUG 2009
The OSCAR
- OUR 37th YEAR
Page 7
CITY COUNCILLOR’S REPORT
Good News and Bad News
Dear OSCAR Readers:
In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure dome decree:
Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
Through caverns measureless to
man
Down to a sunless sea
Samuel Taylor
Coleridge (1759-1796)
I
Good News
feel I should take this opportunity
to point out a few valuable city
projects, big and small, most of
which haven’t gotten much attention,
which will be happening in and
around Old Ottawa South and which
will bring significant benefits to the
community.
No doubt you’ve heard that
the Old Fire Hall Community
Centre renovation ($2.9 million) is
proceeding but did you know that
the Sunnyside Branch of the Public
Library is getting $1.2 million for
some renovations too? Accessibility
will be improved, a multipurpose
meeting room will be added, the
children area improved, washroom
retrofit and general improvements
will be made to improve its function.
At Brewer Park the main entrance
ramp to the pool will be redone in
2009 and the pressure treated wood
on the play structure is due to be
replaced in 2010.
As the Bronson Bridge over
the Canal is nearing completion
the following improvements will
become permanent: the third outside
northbound lane on Bronson will be
closed at the Colonel By ramps in the
approach to the bridge, the ramp from
Colonel By will be more squared off
to make it safer for pedestrians and
cyclists and full sized cycling lanes
will be painted in.
On the west side of Bronson,
where there is currently no sidewalk
and hence no refuge for pedestrians
other than grass in the summer and
snow in the winter, there will be a
paved path set back from the roadway.
The long awaited traffic study
for the Sunnyside area will be
starting this year. Stay tuned for
more news on this. Pedestrian safety
and cut-through traffic topped the
list of concerns which prompted the
initiation of this study a few years
ago. Resources shortages in the
department responsible had delayed
this work from starting sooner.
Billings Bridge is coming due for
rehabilitation. Design for the bridge
repair is starting in 2009. Actual
construction work won’t be starting
till 2010.
News that Could Have Been Worse
The vote at Council on extending
the urban boundary limited the growth
to about 230 hectares. This is not good
because any expansion of the urban
boundary ultimately puts pressure
on our services and taxes but it could
have been much worse because
Council was seriously considering
an expansion of 850 hectares. I am
relatively certain that if the Mayor
had been present the motion to limit
the growth to 230 would have lost and
an expansion of at least 850 would
have passed.
Bad News
After months of meetings
between staff and the development
consortium backing Lansdowne
Live, Council approved a sixty-day
period to allow staff to negotiate with
the consortium. Then most of the
way through that sixty-day period
Council passed a motion to allow an
extension of another sixty-day period
of negotiations. Meanwhile, I would
like to know where the Fairness
Commissioner’s report on the sole
sourced unsolicited proposal is.
All city procurement projects
in excess of $25,000 should be
open to competition. All experts on
procurement agree sole sourcing is
Sunnyside Up! Local Library
Receives $1,275,000 for Reno
By Jenny Haysom
O
n June 5th, the Ottawa Public Library
(OPL) announced its successful request
for funding from the Federal Infrastructure
stimulus program under the Cultural Infrastructure
category. This grant will finance five capital
projects in community branches in the Ottawa area,
including a significant renovation of the Sunnyside
Library. The $1,275,000 allocated for Sunnyside
will be used to prolong the life and improve the
function of the building, which opened in 1951 and
was last renovated in 1985. Since the removal of
visiting services and the bookmobile (relocated a
few years ago to the new Greenboro Branch) much
of the basement has been vacant or underutilized.
The redevelopment of this space will allow for a new
multipurpose room for both children and adults, a
revitalization of the existing children’s department,
a retrofit of all washrooms, plus operational
improvements to aid the flow of materials.
The funding came as a complete surprise to
residents, including the Friends of the Sunnyside
Library, who banded together following the
threatened closure of the branch during the 2004
City Budget debates. This committee was formed
after a group of residents organized a community
rally that brought together more than a thousand
protesting library-users at the Sunnyside branch.
They went on to take a leading role in a city-wide
uprising that led to Council backing down on its
plans to close any of its neighbourhood branches.
Since that time, the Sunnyside Library has survived,
thrived, and even received funding for a modest
renovation during the last budget cycle ($500,000
to be shared with the Cumberland Branch).
The money allocated by Council and the
Library Board was significant but not sufficient to
do the all the work described in a recent building
assessment. As a result of this shortfall, the Friends
of Sunnyside had been planning another fundraiser
for the fall. To date, they have raised $15,000 from
a used book sale and proceeds from the smileyfaced Sunnyside book-bags that were available at
the circulation desk (they are now sold out).
As a result of the Federal Infrastructure grant,
another fundraiser will not be necessary, but a
party to celebrate our good fortune is definitely
in order—stay tuned! In the weeks and months
ahead, consultants will now be able to plan a more
significant redevelopment of the branch, one that
will ensure its structural integrity and place in the
future of the OPL system.
The Ottawa Public Library has also just unveiled
a possible location for a new main branch in the
downtown core (a block bordered by Albert, Lyon,
Slater and Bay Street). While plans for a central
building have been a prominent part of the OPL’s
vision for the past few years, the organization has
simultaneously shown its support for the smaller,
satellite libraries that deliver services most directly.
Thanks to the strong leadership of City Librarian
Barbara Clubb, and Library Board chair Jan Harder,
Ottawa’s libraries are at the top of the agenda.
indicative of bad governance. Sole
sourcing a $125 million stadium
project is simply outrageous and has
all optics of the third-world corrupt
practices. Yet this is precisely what
Ottawa is doing with Lansdowne.
The Lansdowne Live proposal is
scheduled to be back at Council on
August 26 before potentially going
out for public consultation. This
process couldn’t be more flawed.
There are no checks and balances to
provide basic assurances of value to
the taxpayers in this type of exclusive
sole sourced arrangement. See www.
clivedoucet.com, for the latest on the
campaign to see Lansdowne done
right.
Coffee with Clive
Coffee with Clive will take a
break in July and August and resume
in September in Old Ottawa South at
Bridgehead, 1176 Bank Street, on the
second Thursday of the month from
9:00 to 10:00 a.m.
Clive Doucet
City of Ottawa
110 Laurier Avenue West,
Ottawa, ON K1P 1J1
tel.: (613) 580-2487
fax: (613) 580-2527
[email protected]
www.clivedoucet.com
Frank Clair Nimby...
Cont’d from page 3
(at either site) by excavating reduces the visual
impact and takes advantage of supporting earth.
Add solar, geo-thermal and wind spire
technology to the plans and not only do you have
environmentally sensitive structures but cost
effective as well.
Bringing in important green technology will
allow more infrastructure money under the soon
to be released Green Infrastructure Stimulus.
That is if there is any money left on the Federal
Credit Card!
Summary
High-end cost for a new stadium at a new
well-served location is $85M plus $15M for the
67’s arena and trade space renovation gives a
total of $100M.
Compare that to the cost to the City of the
Frank Clair renovation of $150M and associated
headaches.
And with $50M saved, I am confident a three
hundred thousand dollar design competition,
deemed a “boondoggle” last year, would appear
to be now quite affordable for Lansdowne Park.
For the stadium, secure the best site,
then a competitive bid process for design and
construction.
With a bit of thought, real working solutions
that make better financial and practical sense are
available.
So enough of the labels, lets look at this
strategically.
Page 8
The OSCAR
- OUR 37th YEAR
JULY/AUG 2009
Hillary Cleaners Gets a Dog - Mural
G
raffiti is like a dandelion to some it’s a flower to be
appreciated and encouraged,
to others it’s a weed to be stomped out
and eradicated.
David Hillary of Hillary Cleaners
decided to have a mural on the wall
of his building on Grove so as to
discourage tagging. He commissioned
the Deepsix Collective to connect
with artists who would be able to do
the painting. Dogs are much loved at
Hillary Cleaners. Any dog who visits
is given a dog biscuit, whether they
have clothing to be dry-cleaned or
not. Thus the choice of the subject of
the mural.
The Keepsix Collective is a
service that connects residents
and businesses with artists. They
specialize in providing local street
artists with a legal opportunity to
beautify the city space around them.
They are a volunteer run service with
a team of experienced yet reasonably
priced artists that are here to help curb
the costs incurred by the new graffiti
by-law. Their murals are a colourful
mix of artistic styles and scenes,
designed along with the customer and
conforming to local bylaws.
It has been proven in many cities
that murals are a good way to prevent
vandalism on your property. Murals
can save businesses significant costs
both in fines and in repeated cleaning
and repriming, especially if they are
in the high target zones of the new
graffiti by-laws. At the same time
this urban art will give young artists a
chance to publicly display their work
as legitimate art, to improve both
artistic and business skills, to mentor
each other and network, to make a
bit of money, and to work with the
community.
If you would like a mural done
on your property or you are an artist
that would like to be a part of the
Keepsix Collective, go to http://
keepsix.com/wordpress/?page_id=43
for information. If you want to have
a mural done, The Deepsix Collective
will act as liason, at no charge, to help
you define your needs and to select
some artists and a design. They will
also help ensure your mural project
runs smoothly, and collect feedback.
If you are an artist you can use this
Collective to network with other
members, to organize group art
shows, and to work on murals we
are coordinating. They will post your
artwork in the collective section of the
image gallery, No fees required.
Unwanted tagging has become
an expensive problem in many cities,
including here in Ottawa. While some
areas focus on increased patrols and
immediate eradication as a quick
solution, graffiti murals have been
shown in many cases to be a more
effective choice - cheaper in the long
run, more inclusive of youth and other
community members, and with many
other benefits. These murals have
been shown to not just be a way to
prevent illegal painting, but to be a
tool that links together local graffiti
artists, business owners, and residents
in a transformed community-transformed into a cleaner and
more
socially
inter-connected
neighbourhood, more attractive to
shoppers and tourists, and often with
property values improved. And of
course, with tagged walls replaced
by mural art. This mural design
can range from a colourful maze of
interconnected letters to scenes and
cartoon characters -- the mix depends
mainly on the customer.
OSCA Spring Soccer a
HUGE Success
T
he OSCA Soccer Program got
underway on a cool spring night
back in May, and over the next
6 weeks on Tuesday/Thursday nights
and on Saturday mornings, Brewer
Park was transformed into a bee-hive
of activity- dozens of smiling kids in
bright coloured t-shirts running zigzag
patterns with soccer balls around
pylons, passing, shooting, and all while
getting direction and encouragement
from their volunteer parent/coaches.
Where did the past 6 weeks go? It’s
hard to believe that the soccer program
is over so quickly. What a great season!
Over 160 Old Ottawa South kids (and
their parents/guardians) along with a
few dozen volunteer coaches, a couple
of OSCA soccer staff (and yes, even 2
Coordinators) should be commended
for another great season of soccer in
Brewer Park.
The main goals of the OSCA Soccer
Program are to have fun and learn basic
soccer skills. We accomplished both of
those, and then some!
Thanks to the players and coaches
for all your hard work and dedication.
Thanks to the OSCA staff- Deirdre
(our OSCA connection) Will (aka the
“Shack Guy”), and Dave (our Tues/
Thurs skills coach).
We’d like to encourage all the
players/coaches/parents to talk to your
friends about this great soccer program
and encourage them to register early
next spring. Also, please talk to OSCA,
and let them know that the success of
this year’s program demonstrates that
this community can and will support a
community spring soccer program.
Thanks again to everyone! See you
next spring!
Kevin Colwell
Jennifer Small
JULY/AUG 2009
The OSCAR
Invasive Weed Invades OOS
What you can do to slow the spread
By Heather Martin
A
s a new mom on maternity
leave, I love to wander
the streets of Old Ottawa
South with my son in his stroller,
and admire the lovely gardens of
our neighbourhood. So it was with
great alarm that I started noticing
an invasive exotic plant invading
many of the gardens. It is called
Dog Strangling Vine (DSV) or
Pale Swallowort (Vincetoxicum or
Cynanchum rossicum) and it is a
perennial in the milkweed family. You
may have heard of it; CBC radio did a
piece on it last year, and the common
name is hard to forget! No, I don’t
think any dogs have ever actually been
strangled by this pest, but if you have
ever seen a massive infestation of the
weed you would understand how it got
its nickname.
Why worry about DSV?
Originally from Ukraine and
Russia, DSV is extremely problematic
in Ontario where it has no predators to
keep it in check. It has the ability to
take over large areas, change the soil
acidity and choke out almost all other
vegetation including tree seedlings. It
forms a thick mass of twisting stems
1 to 2 metres tall that is very difficult
to eradicate. Having spent an entire
summer working to control DSV
in High Park in Toronto as part of a
program to restore the endangered
black oak savannah ecosystem there,
I cringe the hardest when I see it
taking over naturalized areas such as
meadows. (Good local examples are
in the off-leash section of Brewer Park
just north of the old canteen building
and along the canal next to the Fletcher
Wildlife Garden). But even seeing just
a few plants in an OOS garden disturbs
me because I know that a few plants
this year will probably turn into many
next year and so on…
What does DSV look like?
The leaves grow opposite each
other on the vine-like stem, are dark
green, glossy, and approximately oval
in shape with rounded bases, pointed
tips and smooth edges. The small
flowers are pink, red-brown or maroon
and grow in clusters at tips of stems.
Flowering usually occurs from June
to late summer. Flowers produce
long, slender seed pods similar in
appearance to common milkweed.
The pods release fluffy seeds from
mid-August to early-November. A
quick Google search turns up hundreds
of good photographs that can help you
identify it.
How it spreads
DSV spreads by the wind-borne
seeds and a massive underground root
system. Unfortunately, non-chemical
control methods are not very effective
but I certainly would not advocate
the use of pesticides in a residential
neighbourhood, even if it were legal
(which it isn’t, as of April). Still, I
think it is worth trying something to
curb the spread of the plant, especially
now when most gardens only have a
few individuals and the task is not as
daunting as it might be in a few years.
What you can do
It is best to target DSV when
it is in full flower, but before it goes
to seed. If the pods are already
producing seeds when you remove it,
dispose of the plants in a sealed plastic
bag to prevent the seeds from escaping
and establishing elsewhere. DSV sap
can cause an allergic reaction in some
people so wear gloves when handling
it. Your options for removal are:
• Cut the stems near the base.
This will only temporarily control the
plant because new plants will sprout
from the buds at the base. However,
it will at least prevent more seeds from
being produced and even more plants
establishing themselves.
• Dig them up but be very careful
to get as much of the roots as possible,
as a cut section of root will produce
two new plants from each end and
result in even more plants. For this
reason, pulling them up is not effective
because roots will break off and be left
in the soil.
• Mulch your garden well to
prevent any seeds that may be in your
soil from growing.
• A combination of these methods is
probably best.
Researchers are working on a
biological control for dog strangling
vine, similar to what is now used to
control purple loosestrife, an invasive
exotic that you may remember was
threatening Ontario’s wetlands a few
years ago, but nothing is ready yet, and
may never be. I certainly hope that a
non-chemical but effective control can
be found, but in the meantime I hope
we can curb the spread of DSV in Old
Ottawa South.
On-line resources:
www.greenlivingottawa.com
http://www.toronto.ca/trees/pdfs/
Fact_3_Controlling_Invasive_Plants.
pdf
http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/
crops/facts/ontweeds/dogstrangling_
vine.htm
http://www.ofnc.ca/fletcher/research/
swallowwort/fact-sheet_e.pdf
- OUR 37th YEAR
Page 9
Page 10
By Arthur McGregor
OFC Music
T
oo often, the voice is given
unfair status in the world of
music. You’re either a ‘great
singer’ or you don’t sing! On the
one hand, we have ‘talent’ shows
(Canadian and American Idol etc) that
seem to assume that if you can sound
like the ‘industry’ wants you to sound,
you’re a star. The other side of the coin
(to mix metaphors) is the assumption
that singing can only be done by those
with good voices. I remember asking
an older fellow if he sang. ‘Oh, no, not
at all’, he replied. Knowing he was a
church goer, I asked ‘Do you sing in
church?’. ‘Well, yes,’ was the reply.
Singing is an amazing thing to
do. From singing in the shower to
singing in a choir, we are all singers.
Singing changes us. It alters the way
we breathe, it brings memories back
to us, it allows us to identify with
folks of similar interests and, indeed,
‘as the dispersed and transient Jews
would learn, the human voice is
a readily portable instrument, and
communal singing serves to bond its
The OSCAR
- OUR 37th YEAR
Sing, Just Sing!
participants in both form and purpose.
(from A Brief History Of Singing by
John Koopman).
At the Folklore Centre, we have
been big promoters of singing since
day one. My understanding of the
beauty and joy of singing has grown
considerably as I experience the vast
array of techniques that are scattered
around the globe. One of my personal
favourites is Shape Note Singing, a
technique we have taught on and off
at the Folklore Centre. I’m not a big
fan of the words in most shape note
songs (too much t’underin’ jesus!)
but the melodies are incredible and
it’s very easy to sing. Most shape
note singing is ‘participatory’ and
not for an audience. In fact, a wellknown wag said he’d walk ten miles
to sing in a shape note choir but he’d
not cross the street to hear one. Go to
Ottawashapenote.org for info about
shape note singing and our local
chapters.
By the way, the Ottawa Folk
Festival has invited Village Harmony
to return, a group from Vermont
specializing in modern shape note
singing. This is a link to a great
tune from this unique organization.
(http://www.northernharmony.pair.
com/mp3/el/Big_Sky.mp3)
They
run summer camps and then tour
the campers, performing at churches
and festivals around North America.
We’ve hosted them over the years at
local churches and I introduced Chris
White to them last year.
Another unique voice comes
from the throat singers of Mongolia.
“Throat-singing is a vocal technique
found in several Asian cultures.
Its practitioners produce two, and
sometimes three distinct tones by
manipulating the acoustic phenomena
known as harmonics produced
normally in speech and singing. A
throat- singer seems paradoxically
to sing more than one pitch at once.
Often the loudest tone is lacking
entirely the familiar, root quality of
vibrating vocal cords one detects
even in the most refined singing in the
West.” (from The Washington Post,
Monday, January 15, 1996, page A5,
Science / Ethnomusicology By David
Brown) We don’t teach throat-singing.
I think... well maybe ask Kurt! And then there’s our community
choirs. The most recent choir is
FolkaVoca, run by the incredible Lee
Hayes. Lee runs many of our group
singing programs at the Folklore
JULY/AUG 2009
Centre. Check out our web site for
the specifics. Be ready to sing ‘cause
Lee does great choir! Every winter,
we host the Pub Caroling at Patty’s
Pub on Bank Street. We published a
book, The Canadian Pub Caroler, put
together by Shelly Posen, of three and
four part ancient British and Canadian
carols and teach and sing them
every Christmas. The books have
instructions on hosting a Pub Caroling
so, order a book through our web site
and yule be singing! We have a CD of
the songs as well. The last tradition we continue
is the Terry Penner Festival Choir, a
pickup choir organized every year at
the Ottawa Folk Festival. You join
on Saturday, attend three practises
and perform on Sunday evening as
the sun sets over Britannia Bay. It’s
an excellent celebration of the voice
and an honour to the memory of
Terry, former owner of the Folklore
Centre, who was a BIG singer. Andy
Rush will be leading the Terry Penner
Festival Choir this year. It’s a treat to
work with Andy. He is the director of
Kingston’s community choir, Open
Voices.
“In the beginning was the voice.
Voice is sounding breath, the audible
sign of life”. --Ibid.
Show us you’re alive. Sing!
The Ottawa Farmers’ Thursday Market Is Back!
S
tarting Thursday, June 18, the weekday version of Sunday’s popular
market will be open from 1.00 p.m. until 6.00 p.m in the market’s usual
site adjacent to Lansdowne Park’s Aberdeen Pavilion.
Whether stocking up for an outdoor weekend with plans to go cottaging,
biking, or hiking, or simply replenishing supplies to last until Sunday, there’s
plenty of fresh local produce to choose from.
Drop by on the way home and check out the choice of salad fixings –
yellow and red tomatoes bursting with flavour, salad greens, hothouse
cucumbers, and garlic scapes. Local asparagus, fresh, crisp, and tasty, is still
in plentiful supply along with stalks of juicy, rose-red rhubarb.
There’s a convenient snacking corner and parking is, as always, free.
Area Church Service Times
Sunnyside Wesleyan Chuch
58 Grosvenor Avenue (at Sunnyside)
Sunday Worship Service at 9am &
11am (10am only June 14 – Aug 30)
Children’s program offered during
both worship services.
Trinity Anglican Church
1230 Bank Street (at Cameron
Avenue)
Sunday Services
9.30 am -- sung eucharist (summer
schedule June 14 to August 30)
Regular 8.30 eucharist , and 10 am
sung eucharist with church school
and nursery, resume Sundays, starting
September 6)
Thursdays
10 am – Eucharist or Morning Prayer
in Chapel
St Margaret Mary’s Parish
7 Fairbairn (corner of Sunnyside)
Sunday Liturgies : 9:30 a.m. and 11:30
a.m.
Christian Meditation: Mondays at 7:30
p.m.
Evening Prayer: Tuesday at 7 p.m.
Southminster United
Church
15 Aylmer Avenue
10:30 a.m.: Worship and Sunday
School - September through June
JULY/AUG 2009
The OSCAR
Take a visual walk along Sunnyside Avenue, on the South side
starting at Rideau River Road and ending at Bronson Avenue.
Tom Alfoldi has taken photos of every building along Sunnyside -North and South, East and West of Bank Street, and provided OSCAR
with the photos. (See OSCAR, June 2009 for Sunnyside North photos)
The photos continue from this page, starting at Rideau River Road,
comntinues to page 23, where we reach Bank Street. The visiaul walk
continues on page 30, west of Bank St and continues until page 41 and
Bronson Avenue.
Join us another time when we will walk with Tom’s Camera.
Thank you Tom!
Girl Power: LifeWater Canada
Bake Sale a Success
By Georgina Hunter
H
opewell Public School students raised $440 at their bake sale for
LifeWater Canada at the Great Glebe Garage Sale.
Student and parent volunteers donated their homemade baked
goods. Thanks goes to Bridgehead who donated a large urn filled with
coffee and their organic milk and cream. Kate Baron, a grade five student
donated and sold her beading. Ottawa Spa Plus owner and operator, Lynda
Snyder offered manicures for a good will. Hopewell students also took turns
operating the booth.
This is a great first step towards the 3K needed to build a well for an
African village.
Students learned far more life skills like: baking, customer service, and
cash.
They learned that they have the power to help those in need.
They explained that in Liberia, 25% of children under five die from
drinking dirty water.
The fundraiser fostered a sense of responsibility that the fortunate can
help the needy in simple gestures.
To book an OSCAR ad
call Gayle
at 730-1058
or email: [email protected]
- OUR 37th YEAR
Page 11
Page 12
The OSCAR
- OUR 37th YEAR
JULY/AUG 2009
Squirrel Chatter
Living Life Happily And Healthily... Not An Easy Thing !
By Tania and Michaël
A
few weeks ago, Tania ran the
Ottawa Marathon... well...the
10k. Too busy this spring to
train, she now has a wonderful knee
pain. Job, family, courses, shopping
for healthy food.... we may say that
life is rushed ! We overload our
schedule with too many activities and
we overload our spirit with all kinds of
expectations. Not surprisingly, we do
not achieve half of what we wanted.
This is tough for our self-esteem and
maybe on our partner as well. Having
strong goals is fine, being crushed by
artificially high expectations is not.
A few months ago, we started to
look for ideas on how we could better
take care of ourselves. Here is what
we found: First, we plan spare time in
our days, and take care of our mind
and body. Stress reducing activities
such as yoga, taking time to read a
book, learning something new, daily
exercise, seeing a friend, and proper
nutrition are all healthy parts of the
day. We can do all of these in our Old
Ottawa South neighbourhood ! When
we plan less in our day, we find we
can add more if we have spare time,
while feeling good about it.
Second, we think about who and
what we bring in our environment. Do
the people around us bring positive
thoughts, feelings and ideas, or do they
just complain and take away all our
energy? It’s a difficult task, especially
with friends, but we sometime have to
put up a fence ! Our surroundings are
very important.
Third, we examine what we clean
our house with - is it natural or is it
full of chemicals? Are we sure we
want to breath those chemicals as they
evaporate ? How about products we
wash ourself with - are they natural
or are they full of chemicals as well
779 Bank Street (613) 237-1483
- skin absorbs a lot. Numbers in the
ingredients such as “-7” or words
like “paraben” are very controversial.
Personally, we prefer to trust organic
products rather than chemical ones
... especially if a course in chemistry
is necessary to understand what your
products are made of ! After we wrote
this article we found this video that
illustrates what we mean: http://www.
youtube.com/watch?v=infhPoljkj8
Fourth, how about the food we eat
? We all like junk food but is the bulk
of our food natural and from a good
source? New theories in nutrition
explore the concept of “what is your
food’s food.” Is our food fed or grown
with chemicals and perhaps antibiotics
or hormones, and it is mass produced
with little quality, taste and nutritional
value? Organic food is much better for
us and has less chemicals, hormones,
and has better taste and content. If you
have not tried organic food yet, you
will see what we mean ! How many
of our diseases can be attributed to
poor quality food, full of chemicals
? Do we really want to gamble with
our health ? We started improving
our food with 20% organic foods that
were easier to find, and switched from
chemical body products to chemical
free natural body products such as
shampoos and soaps.
All this brings the concept of
ethics and compassion - healthy for
the soul. When our food, perhaps
bananas or coffee, has been produced
organically and fair trade, then it is
better for us as nutritional source. But
it is also better for the people who have
to work to produce it - no chemicals
or pesticides in their air and on their
skin - and fair trade means they get
a bit better revenue. We prefer to
pay the extra 10 or 20 cents a pound
of bananas (even given the quantity
Tania uses in her morning Budwig
cream !) - we thus get better food and
know the workers are a little better off.
We also learned that products such as
shampoos (or the chemicals that make
up shampoos) are commonly tested
on animals (to their death). We don’t
need or want our shampoo to create
suffering in other living beings in
order to be safe - if we don’t know or
can’t easily research the ingredients in
our shampoo then why are we putting
them on ourself – like they say in the
youtube video ! A product made from
natural sources is better for us and
can avoid any testing: we thus reach a
higher level of compassion for others.
We seek to improve ourselves by
caring for others, whether they are
workers in a far country, whether they
are in our neighbours and friends or
family, or whether they are animals
near or far - it’s especially easy when
it’s no trouble to us and brings such
wonderful things as a smile, knowing
we helped someone, knowing the
products we consumed are better for
us, and knowing we avoided living
creatures’ pain and suffering.
There are several excellent local
stores that sell ethical and natural
products and people in the stores
can help guide you find healthy and
ethical products - just ask and be
specific. It takes a bit of questions
initially but it’s actually quite easy.
The manufacturers often label the
fact it is ethical or fair trade on the
product itself, for example “not tested
on animals”.
Living
Life
Happily
and
Healthily... it’s much easier than we
thought and good for everyone. It
makes a big difference and not just
by saving on the government’s Heath
Care system!
We love to hear your ideas,
comments, or topics you’d like in
future Squirrel Talk. Also we’d be
pleased to provide details on where
to get specific products or what to
look for, write us. Just don’t give
the squirrels any coffee or too many
peanuts, they’re particularly hyper
this spring !!
Please write us at taniamich@
gmail.com
To book an OSCAR ad
call Gayle 730-1058
[email protected]
JULY/AUG 2009
The OSCAR
- OUR 37th YEAR
Page 13
BACKYARD NATURALIST
Sounds Like Summer
By Linda Burr
owners probably don’t use harmful
pesticides either. It’s quite astonishing
to drive along slowly and listen in
this way. Try it and you might be
pleasantly surprised which places are
the loudest and which are silent.
I’m looking forward to my
summer serenade, and I hope a few
cicadas and crickets will take up
residence out in my yard. If they do,
I’ll know I’m doing something right
for them, and for the environment, by
creating a space where these insects
can survive and thrive. It just wouldn’t
be summer without them.
E
ach season has its own sensory
experiences. If spring is all
about colour and smell, then
summer is about sounds: the buzzing,
chirping, whining, and humming of
insects all around us. Their brief,
glorious season is summer, when they
have to do it all: feed, grow, mate,
metamorphose, and die, or fall into
winter’s long sleep.
What signals the start of summer
for you? Children out of school?
Seeing your winter body in shorts
for the first time? For me, summer
officially begins when the cicadas
start to sing: it starts out as a low buzz
and rises to a high-pitched electric
whine. Sounds like the hydro wires
caught fire, maybe.
Most of the cicadas living in
our neighbourhood have a two- or
three-year life cycle. The first couple
of years they spend as grubs deep
underground. When they finally
emerge, they climb up the nearest tree
and shed their skin to emerge as flying
adults. You might be lucky enough to
find the empty shell still clinging to
the bark of a tree. We rarely see the
winged adults once they climb up into
a tree.
The males are the only ones that
sing. How do they do it? Since they’re
only about two to five cm long, it’s
hard to imagine something so small
producing such a loud penetrating
sound. They do it by rapidly vibrating
a membrane called the “timbal” on
the underside of their abdomens.
Their abdomens are hollow, which
helps the sounds to resonate. It’s hard
to imagine how they could stand it,
but apparently the males have the
ability to disconnect their ears at will
(apparently it’s a uniquely male trait).
Cicadas love the heat, and will
only sing when it’s really hot outside.
If you hear the cicadas and it’s still
morning, it’s going to be that kind
Closeup of Tibicen canicularis (Wikipedia)
of a day. The common species in
our neighbourhood is probably the
annual cicada, which is present every
summer. It’s scientific name is very
apt: Tibicen canicularis, also known
as the dog-day cicada. Because some
emerge each year, they’re often
referred to as annual cicadas. Some
cicadas have a much longer life cycle,
up to 17 years, but these types usually
emerge all together in the same year,
and then are absent as adults for many
years in between.
Cicadas may be the star songsters
during the daytime, but the summer
night belongs to another miniature
musical beast, the cricket. Crickets
produce their chirping sounds by
rubbing together the rough edges on
their hard forewings. If you were to
pass a nail file over the end of a stiff
piece of paper, you might get a similar
sound. Only the males produce the
cricket “chirp” to attract a female
mate. She hops closer and closer to
the sound until they finally meet up.
During the summer months, I
sometimes like to “listen” to people’s
front yards as I drive slowly along
the street with the car window rolled
down. Once in a while, I’ll hear a
“loud” yard, that is, one that is full
of chirping, happy insects. These
properties usually have little or no
To book an OSCAR ad
call Gayle 730-1058
[email protected]
lawn, but plenty of interesting shrubs
and plants for bugs to hide in. And the
Linda Burr lives in Old Ottawa
South and is a biologist and avid
backyard naturalist.
Page 14
The OSCAR
- OUR 37th YEAR
JULY/AUG 2009
The Left Bank of the Rideau
Where the Books Are
By Mary Lee Bragg
W
hen Blaine Marchand
left for a two-year
stint in Pakistan with a
development agency, he ignored the
fortune teller who warned him that he
wouldn’t come back. Before leaving,
he also launched his poetry book
“Aperture” at Mother Tongue Books
in Old Ottawa South. A hundred or
so of his friends packed the store and
listened intently to Marchand’s poems
and anecdotes from earlier visits to
Afghanistan. The “Aperture” launch
was one of the best-attended affairs
Mother Tongue has hosted, but was
far from an isolated event in this
neighbourhood.
In two blocks on Bank Street,
our community has two bookstores,
Mother Tongue and Kaleidoscope, and
the Sunnyside Public Library. All offer
venues for readings, book launches,
workshops, discussion groups – and,
of course, provide us with books. In
Urban Meltdown Clive Doucet talks
about “streetcar communities” that
provide a range of goods and services
within a comfortable walking distance.
Writers and readers in Old Ottawa
Mother Tongue Books
South appreciate the “streetcar”
quality of that stretch of our main
street.
In addition to being a favourite
spot for launches, Mother Tongue hosts
a drop-in poetry workshop on Tuesday
evenings (cost $5.00), and provides
space for two fiction workshops
animated by local writer Mary Borsky.
A group of Ottawa writers recently
showed their appreciation for owners
Laura Rayner and Evelyn Huer by
organizing a birthday party for Evelyn.
Half a dozen poets read poems written
for the occasion and learned why
serving cake in a bookstore might not
be a good idea.
Laura appreciates the presence of
the other book places nearby: ``We
sometimes have people come in here
with their library copy of a book, and
order their own copy through us``.
There is little spirit of competition
between Kaleidoscope and Mother
Tongue. Mother Tongue has been
established for fourteen years,
and concentrates on Canadian and
international fiction, feminist and
cultural theory, psychology, sexuality
and lesbian and gay studies. It has a
corner devoted to children`s books,
complete with cushions and toys,
but most of its books are definitely
adult. Kaleidoscope is Kid’s Books in
Capital Letters.
Kaleidoscope opened in its
present location in February 2006,
while waiting for its permanent store
at Ecocite across from Lansdowne to
open. Partners Karin, Kim and Kelly
have at least one friend with a gift for
web design: check out their website at
http://www.kaleidoscopekidsbooks.
ca/
You`ll find book reviews,
schedules of activities, and contests.
The store offers a wide selection
of children`s books, and hosts a
children`s story time on Fridays at
10:00. There`s also a book club for
adults who read children`s books, so
fans of Anne Shirley and Harry Potter
can take the brown wrappers off their
books and share ideas. Among many
other readings, Kaleidoscope hosted
Governor-General Award winner Tim
Wynne-Jones in May, reading from
his book The Intruder.
The Sunnyside Branch of the
Ottawa Public Library is, to many
writers, the best part of living in
this community. The Ottawa Public
Library makes a point of acquiring
and displaying books by local authors
(look for books in circulation on the
Ottawa Shelf in the downtown branch,
as well as the archives in the Ottawa
Kaleidoscope Books
Room). The library also sponsors
reading times for babies, toddlers and
pre-schoolers and a summer reading
club for school children.
For two years, the Sunnyside
Library has also participated in
National Poetry Month by hosting
a successful poetry reading series.
Every Thursday in April, the Canal
Mug series packed up to forty poetry
fans at a time into the library`s lounge
area to hear local writers. Ronnie
Brown, Stephen Brockwell, Anne Le
Dressay, Deanna Young and Terry
Sunnyside Public LIbrary
Ann Carter, among others, took home
the coveted Canal Mug at the end of
their readings.
Librarian Jean McCarthy is
impressed enough with the series`
success to plan another spot for it:
a new program room that will be
built with the infrastructure funding
recently awarded to update the library.
With a more private setting, library
patrons who want to use the lounge
chairs or the printer won`t have to
climb over a poetry audience to get to
them.
Long-time residents of Old Ottawa
South remember Scholar’s Bookstore
on Bank Street and Second Thought
on Sunnyside, where ‘unexpected’
was the main theme of the inventory.
Now, used books can be found at the
neighbourhood antique shops or at
Haven Books. Chapters or Indigo may
never move into this neighbourhood.
But the people who bring us our books
– the librarians at Sunnyside, the three
Ks at Kaleidoscope, and Laura and
Evelyn at Mother Tongue contribute
mightily to making this neighbourhood
a great place for readers. And writers.
Editor’s Note: Mary Lee Bragg’s
book Shooting Angels was launched at
Mother Tongue Books in 2004.
The OSCAR
JULY/AUG 2009
- OUR 37th YEAR
Page 15
THE BIG PICTURE
A Concise History of Canadian Cinema
By Michael Dobbin
C
anada’s long tradition of
story-telling for the screen
began with the turn of the
20th century. The first films were
commissioned by the Canadian
Pacific Railroad and were designed to
attract British immigration to Canada.
In 1913, Canada’s first known
feature film, Evangeline, was
produced in Nova Scotia by the
Canadian Bioscope Company of
Halifax. That same year the BritishAmerican Film Company of Montreal
produced The Battle of Long Sault.
About the time of the First World
War Canada’s film making industry
began to take off. In 1917, several
years before Hollywood became
the undisputed movie capital of the
world, a Canadian owned studio at
Trenton, Ontario was well positioned
to challenge the title. It was opened
at Trenton by the Canadian National
Features
of Toronto.
History
intervened and the upstart was quickly
quashed by aggressive US companies
looking to corner the market on the
emerging business of film.
Canadians like Oscar-winning
movie mogul, Mack Sennett, the
“Comedy King” went south to the
U.S. where he ended up producing
hundreds of Hollywood comedies;
producing for Charlie Chaplin and
creating the Keystone Kops. The
world’s first international movie star,
Oscar winner Mary Pickford came
from Toronto.
But some filmmakers persevered
on Canadian soil. Ernie Shipman, a
stalwart Canadian silent-film producer
would go where the U.S. studios
wouldn’t dare by using sex to sell his
films. His wife, Nell Shipman starred
in his first feature Back to God’s
Country (1919), which was a huge
success. With the overabundance of
U.S. propaganda films and in the
absence of any Canadian patriotic
war films, Shipman produced Carry
On Sergeant (1928) to fill audience
demands for content showcasing
Canadian heroism in the war. What
also made Shipman’s films unique
was that he used locations in nature
instead of a studio set.
Around the same time, a Canadian
entrepreneur family called the Allens
invested lavish sums of money into
the first chain of movie palaces in
North America. They were successful
in bringing movies to the up-market
and making them fashionable to
more affluent audiences. Meanwhile,
U.S. Studios like Paramount Pictures
were on an aggressive campaign
to complete their vision of vertical
distribution system which would
see production, distribution and
exhibition operating from under one
roof. Countries like the UK and even
the United States legislated against
Hollywood monopolies – but Canada
remained open for business. Agents
of the Hollywood studios threatened,
terrorised and even vandalised
Canadian cinemas that wouldn’t agree
to exhibit their films. The Canadianowned Allen Theatres became part of
the Famous Players chain, owned and
operated by Paramount.
By the 1930s, opposition to the
monopoly was growing, but Prime
Minister Mackenzie King didn’t
want to take on Hollywood. In a bid
to establish some form of cultural
sovereignty, John Grierson was
invited to start the National Film
Board of Canada in 1939. A deal was
made with Hollywood to distribute
NFB films if Canada left the feature
film market alone. Hollywood would
continue to produce feature films, and
Canada would make documentaries
and short films. The Canadian
Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and
its French-language service RadioCanada were formed around the same
time.
Perhaps the most peculiar
subversion of the Canadian feature
film industry occurred following the
Second World War, arriving in the
form of a “gentleman’s agreement”
with Hollywood. In a bid to stop the
Canadians from taxing their profits,
the U.S. studios convinced the
government to leave them alone and
let the free-market prevail in return for
making references to Canada in their
films which would hopefully lead to
an increase in U.S. tourist-dollars.
Canadian feature film producers saw
it as a sell-out, but nevertheless, the
Canadian Cooperation Project came
into effect in 1947. For a decade,
Hollywood churned out features
featuring brave Mounties, and obscure
references to Canadian characters or
“red-winged oriels from Canada”.
U.S. tourist dollars did increase, but
not anywhere near the international
average which rose during that period.
Canadian
producer
Budge
Crawley was another who persevered.
In 1963, he produced Amanita
Pestilens, the first Canadian feature
film to be shot in both English and
French with the same set of actors,
and was the country’s first feature
film with English dialogue. Criticallyacclaimed in the U.S. and Europe, the
film had virtually no distribution in
Canada.
In 1974, the Canadian feature
film industry exploded with the
introduction of a government TaxShelter Program. Tax accountants and
dealmakers got in on the action to take
advantage of 100% deductions in the
form of Capital Cost Allowance. The
intention of the scheme was to kickstart the Canadian film industry; but
the reality was a decade of lowbrow,
Hollywood rip-off movies starring
B-list Hollywood actors that were
rarely seen by Canadian audiences.
There were some exceptions with the
commercially successful film by Ivan
Reitman: Meatballs (1979) and the
establishment of talent such as David
Cronenberg. However, by the early
1980s, the Canadian government
backed-down from further tax-breaks.
In 1975, in an attempt to capitalise
on the sudden boom in production,
Secretary of State Hugh Faulkner
tried to establish a ‘voluntary quota’
deal with Famous Players and Odeon
Theatres. The plan promised cash
investment from these companies
into Canadian productions, and a
deal to devote at least four weeks per
year to their exhibition. The plan was
scrapped only two years later after
total failure.
By the late 1980s, Flora
MacDonald,
Minister
of
Communications proposed legislation
called the Film Products Importation
Bill which would introduce a quota to
boost the number of Canadian films on
Canadian screens to 15%. Naturally,
Canadian producers supported the
bill while U.S. lobbyists tried to stop
it, hoping to retain Canada as part
of the U.S. market, and arguing it
would kill the North American Free
Trade deal. U.S. President Ronald
Reagan allegedly advised Prime
Minister Mulroney to stop the bill.
By 1988, the watered-down version
of MacDonald’s bill died with a
whimper when an election was called.
The consolation prize for Canadian
producers was the establishment
of Telefilm Canada’s Feature Film
Distribution Fund which would
establish credit lines for producers
to distribute their product, even
though Canada’s distribution system
remained firmly in the grip of U.S.
controlled companies.
Famous Players (owned by
Viacom) and Cineplex Odeon (owned
by Universal) had traditionally
been the dominant theatre chains in
Canada, controlling the vast majority
of Canada’s screens. Officially,
these exhibitors did not maintain
any sort of exclusivity on film titles
from distributors, although their
relationships with the studios meant
that content inevitably came from
the usual business channels, making
it difficult for smaller distributors to
push their content.
Against decades of overwhelming
distribution and funding challenges,
Canadian
producers,
directors
and content makers still defiantly
continue to produce content to
this day. Recent years have seen
some positive developments in the
way that films are financed and
supported by government agencies,
and Canadian films are increasingly
being recognised internationally. In
particular, Quebec cinema has been
outperforming English Canada in
this regard. Language isolation from
Hollywood is a clear advantage to
the domestic box-office in Quebec,
although French Canadian films are
rarely seen in English Canada.
Quebec-produced
French
language films have been particularly
successful both critically and
commercially.
Successes
like
Sundance-winner La grande séduction
or Oscar-winner Les invasions
barbares are about and for the Quebec
Cont’d on page 16
Page 16
The OSCAR
- OUR 37th YEAR
JULY/AUG 2009
AFTER THOUGHTS
A Second Axial Age
from Richard Ostrofsky
of Second Thoughts Bookstore
(now closed)
www.secthoughts.com
[email protected]
I
n a book modestly entitled The
Origin and Goal of History,
the German philosopher Karl
Jaspers pointed out a radical shift in
collective human consciousness that
seems to have occurred in the first
millennium before Christ, between
800 and 200 B.C. In this Axial Age,
as he called it, fell the lives and
teachings of Confucius, Siddhartha
Gautama (the Buddha), the authors
of the Upanishads, Lao Tzu, Homer,
Socrates, Parmenides, Heraclitus,
Thucydides, Archimedes, Elijah,
Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Deutero-Isaiah:
an extraordinary crop of thinkers
who left their mark on the world’s
civilizations from that point on,
down to the present day. The dates
and persons we choose don’t matter
much. One could argue, for example,
that Zoroaster who probably lived
earlier, or that Jesus and Mohammed
who lived somewhat later were also
key Axial Age thinkers. What seems
clear is that humans became reliant on
agriculture about ten thousand years
ago, settled down soon after into
city-states and empires, and finally
evolved a new self-understanding that
found religious (and philosophical)
expression all across Eurasia in a
relatively short time span thereafter.
In this column I’ll speculate that a
similar shift of thought, technology
and life-style is happening to us now,
and that human self-understanding on
a long-term and world-wide basis is
suffering comparable dislocation.
Though there were important
forerunners, we might date the new
shift – from a mythological to a
scientific conception of Man and
Nature, and from an agricultural to a
techno-industrial society – from the
time of Sir Isaac Newton, toward the
end of the 17th century. Newtonian
mechanics, showing that the motion
of cannon balls and of planets were
governed by the same laws, proved the
power of a new empirical, abductive
mode of inquiry and explanation. The
stream of discoveries and inventions
that followed led to the Age of
Enlightenment, and then to the world
as it is today, with all the hi-tech
features we take for granted.
We scarcely grasp how suddenly
the conditions of life have changed.
The political and economic upheavals
began well before Newton’s death,
with the invention of practical steam
engines by Thomas Newcomen
in 1712. Then there was a second
wave: Before the 1880’s, there was
no practical electric lighting, and the
world was lit only by fire; but radio
and TV, anaesthetics and antibiotics,
flight and space flight, computers
and the Internet all appeared within
a period just over one hundred years
after the first commercial light bulbs.
As this piece is written, all the great
religious questions – about the origin
of the universe, and of life, mind,
and the moral sense – have come
within the scope of science – which
already offers more soundly based
answers than religion ever could.
At the same time, neuropsychology
and the so-called GNR technologies
– genetics, nanotechnology and
robotics – are converging in ways
that will ultimately shift our concepts
of what it means to have a mind, of
what it means to be human. Artificial
brains (now called neurobots) –
for a host of medical, military and
industrial applications, the prevention
or reversal of natural aging, bioengineering and ‘designer-babies’ are
just a few of the possibilities. See, for
example, http://www.aleph.se/Trans/
for advocacy and resources on the
whole trans-human agenda.
Where are these changes taking
us? How will this second Axial
transition alter the way we see
ourselves – our sense of what it means
to be human? It is, of course, too soon
to know. Yet two points are already
clear, and both have precedents in the
earlier Axial transformation. Now as
then, we must expect a long and bitter
conflict between those who embrace
the new ideas and lifestyles and those
who reject them. Largely but not
entirely, this will be a conflict between
those who benefit from the changes
and those who get marginalized or
subjugated by them. If precedent
holds, the ideas that finally win out
must offer meaning to the lives of
both the elites and the lower classes,
as Christianity did in its time.
A second point is that the question
of self-hood and identity has again
come up for grabs. Whatever else
it is, every religion is a conception
and theory of what it means to be
human. Perhaps the central issue of
the first Axial Age was its discovery
of the individual. From being slaves
of their tribal gods, people came
to see themselves as private souls,
confronting and/or split off from
some universal Spirit. Today, the
problem is to embrace ecology,
evolution and pluralism (the central
spiritual features of our post-modern
world) without falling into anomie
(normlessness) and relativism. The
selves emerging from this second
Axial Age will have accepted the
death of the universal Creator-God
and of the metaphysical soul, seeing
instead the continuity of us human
animals with the rest of nature – but
with our own peculiar specializations.
For many, these are difficult
pills to swallow, and humanity as a
whole is still very far from getting
them down. But most of the spiritual
hysteria of our times will abate once
we do so; and it may again be possible
to contemplate our future, and the
requirements of a global society, in
rational terms.
Concise History .... Cont’d from page 15
market. La grande séduction (English
title: Seducing Doctor Lewis) about
a small fishing village along the St.
Lawrence River, took on Pirates of
the Caribbean and Terminator 3 on
its July opening-weekend in 2003,
taking in $800,000 and the top spot
at the Quebec box office in its first
weekend.
In 2006, Bon Cop, Bad Cop,
filmed in both English and French,
became the first Canadian feature
film to obtain a wide release in both
English and French Canada and took
in over $13 million at the box office
(before DVD sales), making it the
top-grossing Canadian release of all
time – beating out Porky’s (1982)
and C.R.A.Z.Y. (2005) for the title.
Many hope that this will signal the
beginning of a new Golden Age of
Canadian cinema at the box-office –
for theatres still firmly controlled by
U.S. content.
To book an
OSCAR ad
call Gayle
at 730-1058
or email:
[email protected]
JULY/AUG 2009
A HARD DAY’S PLAY
By Mary P.
H
aven’t we had a lot of rain so
far this summer? Rain, and
when it’s not raining, dreary
damp grey days, days when drizzle
threatens all day long. Days when
there’s just a bit of a chill in the air.
Ugh. (Even as I type this I am hoping
that by the time you read this, such
days will be a distant memory, but
right now? Right now I am very tired
of grey.)
Since it’s inevitable that there is
at least one child in the crew who is
not appropriately attired for puddlejumping, we end up spending a lot of
time indoors on deluge days. Indoor
time means more circle time, more
organized play, and more crafts.
I do not generally ‘do’ organized
play. To my mind, ‘organized’ and
‘play’ are, when in the control of an
adult, antonyms. Opposites. Childdirected play has, I assume, some sort
of inner order, an organic flow that
makes sense to its participants. It may
confuse/amuse the heck out of any
Page 17
Mary Pleads For Sunshine
adult watching, but then, it’s not for/
about the adults, is it?
Children play. Adults play, too,
but not like children. And I will be
entirely honest with you, here. Those
of you who imagine Mary’s day to be
one long happy round of skipping,
playing, dancing, playing, laughing,
playing, singing, playing, holding
hands, playing …
Nope.
The kids play. I laugh, sing, feed,
clean, change, organize, nurture,
discipline, negotiate, explain, guide,
direct, scold, smile, redirect, tease
(kindly), observe, analyze, strategize
… lather, rinse, repeat. I do not play,
because (brace yourselves) …
Playing? All day every day? I’d
go out of my mind with boredom. Out
of my mind.
But on rainy days, on continuous
long streams of rainy days, I do
organize the play. This is sheerest selfdefense. Toddlers caged indoor for
hours at a stretch, never mind entire
days, become restive. Their endless,
boundless, ceaseless, ever-ready
energy is constrained, restrained,
oppressed by the four walls, by the
furniture, by the other bodies in the
same space.
Quick! Must defuse the five
ticking time-bombs in my home!
So, that odd, adult oxymoron,
“organized play”.
I have games that involve lots
of physical movement. We jump,
we slither, we fly like birds and like
butterflies and like planes. We are
popcorn, we are fire engines, we are
sleeping bunnies and roaring tigers.
We make obstacle courses, under the
bench, along the bench, jump off the
padded footstool. We crank the music
and dance.
This is, of course, the Royal We.
Mary does not do this stuff. Mary is
no longer 24. Nor even 34. Nor even
… well, you take my point. Suffice it
to say: Mary organizes and facilitates.
The children do the leaping and
crawling and slithering. Mary does
dance and sing, though.
The thing about playing with
children (this most particularly if
you have more than one) is that they
play together. Me? I only have to
do the bits I enjoy. I like dancing, I
like singing, so I dance and sing.
Jumping? Not so much. The tots have
never seen Mary jump, and this is a
Good Thing. (If Mary did not write
such family-friendly articles, Mary
would be making decidedly earthy
comments about the relationship
between jumping, gravity, and various
body parts. Suffice it to say, it’s not
necessarily pretty. Or comfortable.)
Problem with all these lively
games is that they are also LOUD.
Though we have negotiated this
drizzly season with the walls of the
house still upright and no broken
furniture or even children, my ears,
they are not so happy. The children
get clautrophobic because of the
lack of open space for running. I
get claustrophobic because of the
omnipresent, oppressive, inescapable
noise, noise, noise, noise.
Bring on the sun!
The OSCAR
Page 18
- OUR 37th YEAR
JULY/AUG 2009
OTTAWA SOUTH HISTORY PROJECT
Memories from Sunnyside in the Thirties
by J Cummins
W
hen my parents moved from
Grove to Sunnyside Avenue
in 1930, I was seven years
old. Our new home was built about
1912. It had a big verandah to play on, a
balcony, real wood shutters, and a large
wood stove in the kitchen. There were
enough rooms so we three children each
had one of our own. Dad had a study
plus a garden full of perennials -- what
more could an Englishman want?
From Bank to Riverdale there
were no empty lots. The Precious
Blood convent owned property through
to Sunnyside and a tall, solid (no
peepholes), seven-foot fence enclosed
it. The fir trees which stand in front of
the row of townhouses were originally
behind the fence.
Riverdale to Bristol was different.
On this short block were 15 homes
and 10 empty lots – great places to
play (or to garden, as some adults did).
Everything behind us on Sunnyside
formed part of the Rideau Gardens,
stretching from Riverdale down to the
Williams house and east almost to Main
Street. A simple barbed wire fence and a
row of mature elm trees marked the edge
of the market gardens. There were elms
lining Riverdale at that time, as well,
and a road from Riverdale down to the
Williams house.
There weren’t a great many cars,
but the streets were busy:
vendors
delivered many of life’s essentials on a
regular basis. The milkman came daily
and the iceman came often enough.
When it was hot, we would climb on
the back of the truck, looking for scraps
(oh, the pleasure of a big chip of ice on a
hot day!). Vegetable carts occasionally
sold fresh produce in summer; bread
came several times a week. For kids the
exciting truck was the small one whose
approach was heralded by a whistle
you could hear a block away — it sold
popcorn and french fries (discontinued
in the 40s as “unsanitary”).
Almost
everyone
went
to
neighborhood schools, with St.
Margaret Mary’s and Hopewell within
easy reach. There were no traffic lights
on Bank Street and the crossing guard
for Hopewell was a young policeman
with a motorcycle — both of which
were much admired by the students. I
was quite envious of a friend who got
a ride as far as the Glebe one day in his
sidecar. I also remember sewing classes
with a wretched treadle machine that I
never did master, although I managed
to produce several pieces of clothing.
During the Christmas season, the Post
Office would use Hopewell’s basement
to store excess mail — we could see
intriguing packages wrapped in brown
paper, but they were strictly out of
bounds.
It was a wonderful neighborhood
for children. Bristol ended at Sunnyside
and open fields abounded. Mothers
were at home in those days and children
were either in school or outside. There
were few fences between backyards and
kids played on the sidewalks and streets
. When you played hide-and-seek here
there were lots of places to hide! We
would stay outside until dark, and try to
stretch that during the summer.
In the winter we skied across
country and tobogganed over at Billings.
Sidewalks were occasionally cleared by
a small, horse-drawn plow after heavy
snow. Men shoveled snow into trucks
to be hauled away, but mostly the snow
just packed down and one did not see
concrete again until late spring.
In the spring there was always
the river’s flooding to watch. Some
houses closest to the river could only be
accessed by boat.
The beach at Brighton would open
in June and absorbed our lives all
summer. We could put on our bathing
suits at home and be at the beach in five
or six minutes. It was ten cents to get in,
but for a dollar or a dollar fifty or so you
could buy a summer pass. There was a
pier, diving board and booms. There
were about five rafts in the water, and
for a couple of years there was a high
diving tower (I think the ice did it in.).
There were change rooms, a canteen
... everything you needed. The whole
beach (which was not sand but grass)
was safely enclosed in a Frost fence.
Despite all its comforts and amenities,
there was a “countryside” feeling to the
beach - perhaps because you could see
cows grazing across the river. Between
the beach and our bikes — on which
we’d go to Hog’s Back or sometimes
up the Gatineaus — we were fully
occupied.
For a few years the Avalon Theatre
in the Glebe was our nearest movie
house. Glamorous as it was, with its
black ceiling dotted with wee twinkling
stars, small floating clouds, and s-l-o-wl-y r-o-t-a-t-i-n g white doves, it really
was too far for one my age. Then came
Ottawa South’s very own Mayfair. . .
what a thrill ! Saturday matinees were
geared to kids with cartoons, cliffhanger serials and a 10-cent entry fee.
(Adults paid 25 cents in the evening.)
Then came the dinnerware: for 10 extra
cents you received one piece of a set
of china. This week a cup, next week
a plate, etc. Mum never missed and
always gave us (teenagers now) the 10
cents to augment her collection.
After grade seven, we went to Glebe
Collegiate. That was 1935.
The size of the building has not
changed, but in my day it was shared
by the high schools of Collegiate
and Commerce. We had assembly
every morning, which involved
announcements, singing, an orchestra,
trying to finish your homework . .
. On the walk home my friend and I
sometimes stopped at Coulters Drug
Store (then at the corner of Sunnyside
& Bank) to look at magazines, make-up,
etc. and, on asking, I discovered that I
could charge a chocolate bar or two on
my Mum’s account. Oh, boy . . . big
spender me . . . “Pick whichever you
want, Marika” . . . and the clerk added
10 cents to Mum’s account. It worked
just great until Mum received her next
bill.
Married life took me away from here
for 25 years, but widowhood sent me
back. What a blessing it was to be with
mother and sister again and find shelter in
the old homestead. Four school friends
and I still get together occasionally. We
never fail to enthusiastically agree how
fortunate we were to grow up when we
did and where we did: Ottawa South.
Pssst, Wanna buy a Mayfair dish? I
gotta trunkful.
Contact
the
Ottawa
South
History Project at HistoryProject@
OldOttawaSouth.ca
or
visit
us
online at www.OldOttawaSouth.ca/
HistoryProject.
Request ... Cont’d from next page
* The site was fully re-habilitated,
surpassing
MOE,
Ministry
of
Environment, standards.
* We have the case study and a similar
approach with Federal and Provincial
assistance will be followed.
* The design and message of having
a library at the Bayview site will set a
national standard.
* As the nations capital city we will
demonstrate in a real and living way the
cleanup and revitalization of land.
* What better location to construct a
place of learning to educate our present
and future citizens?
* A large part of a libraries funding
will come from private and corporate
sponsorship.
* Patrons at the Ottawa Public Library
at Bayview will be attaching themselves
not only to a place of learning but to an
environmental gem that I believe will set
and international standard and be eligible
for design awards including LEED.
* Further and supportable arguments
to be submitted at the aforementioned
place of meeting.
JULY/AUG 2009
The OSCAR
- OUR 37th YEAR
Hot Dogs And Summer!
By Henri Poirier
and Chantal Raby
Owners of Dawn of a New Day,
pet styling Salon
T
he hot and muggy days of summer are
finally here, and my golden retriever
is not happy! I need to have him
shaved for summer. I mean, I peel off layers
of my clothing for comfort, so I do the same
for my best friend.
While this makes sense for us, it is not
a good idea for our furry friends and can, in
fact, be dangerous. While shaving a singlecoat dog is acceptable and may provide
some relief, shaving a double-coat dog
will actually have the opposite effect and,
in fact, may result in sunburns and even
lead to skin cancer. Repeated exposure to
sun ray’s stimulates Melanin production in
human skin giving use a tanned complexion.
Unfortunately, dog’s skin cannot tan and
Melanin production is used mainly for
skin and hair coloration. A limited Melanin
production (photo-blocking agent) combined
with the shaving/clipping of the protective
coats may be the perfect recipe for sunburns,
skin cancer and heat exhaustion. The
undercoat is the insulator and the topcoat/
guard-coat acts as a light diffuser, breaking
up the sun’s rays as they bear down on the
fur.
In addition, the topcoat prevents
the undercoat from matting excessively.
Clipping/shaving
the
topcoat
can
permanently compromise the quality of
the re-growth of this layer of fur, while
clipping/shaving the undercoat stimulates
it’s growth; leading to more shedding, to a
reduced heat/UV-radiation protection and
ultimately compromises the coat’s quality
in both appearance and health. A properly
maintained double-coat dog should have a
lustrous and free-floating topcoat without
any appearance of bulk.
All of this brings us back to the question
- what to do about our dogs as they face
another heat wave? One could have the belly
area thinned out. This would allow the dog to
find a cool surface to lie on and soak up the
coolness without the risk of sun exposure,
while ensuring that the rest of their body still
has its insulation coat and guard-coat. People
of the deserts do not walkabout in t-shirts
and shorts, they have layered clothing to
protect them from the heat/UV-radiation and
the cold.
A sensible solution to summer heat is a
good de-shedding session by a professional
groomer. Groomers can thin out the dense
and often-matted undercoat. They can
execute a meticulous brush-out that will
remove the old hairs from the guard-coat,
while breaking up the matted fur hairs. All
this, followed by a warm cleansing shower
with a pressurized professional shampoo, a
high velocity drying session executed by a
trained technician and the groomer’s final
trims. A professional pet styling session that
will transform any double-coat dog into a
cool looking show dog.
We can ascertain that you will see a big
difference in quantity of shedding in your
household and, best of all, your pet will feel
cooler. A properly maintained double-coat
dog will have an optimal heat/UV-radiation
protection, a healthy-matt free undercoat and
a shinny topcoat. Finally, drying time after a
cool summer swim will be greatly shortened
while avoiding the onset of unpleasant odors
and skin irritations (hot spots) due to dense
and often matted undercoat that can take
days to dry out.
Here at Dawn of New Day, pet styling
Salon, we can’t control the weather, but we
can guarantee that our professional groomers
will have your pet(s) looking good and
feeling good all summer long. We wish all
pet lovers a safe and happy summer!
Henri Poirier and Chantal Raby
Owners of Dawn of a New Day, pet
styling Salon
20 Pretoria Avenue, Ottawa, 613-2364500
[email protected]
www.
dawnofanewday.ca
Page 19
Request to Present Findings to Council
By John E. Martin
In an article on June 16, 2009 in the Ottawa Citizen, it was announced
that a land acquisition request to purchase a $26M piece of land for the
proposedOttawa Public Library went through without debate.
While great efforts have been made over the past two years by Councillor
Harder in a very complete and thorough examination of the sites considered,
one excellent site was not included in the study, namely the Bayview Yards.
For the following reasons I wish to make a public presentation to full
council prior to the final vote next week and will request a 60 day stay of
the vote pending delivery of reports, illustrations and Federal/Privincial
Funding at the Bayview site.
With well over $30M being on the table in terms of land purchase and
demolition and land fill costs a 60 day waiting period over summer is a
reasonable
request.
Reasons:
* The Bayview site is logistically a more central location due to the
transfer hub for Rapid Transit.
* The Bayview site is City owned, you will not need to spend $26M to
buy nor the many more millions in demolition and land fill.
* The Rapid Transit serves a Bayview Library at 30 feet above ground.
Downtown would be a tunnel 30 feet below ground.
* Views, space and light are all readily available at the Bayview site, you
will not be surrounded by buildings.
* Direct access from both Carleton U and Ottawa U, no transfer required.
* Ottawa South to South Keys served with direct access to BayView via
o-Train.
* Roof top garden at Bayview with cascading levels down to parks and
access to Tom Brown Park.
* Roof top solar and winter green house at Bayview.
* Geo-Thermal and Solar technology will also be incorporated.
* Daily visitor numbers will be greater at Bayview due to ease of access,
ambience, views, space and light.
* The Library at Bayview will be a destination address and with
surrounding development very well supported.
* Enable quick drop off or drop off and pick up if you are changing
directions at the transit hub.
* Eligibility for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental
Design) awards.
* Site cleanup costs cannot be included in library costing at the site since
that is a previously accepted expense.
* Site cleanup will be modeled after the MUHC, McGill University
Health Centre, in Montreal.
* The new Health Centre is being built on the old Westmount/Vendome
rail yards, not dissimilar to Bayview Yards.
Cont’d on previous page
The OSCAR
Page 20
- OUR 37th YEAR
JULY/AUG 2009
BOOK REVIEW
“... and the flies conquered the flypaper”
Moon is Down
John Steinbeck
Reviewed by
Friederike Knabe
T
oday, Steinbeck’s World War
II novella, sixty-six years
after it was written, has
gained a timeless significance: a
brief, yet well thought-out glimpse
into human relationships, between
occupation and resistance in times of
war. Published in 1942, the book was
translated, clandestinely distributed
and eagerly read by people in
German-occupied countries. In the
United States, it was also criticized
for being too soft and generous in
the depiction of the enemy. Whereas
early impressions may suggest to the
reader a surprisingly light parody
or simplistic morality tale, we
soon recognize the subtle, and with
each page mounting, intensity of
Steinbeck’s anti-war message.
Set in a small mining town in
an unnamed country, invaded by an
unspecified enemy force, numerous
John Steinbeck
hints, however, suggest that the
story’s events take place in Northern
Norway at the time of the 1940
Nazi occupation. The townspeople,
totally unprepared for an invasion
after having lived in peace for a
very long time, had forgotten how
to fight... Consequently the initial
assault is over in less than an hour,
well planned with the help of a local
quisling. Taking control of the town
and its mining operation turns out
to be a much more complicated and
difficult affair than Colonel Lanser
and his battalion had been trained for
and anticipated. Their headquarters
established in the Mayoral residence,
good Mayor Orden has little choice
but to tolerate their presence.
Steinbeck introduces the main
players in the unfolding drama with
a few yet defining characteristics.
Orden, for example, comes across as
an indecisive, somewhat dotty, older
chap, fussed over by “Madame”,
his protective, efficient little wife.
Doctor Winter, the local medic and
historian and Orden’s childhood
friend does not appears to be up to
the challenges, despite some traits of
a Dr. Watson. But, early impressions
are certainly misleading in this story.
On the opposing side, the officers
are a motley collection of unlikely
elite military personnel, described
more like army caricatures: spending
more time debating than leading
the battalion: one is an Anglophile,
another more concerned with his
model railway than the battle, and
yet another honestly believes that
he can find real friendship among
the women of the town. Except
for Lanser, none of them had seen
combat before and their naïveté
is poignant. While justifying their
action with “just following the
Leader’s orders”, they soon realize
that that excuse doesn’t convince
anybody. To achieve their primary
objective, that is access to the town’s
coal, the officers insist on orderly
cooperation from the townspeople,
increased production and an easy life
for the soldiers. Herein, as they soon
find out, lies the problem... While the
soldiers are muddling through in their
attempts to control the locals through
arbitrary executions for disobedience
and non-cooperation, occupiers and
local resistance are caught in a spiral
of events that will lead to inevitable
results as one side is destabilized and
the other made stronger. Nobody
can escape, sidestep or ignore the
brutality of war.
Steinbeck’s subtle build up
of the characters’ strengths and
weaknesses is superb. Orden (his
name, incidentally, in German
means “medal”, often as a military
decoration that Orden would have
deserved...) is a case in point.
His perceived malleability to the
colonel’s demands grows in fact into
disguised and effective opposition:
because he cannot represent
his townspeople and therefore
“cannot control what they do”. The
townspeople, initially confused,
isolated yet quietly resisting, find
new defence mechanisms and
strength in coordination, and, like the
flies on the flypaper, may eventually
overwhelm the enemy...
Steinbeck’s novella is written
in a series of tableaux as if set
for the stage. (*) Each such set is
introduced by a short depiction
of the background or description
of events beyond the confines of
the scene’s space, most often the
Palace’s drawing room. There, the
lively dialogue between the main
protagonists gives immediacy to
the action threads of the story. With
this narrative technique, Steinbeck
focuses on the personal and intimate
interaction
between
occupiers
and occupied and their evolving
relationship, underscoring the human
tragedy of war and those caught up
in it, whatever their personal guilt or
innocence.
(*) It was in fact produced as
such in 1943.
JULY/AUG 2009
The OSCAR
- OUR 37th YEAR
Page 21
TRINITY ANGLICAN CHURCH
Trinity Ignores Threatening Weather For Annual Picnic At Brewer Park
By Jim Robb
Doug Small captains one of the
tug-of-war teams.
(Robert Taylor photo)
T
he skies were grey and rain
threatened, it was cool and
breezy, but warm enough.
So Trinity Anglican’s annual church
picnic went ahead as planned at
Brewer Park, Sunday, June 7.
The day started with a sung
eucharist
including
musical
accompaniment for the hymns,
followed by a potluck lunch with
dishes that, as ever, were quickly
gobbled up.
The music group included
musicians Victoria Scott on keyboard,
Robert Taylor on banjo, and Caroline
Ducros on guitar. Choir members were
Joanne McCracken, Paule Ouellette,
Jane Baron, L.A. Palomar and Judy
Chamberland.
Two members of Trinity’s youth
group, Claire Burgham and Jonathan
Whittall, were singled out for their
contributions as teachers to the church
school program.
With the clearing up underway,
longtime Trinity member Doug Small
took over as master of ceremonies for
the games and games mayhem that
make traditional church picnics an
enduring treat for young and old alike.
There was a tug-of-war match
for adults and kids, a sack race and a
three-legged race.
Lots of laughs, also a lot of
The food table is always a target for hungry picnickers.
(Robert Taylor photo)
Trinity’s Picnic Music Ensemble: Left to right – Robert Taylor, banjo;
Joanne McCracken; Trinity music director Victoria Scott, keyboard;
Paule Ouellette; Caroline Ducros, guitar; Jane Baron; L.A. Palomar;
Judy Chamberland. (Robert Taylor photo)
spills and frustrated participants.
The games and the picnic ended
with a water balloon toss that soon
developed into mayhem, with people
ducking to avoid balloons coming
their way.
Summer Schedule
Trinity is now on its summer
schedule with one family service on
Sundays at 9.30 am.
The fall and winter schedule of
an 8 am eucharist, followed by a 10
am family service, resumes Sunday,
September 6.
*Trinity Anglican Church is at
1230 Bank Street, corner of Cameron
Avenue. Main church door is on
Cameron Ave.
Page 22
The OSCAR
JULY/AUG 2009
- OUR 37th YEAR
SOUTHMINSTER HAPPENINGS
Southminster Celebrates the Life of Jim Uhrich
S
outhminster
United
Church
honoured the life of Rev. Dr. Jim
Uhrich on Thursday, June 4th in a
memorable service at Southminster. Dr.
Uhrich, or Jim as he liked to be called,
came to Southminster last September as a
supply minister to lead the congregation
until the call for a full time minister had
been completed. On Saturday, May 30th,
he passed away following a long period
in intensive care at the General campus
of the Ottawa Hospital.
Joining
the
Southminster
congregation at its service was a large
group from the Glebe St. James and
Kitchissippi United Churches where
Jim had been Interim Minister prior
to coming to Southminster, as well as
many representatives of the Ottawa
Presbytery. Supporting the family and
planning and participating in the service
were members of the Common Cup
Company. This is a group of full time
ministers and lay persons, of which Jim
had been one of the original members,
which is dedicated to creating and
performing ‘Christian Folk Music with
a Contemporary Flair’. They sang Jim’s
favourite songs and hymns, many of
which were composed by the Common
Cup, to the accompaniment of piano,
organ, guitar and banjo and featuring a
massed choir of members of the choirs
of Southminster, Glebe St. James and
Kitchissippi United Churches. Common
Cup members, the Rev. Ian Macdonald
and the Rt. Rev. Gordon Light, presided
at the service, and the Rev. Bob Wallace
celebrated Communion.
Jim leaves to mourn his wife
Margaret and two adult children - Brian
in Winnipeg and Alanna in Toronto as
well as his mother, brother and many
cousins.
Dr. Uhrich was born in Winnipeg
and received his early education there.
He was ordained in Manitoba and his
academic background includes a B.D.
and a B.Sc. from the University of
Winnipeg and, some 30 years later, a
D.Min. in Preaching from the Lutheran
School of Theology in Chicago.
He has held positions as Senior
Minister
and
Interim
Minister
throughout his career in both western
Canada
(southwestern
Manitoba,
Winnipeg, and Calgary) and in Ontario
at Peterborough, Oakville and Ottawa. In
addition, he was part of the training team
for the United Church’s “Building Skills
in Transitional Ministry” course and has
held a number of positions in United
Church courts, the most recent of which
was a position on the Ottawa Presbytery
Pastoral Relations Committee.
Throughout the short time that Jim
was with Southminster, he made many
friends, preached many fine sermons
and became a presence at the church,
always ready to talk with, or listen to,
those dropping by. On occasion you
might catch him playing his keyboard
when he reached a difficult point in what
he was writing and needed a break. To
fill a gap in Southminster’s ministries,
he organized an adult education
programme.
Things were meant to be orderly in
Jim’s world. If something was supposed
to start at a certain time, then someone
should be there to ensure it did. If he
thought you should do something you
heard “I certainly think you should”. If
he thought something was in the wrong
position it was moved, for example the
baptismal font “should be up where it
can be seen, not down there in the dark”.
On the other hand, he listened to you and
if you indicated that it might not be the
right time to carry out a suggestion, he
thought about it and did not mention it
again.
Southminster thanks Jim for his
time spent guiding them through the
last stages of transition, a time that was,
regrettably, cut short far too soon. He
will be missed.
ABBOTSFORD HOUSE
Country Rock’n at the Glebe Centre
By Julie Ireton
T
he Glebe Centre’s annual Rocka-thon had a four legged mascot
this year. On Saturday June
6th, Top Gun, the horse, helped draw
attention to this year’s country and
western themed fundraiser.
Top Gun is owned by Kelly Morris,
a Health Care Aid at the Glebe Centre
and a rock-a-thon volunteer.
“The horse is a certified therapy
animal who was very patient with
everyone,” says Janice Bridgewater, the
Glebe Centre’s Director of Community
Programs.
While some volunteers arrived on
horseback, one of the rocking teams
arrived in more modern style. Dolly
Parton, aka fitness instructor, Joseph
Cull, pulled in, in a white, stretch
limousine with his full entourage.
“It was the biggest limo I’ve ever
seen,” laughs Bridgewater. “I think
almost his whole fitness class was in
the car, Minnie Pearl and at least two
Dollys.”
“It was really fun. Everyone got into
it. It seems everyone has a cowboy hat
and cowboy boots in their closet.”
The annual fundraiser collected
about $12,000 this year.
“It was a little less than last year,
but it was pretty good considering the
economy. We did better than we thought
we would,” says Bridgewater. “The
teams that rocked really stepped up
to make up the difference with their
pledges.”
The money raised goes towards
supporting The Glebe Centre’s programs
both in the long-term care facility and
the 55+ Community Centre delivered
out of Abbotsford House. The programs
at Abbotsford are all geared towards
keeping seniors active and independent.
A few Glebe Centre residents came
out to watch what has become the starattraction almost every year at the Rocka-thon, Elvis.
Local Elvis impersonator, Shawn
Barry, has attended all but one Rock-athons.
“He’s an amazing sport and he’s so
good to the residents. They react really
well to him too. A lot of them are now of
the Elvis generation,” says Bridgewater.
CBC Radio’s Ashley Wright has
been MC of the event for most of the
last 12 years.
“It’s very meaningful to see the
people who benefit from the programs,”
says Wright, “because the money goes
towards enhancing their day to day
lives.”
Wright says the Rock-a-thon is
always a lot of fun, because it’s become
a community gathering place.
“It’s like a reunion,” she explains.
“Jim Watson is always there. He’s
attended as a city councilor, the mayor
of Ottawa and now he’s an M-P-P.
Wright says there were a number of
highlights throughout the afternoon.
But she notes, “It was fun to see
Jim Watson accosted by Dolly Parton
(Joseph Cull) and her large balloons.”
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Winners of the “most spirited team.” Photo by Laura Turner.
JULY/AUG 2009
The OSCAR
- OUR 37th YEAR
Page 23
Committee Trying To Attract New Grocer To OOS
By Laura Byrne Paquet
[email protected]
D
o you miss being able to buy
fresh produce right here in
Old Ottawa South? Do you
stare with nostalgia at the abandoned
Fresh Fruit Company building, empty
since last summer?
You’re not alone. Many other
people would like to see another fresh
food retailer in OOS, too.
“In conversations with my
neighbours, there’s a keen sense
of loss when we talk about the
Fresh Fruit Company and shopping
for groceries,” says Avra Gibbs
Lamey, who is spearheading a small
committee of residents trying to
attract a new food store to OOS. “Part
of the value of this neighbourhood
when we all moved in was that there
was a grocery store within walking
distance.”
Supermarkets at Billings Bridge
Shopping Centre and in the Glebe
are relatively close, she says, but
some pedestrians—particularly those
with mobility difficulties or small
children—may see the bridges as
a barrier. “Even just getting across
the parking lot at Billings can be a
challenge for some,” Gibbs Lamey
notes.
Having a good choice of retailers
within walking distance is a major
component of a sustainable and green
community. It also increases quality
of life for the residents and sustains
property values, she adds. “There’s a
reason why people choose to live in
communities like Old Ottawa South
rather than in a suburb.”
OOS resident Irene Casey keenly
misses the Fresh Fruit Company.
“It was so convenient—I would go
constantly,” she recalls. She also
agrees with Gibbs Lamey that being
able to shop locally has environmental
benefits. “If people wanted to live
without a car, it would be really
difficult without a grocery store close
by,” she notes.
If a new grocer were to open in
OOS, however, it likely would not
move into the old Fresh Fruit location,
as the building needs extensive
repairs.
Lamey’s committee has talked to
Michael Paoletti, a real estate agent
with Royal LePage Gale Real Estate
who currently owns the large property
at 1115 Bank Street, to gauge his
interest in bringing a grocery store
into that location. He is open to the
idea. “Food is the ideal use for it,” he
says of the building, which includes
4,300 square feet of retail space on
the main floor, a 4,000-square-foot
basement and three one-bedroom
apartments. The current retail tenant,
Kaleidoscope Kids’ Books, will be
moving out at the end of July.
However, Paoletti explains,
there is one big hurdle to overcome:
Loblaw Companies Ltd., which
owned the property until five years
ago, has placed a restrictive covenant
on it. That covenant, which will apply
to any owner or tenant of the building
for the next 10 years, prevents a food
business from setting up shop there.
“I’ve had a lot of interest from
grocery-type retailers,” Paoletti says,
but most proposed food-related uses
are not permitted under the covenant.
He is eager to sell or lease the
property, which he has owned for
three years, and would welcome any
help from the community in getting
the restrictive covenant lifted. “My
lawyer seems to think that if a strong
lobby was organized, Loblaws might
have to back off.” He currently has
interest from several non-food tenants
and buyers.
The committee is preparing to
launch a petition to support Paoletti’s
bid to find a food-related tenant. If you
are interested in participating, either
by signing the petition or gathering
signatures, please contact Avra Gibbs
Lamey at [email protected].
A Facebook group in support of
this initiative has been established.
Please search on “A Grocery Store for
Old Ottawa South” and join up. Many
thanks!
Laura Byrne Paquet is a member
of the informal grocery store
committee. Loblaws did not respond
to requests for information for this
article before the OSCAR deadline.
Photos by Laura Byrne Paquet
779 Bank Street (613) 237-1483
Page 24
The OSCAR
- OUR 37th YEAR
JULY/AUG 2009
OOS River Run
Great Fun For Everyone
The Greene’s who all ran the 2.5 km - Graham, Lori, Katherine
and Jim. (Photo by Heidi Babulic)
Jack Babulic, Graham Greene, Katherine Greene and Kyla
Ruch (Photo by Heidi Babulic)
JULY/AUG 2009
The OSCAR
- OUR 37th YEAR
Wine Region Worthy of the Drive
By Paul Minaker
P
rince Edward County and the surrounding area is not a new holiday destination. As legend
has it, even the local Mohawk natives often moved their summer camp to Prince Edward
to enjoy the waters and the abundant fishing and hunting. (Could this be the real reason
for the blockade at highway 49 leading into PEC?)
The “County” has had appeal for many years, mainly due to the magnificent Sandbanks
Provincial Park. But it is the latest appeal that I have been writing about for the past few months
– the WINE appeal. The latest incarnation of sexy agriculture, mixed with country comfort and
local cuisine. A number of these factors have been in place for years, but it is my opinion the
wine industry has been the critical mass, that missing upper end attraction that completed the
total package for many people and in particular the baby boomers. Yes wine is changing the
landscape in Prince Edward and mostly for the better!
In my last article I spoke about the unique “terrior” of PEC and the similarities to France, well
the wines can also be compared to French regions. There are producers making astonishingly
good Pinot Noirs (Long Dog Vineyards, Bergeron Estates, Norman Hardie) and tremendous
Chardonnays (Rosehall Run, Closson Chase, Huff Estates). These wines are showing beautiful
delicate fruit with balanced acidity and minerality. The winemakers are crafting elegant wines
using good vineyard practises of lower yields and investing in quality wine barrel programs.
The end result is very impressive, especially considering that the industry is only ten years old
in Prince Edward County.
The Pinot Noir and the Chardonnay are certainly worth the drive alone, but there are other
wines that are thriving in various micro climates in PEC. Riesling is a unique grape that is
praised for its ability to make a crisp dry wine, an off-dry semi-sweet, a late harvest, and an ice
wine. Certainly the Niagara region has mastered all styles of this German/French variety, but
PEC is starting to figure it out and some impressive dry and off-dry Rieslings can be found at
Huff Estates and Sugarbush Vineyards. If you prefer a fruiter wine then you might try the Pinot
Grigio / Pinot Gris wines that are 100% County fruit, both Long Dog and County Cider are
honourable mentions for this wine.
For lovers of medium and fuller bodied reds there are some excellent vintages of Cabernet
Franc and even Merlot, which reflects the Bordeaux style soils that exist in the eastern side of
the Prince Edward. Our own vineyard, Thirty Three Vines has the ability to grow fabulous Cab
Franc grapes and with the sunny warm summer of 2007 it made for a wonderful wine with cherry
fruit and raspberry that even overpowers the different varieties of oak it was aged in.
So hopefully you are getting the idea that the wines of PEC are worthy of the drive from
the Ottawa area (approximately 3 hours) and the effort to plan a multi-day trip, because it is the
entire package of waterways, landscape, people, food, golf, fishing, arts, and general good old
fashion Canadiana that awaits you in this still young and innocent tourist destination.
Some travel tips: Driving from the east enter the County via highway 33, aka, The Loyalist
Parkway, and first stop at Thirty Three Vines (check out the Caboose tasting room), then take
a ride on the Glenora Ferry – it’s free and runs every 15 minutes in the summer. Visit Lakeon-the-Mountain and marvel at the view down Adolphus Reach and the unique watershed, not
to mention the cool little Inn, with good wine and micro brewery. Continue around Adolphus
Reach point and over to Waupoos to 5th Town Cheese, County Cider and Waupoos Winery. Then
head towards Black Creek for another world class cheese factory, up around the bend to the
South Bay Mariners Museum and then to Long Dog Vineyard, south of Milford. And this is
only day one of the best the County has to offer – hope to see you sometime in the near future
– Cheers!!
Page 25
Page 26
The OSCAR
- OUR 37th YEAR
JULY/AUG 2009
House of PainT 2009 – Saturday, July 25
classic funk record or to learn how
to backspin from one of the best
“B-boys” around. The event features a
break-dance competition like nothing
ever shown on TV, while graffiti
artists from all over North America
cover the grey, concrete walls with
new and innovative art pieces. There
is also a barbeque and artists market
at the event.
For graffiti artist Mike Mesa who
sits on the City of Ottawa’s Graffiti
Management Committee, the House
of PainT is a valuable part of Ottawa’s
urban arts community as it provides
a space for young artists to express
themselves legally. House of PainT
Coordinator Sabra Ripley agrees.
Ripley grew up in Old Ottawa South
and believes the festival provides an
By Samantha Dumas
Y
outh and families of the Old
Ottawa South Community are
invited to celebrate the roots
of hip hop at the sixth annual House of
PainT festival, Saturday July 25 under
the Dunbar Bridge in Brewer’s Park.
This free, all-day event will once
again be partnering with the Canada
Dance Festival’s Hip Hop 360 project
to bring a day of music, art, dance
and new creative experiences into the
community.
Workshops will be running
all afternoon with break-dancers,
graffiti artists, MCs and DJs sharing
insight into their art form. Everyone
is welcome to come try scratching a
important opportunity for artists to
present their work and for everyone
to enjoy an old school style hip
hop party. As a former community
member she also emphasizes the
group’s environmental efforts. “We
run a volunteer clean up each year,
offer paint can recycling at the festival
and work with the city to improve
facilities under the bridge. But the
best part of the festival,” she notes,
“is the amazing creativity and talent
of the artists performing each year!”
So head down to the House of
PainT wall between 12:00 to 9:00
p.m. on Saturday, July 25 to see what
the excitement is all about. You might
be surprised by what you’ll find under
the bridge! Visit www.houseofpaint.
ca for more information.
JULY/AUG 2009
The OSCAR
- OUR 37th YEAR
Page 27
WINDSOR REDUX B PART 5
Dog Days Of Summer
For nearly eight years, from
February 2000 to August 2008,
OSCAR carried a monthly column.
The Windsor Chronicles, written by
Zoscha the Wonder Dog. Zoscha
became something of a celebrity in our
neighbourhood, and her observations
on the passing scene, from a canine
perspective, attracted her share of loyal
readers as well as critics.
OSCAR is reprinting some of
Zoscha’s musings from eight years ago.
The editors have annotated where we
feel that today’s readers may need to
be informed of references that may no
longer be remembered by readers today,
or where recent scholarship has shed
further light on the world described in
the Windsor Chronicles..
August, 2000
Dear Boomer,
T
he dog days of summer. I wonder
why the humanoids use that
expression?
If anything, this is the dog drought
of summer. Go to the park at the usual
hours, and often you’ll find no one there.
It was good to see you the other
day. The summer has gone so quickly,
and it seems ages since we last sniffed.
And yet, you’ll recall, there was scarcely
another dog to be wagged at, even at 5 in
the afternoon.
I know, we’ve both had other things
to do. My humanoids took me out to the
cottage most weekends, and for a twoweek stint, they sent me off to summer
camp. (1)
I enjoyed meeting all the other dogs
at camp. At night, we’d hunker down in
our cages and tell ghost stories. When
my Alpha came to get me, I was looking
forward to telling you and Jasper about
all my adventures, but once I got to
By Sue Fay
Summer Gratitude
Soul Matters
S
Windsor Park, there was not another dog
to be seen. Maybe everyone else is at
summer camp too.
It’s too bad we don’t have the
numbers during the summer, because
this is also the height of tennis ball
season. More tennis players than dogs,
especially when the tennis classes are on.
And more balls than you could wag
a tail at. Sooner or later, some of the balls
go sailing over the fence and off into
the bushes. The tennis schools yield a
particularly good bounty. Luckily, some
balls can’t be found by humanoids with
their short noses. But with my sniffer, I
can ferret out a lost tennis ball in no time.
If we had the numbers, we wouldn’t
need to wait for the humanoids to lose
their balls by accident. We could make
a rush and go for all the balls our hearts
desired – enough balls to squirrel away
until the winter time.
Think about it. So long as we
are few in number, we wouldn’t dare
disobey our alphas. But if enough of
us made a dash at the same moment, we
could throw such confusion among the
humanoids, they wouldn’t be able to
react before we scored as many tennis
balls as we wanted.
Imagine the chaos. Tennis players
shouting at our alphas. Our alphas
shouting at us.
And all of us having a grand old
time, racing across the tennis courts,
whirling around the ankles of the tennis
players, making a grab for any ball in
sight.
I wouldn’t dare try this on my own.
I wouldn’t suggest that we try it with just
two of us. But if we could get the whole
5 PM doggie klatsch to make a break for
it, I think we could score a victory that
would go down in the annals of doggiedom.
Good in theory. But unfortunately,
we don’t have the numbers just yet. By
the time all our friends are back from
ummer offers us a time to further
our growth and opportunity. We
see it in the trees blooming, the
flowers blossoming, the grass growing.
Their are people out walking their dogs,
running, walking, biking…its all there
right in front of us.
The air is filled with excitement.
What causes this buzz of activity? Is
it because we can now spend our time
outdoors amongst nature and in particular
the sunshine and warmth. How many of
us long for that moment when we step
outside our door, take a deep breathe and
sigh…we think wow, what a glorious day
this is. Think to themselves, I can step
outside without all of the winter clothing,
like a heaviness we bear and then spring
and summer come along and we shed our
skin so to speak. We think to ourselves,
“I breathe in the crisp dawns dew” With
a wonderous sigh we think, “I am so
grateful to experience this”.…..
The question is: Do we actually take
that moment and have the experience?
Do we think how we can daily experience
and express gratitude? What is gratitude?
Gratitude has been described by Henry
Ward Beecher as “gratitude is the fairest
blossom which springs from the soul.”
What does it feel like to be grateful?
Ralph Waldo Emmerson once said
“I awoke this morning with devout
thanksgiving for my friends, the old and
the new. I think to myself, yes I have
wonderful family and friends as well. Do
they know how grateful I am to them?
Where would be with our “community of
family and friends”
Buddha wrote “Let us rise up and be
thankful, for if we didn’t learn a lot today,
at least we learned a little, and if we didn’t
learn a little, at least we didn’t get sick,
and if we got sick, at least we didn’t die;
so, let us all be thankful.”
“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of
life. It turns what we have into enough,
and more. It turns denial into acceptance,
chaos into order, confusion into clarity....
It turns problems into gifts, failures into
success, the unexpected into perfect
timing, and mistakes into important
events. Gratitude makes sense of our past,
brings peace for today and creates a vision
for tomorrow”. Melodie Beattie
the cottages and summer camps, the
tennis schools have closed, and there’s
not nearly as many singles and couples
matches. Maybe if we started planning
now, we could organize something for
next summer.
On the home front, I just want you
to know that I’m reassessing my opinion
of The Lump. As I’ve told you before, I
find him to be a somewhat bothersome
member of the pack. Ever since he
arrived three winters ago, he’s received
more attention than me.
She-who-must-be-obeyed
has
always fed him before me. I thought my
seniority gave me some privileges, but I
was wrong.
I don’t get it. He doesn’t have fur.
He doesn’t have a long nose.
And he doesn’t even respect the
basic rudiments of manners, such as
smelling a bum when first meeting
another being. For several seasons now,
he’s been nothing but The Lump.
But the other day, he actually threw
a ball far enough to make it a challenge
for me to catch it.
And when I brought the ball back,
he threw it again, even farther!
This
opens
up
wondrous
possibilities. It may be the beginning
of a beautiful friendship. I’ll keep you
posted.
But in the meantime, I think I’d better
give him a different name. Henceforth,
he shall be known as The Pup.1
1
I wonder if he understands the
honour that is being bestowed upon him.
He ought to be grateful – so grateful, in
fact, that I’m going to see whether he’ll
toss me a few scraps from the dinner
table tonight, when the others aren’t
watching.
Keep the tennis ball
flying,
Zoscha
(1) Exhaustive research into the
“summer camp” that Zoscha refer to
here for the first time was likely the
Gloucester Boarding Kennels near the
Leitrim Road. Zoscha would go on to
make many fond references to her time
there, but she never divulged any further
details on what she did during the time.
Hence the expression among the dogs of
Windsor Park, “What goes on in Leitrim,
stays in Leitrim.”
(2)
Such revolutionary fervor
would ebb and flow in Zoscha’s politics
throughout her career. See Deirdre W.
Somosa, Anarchy: From Bakunin to
Zoscha, Carleton University Press, 2005.
(3) The distinction between a
“Lump” and a “Pup” would become
increasingly important in Zoscha-speak.
See, “Lumps, Pups, and Young-uns,”
Reader’s Digestion, April, 2002.
Page 28
The OSCAR
- OUR 37th YEAR
JULY/AUG 2009
School Supplies Needed for Peru
By Georgina Hunter
A
n Old Ottawa South family traveling to Peru in August is collecting
school supplies to donate to the Helping Hands School in Cusco.
Once the center of the Inca Empire, Cusco is now a bustling
city in the southern mountains of Peru and is where Helping Hands (www.
helpinghandscusco.com) works to improve the lives of disadvantaged women
and children.
The Helping Hands school is constantly in need of school supplies: pencils,
erasers, pencil sharpeners, pens, crayons, and notebooks.
Also, art supplies, especially oil paints, elementary-level Spanish books and
children’s clothing would be appreciated.
James and Georgina Hunter and their children, Elisha, age 13, and Isabel,
age 11 will travel this August to the school.
The Hunters would be grateful to receive any no-longer needed supplies and
clothing. Elisha and Isabel are collecting loonies and toonies to purchase new
items.
Please contact [email protected] or call 730-0033 with donations
and toss in a Loonie or Toonie in the Hunter girls’ bucket.
My Papa’s Waltz,
Sips From The Poetry Cafe
By: Susan J. Atkinson
I
am helping my parents move.
My brothers and I have banded
together to help with this
mountainous task. At the moment
we’re only about half way up the
mountain and the peak seems along
way off. For any of you that have
been there or are there, you’ll know
exactly what I mean.
My parents are well into their
twilight years and have packed
a lifetime of memories into their
home, and as you can well imagine
one can pack a lot of memories and
memorabilia into a 5-bedroom,
3 bathroom house that has a full
basement and endless nooks and
crannies safe for hiding treasures.
And of course treasures are what my
parents have collected. The problem
is the treasures won’t have a special
place in their new home and in what
feels like a heart wrenching struggle
my parents are learning to let go.
Actually, if I’m honest I’m not sure
they are, but they’re tired and we’re
clucking over them with the “there
isn’t enough room for everything”
mantra.
There are several reasons why I
want to write about this now. One is
that by committing this new memory
to ‘pen and paper’ it turns the lost
treasures into something timeless. It
gives them a new place to hide that
doesn’t take up much room. I think
it also helps synthesize what such
a move means to two people at this
stage of their lives and the last reason
is that writing it now feels timely.
I had wanted to write a small
piece for my father and how this
move has taken me back so that I see
my father through the eyes I saw him
as when I was a child. I suppose the
timely part is a bit tricky because I’m
writing this a week before father’s day
yet by the time you have your paper
delivered and you settle in to read it,
father’s day will have been and gone.
By then we will have honoured the
special men in our lives whether they
be fathers, grandfathers, brothers,
uncles, husbands and mentors. We
will have celebrated, praised and for
many of us reminisced. This is where
it ties in, those memories that I have
sorted through to help my parents
‘downsize’ are all the more poignant
as I make plans for father’s day this
year.
And so this is my gift to my
father…a new home for his treasures.
A new home for the suitcases crammed
with roadmaps marking our journeys
through the British countryside, the
binoculars he carried on our forest
walks, his crazy inventions (form
mouse traps to battery chargers) the
ugly cups that collected dust but were
on display shelves for as long as I
remember, games my father made,
countless books, hand-made walking
sticks, bins full of photographs, the
milk churn, the wine making kits, the
lifetime he collected.
All of this memory sorting
reminded me of the well-known
poem, My Papa’s Waltz, by Theodore
Roethke (1908-1963). I’m pretty
sure at one time or another, when we
were small, many of us experienced
being whirled around the room atop
our father’s feet and that if we think
about that memory we see all the other
stuff that was around the room, the
treasures that our parents hung onto,
the ones that eventually they will let
go because there won’t be enough
room. I’m ending my piece with the
aforementioned poem because I think
we all have a ‘papa’s waltz’ that holds
the treasures that no longer have a
physical home and what better time
to think of that than close to father’s
day.
My Papa’s Waltz
The whiskey on your breath
Could make a small boy dizzy;
But I hung on like death:
Such waltzing was not easy.
We romped until the pans
Slid from the kitchen shelf;
My mother’s countenance
Could not unfrown itself.
The hand that held my wrist
Was battered on one knuckle;
At every step you missed
My right ear scraped a buckle.
You beat time on my head
With a palm caked hard by dirt,
Then waltzed me off to bed
Still clinging to your shirt.
Theodore Roethke, 1948
JULY/AUG 2009
The OSCAR
- OUR 37th YEAR
WESTBORO ACADEMY
15 and Counting at Westboro Academy
Cont’d from page 1
back at the highlights from Junior
Kindergarten (JK) to Grade 8. There
was Reading Week when the entire
school came together to appreciate
the sheer pleasure of reading. The
Grade 5s decided to “read to succeed”
and won a Sparty party for reaching
a monthly reading pool sponsored
by the Ottawa Senators. Through
their socializing in French, the WA
Junior and Senior Kindergarten (SK)
students are leading examples of
the importance of learning French
at an early age as they participate in
projects specific to their language and
learning skills. As an example, the
SKs participated in “enfant vedette”
in which each child gave an oral
presentation about his/her family in
the presence of their invited family
members.
The 2009 Heritage Fair featured
the work of 250 students from the
school boards, private schools and
home-schooling. One of WA’s Grade
5 students received the highest mark
of all grades. On the Math and Science
fronts, the Grade 7 and 8 students
performed very well at the Regional
Science Fair at Carleton and then on
to the Math Olympics.
And speaking of Olympics, WA
makes extensive use of Brewer Park
and the Carleton University gym.
WA teaches its students the best that
athletics can offer: sportsmanship,
motivation, respect and participation.
All of WA students go and give
it their best try. At its last meet,WA
students captured nine 1st place
ribbons, four seconds, and two thirds.
It appears that its students are fleet of
mind and fleet of feet!
WA learning isn’t confined to the
schoolroom. Field trips to Quebec
City for the Grades 7/8, Lafleches
Caves for Grades 5 and 6; Omega
Park for JKs to Grade 4s contributed
to the overall pursuit of knowledge...
and memories. Visiting one of North
America’s oldest cities, entering a
20,000 year-old cave and handfeeding a deer for the first time will be
remembered for many years.
*Enriched
learning,
enriched community*
Grade 8 Graduates
In this environment of enriched
learning, it comes as no surprise that
WA’s Grade 3 and 6 students scored
very well during the recent Canadian
Tests of Basic Skills. You often hear
WA people refer to their school as a
community. A community united by
its commitment to the well-being and
success of its children. Thanks to a
working partnership between faculty
and parents, WA offers and has offered
over the past 15 years, a safe, learning
environment for hundreds of children.
It is an environment that has seen its
graduates accepted in the top high
schools and then the top universities.
Well-prepared academically and
socially for these new experiences,
WA alumnae have the confidence and
required means to become successful
life-long learners. The graduating
class of 2009 follows in that tradition.
Ashbury, Lisgar and Colonel By’s IB
programme will see some WA grads
in September.
Learning is for a lifetime.
Westboro Academy and its community
of students, parents and faculty take
this statement as a given. Stop and
you stagnate. Move forward and the
world opens up before you.
Come and be part of our bilingual
summer camp during the month of
July or see you in September.
Page 29
Page 30
The OSCAR
- OUR 37th YEAR
JULY/AUG 2009
Kaleidoscope Kids’ Books
A
hh, the beach – the sun, the
sand, the surf and the stories.
Here are our choices for great
reads no matter where your travels
take you this summer
Kids 9-12
Dork
Diaries:
Tales
from
a
Not-So-Fabulous
Life by Rachel Renee Russell.
New school. New mean girl. New
crush. New diary so Nikki can spill
about all of it...Think Diary of a
Wimpy Kid for girls. Dork Diaries
follows Nikki Maxwell as she
chronicles through text and sketches
her move to a snooty new school;
her epic battle with her mom for an
iPhone; her enthusiasm for drawing
and art; and a love/hate fascination
with the new school’s queen bee, a girl
named Mackenzie. Nikki writes about
friendships, crushes, popularity, and
family with a unique and fresh voice.
Beachy-Keen Reads
Beyond the Grave by JudeWatson.
This is the fourth installment of the
39 Clues series. Amy and Dan are
hot on the trail of the fourth Clue,
but their ruthless relatives will stop
at nothing to eliminate them from the
competition. Their hunt leads them
to an ancient city that has been a hot
bed of Cahill activity for centuries.
The clock is ticking for Amy and
Dan. This series is keeping our young
readers on the edges of their seats!
The Sorceress by Michael Scott
This is book three in the New York
Times bestselling series The Secrets
of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel.
Nicholas Flamel’s heart almost
broke as he watched his beloved
Paris crumble before him. Sophie
and Josh Newman show every sign
of being the twins of prophecy, and
Flamel has to protect them and the
pages from the Dark Elders. If he
hopes to defeat Dee, Nicholas must
find an Elder who can teach Josh and
Sophie the third elemental magic—
Water Magic. The problem? The only
one who can do that is Gilgamesh,
and he is quite, quite insane.
Teen
Wildthorn by Jane England
Dark secrets and deep betrayals
haunt this extraordinary debut set in
a Victorian madhouse. Seventeenyear-old Louisa Cosgrove longs to
break free from her respectable life
as a Victorian doctor’s daughter, but
her dreams become a nightmare when
she’s sent to Wildthorn Hall. Labeled
a lunatic, deprived of her liberty and
even her real name, she unravels the
betrayals that led to her incarceration,
she realizes there are many kinds
of prison. She must be honest with
herself - and others - in order to be set
free. And love may be the key . . .
Don’t Judge a Girl by
Her Cover by Ally Carter
When Cammie Morgan arrives
at her friend Macey’s five star
hotel for the Democratic National
Convention-where Macey’s father is
about to receive the vice presidential
nomination-she thinks she’s in for an
exciting end to her summer break. But
if you’re a Gallagher Girl, “ exciting”
and “ deadly” are never far apart.
Things quickly go south when Macey
is summoned to the hotel roof to
shoot a PR piece with the presidential
candidate’s son. And thus begins
Cammie’s junior year at spy school.
Another great adventure for devoted
readers of this series!
Peace
Love
And
Baby
Ducks
by
Lauren
Myracle
Growing up in a world of wealth and
pastel-tinted entitlement, fifteen-yearold Carly has always relied on the
constancy—and authenticity—of her
sister, Anna. But when fourteen-year-
old Anna turns plastic-perfect-pretty
over the course of a single summer,
everything starts to change. And
there are boys involved, complicating
things as boys always do. With
warmth, insight, and an unparalleled
gift for finding humor even in stormy
situations, this book shows that even
very different sisters can learn to help
each other stay afloat.
The
Demon’s
Lexicon
by
Sarah
Rees
Brennan
Nick and his brother, Alan, have spent
their lives on the run from magic.
Their father was murdered, and their
mother was driven mad by magicians
and the demons who give them power.
The magicians are hunting the Ryves
family for a charm that Nick’s mother
stole -- a charm that keeps her alive -and they want it badly enough to kill
again. Ensnared in a deadly game of
cat and mouse, Nick starts to suspect
that his brother is telling him lie after
lie about their past. As the magicians’
Circle closes in on their family,
Nick uncovers the secret that could
destroy them all. This is the Demon’s
Lexicon. Turn the page.
Whether you’re at the cottage or
the beach, or relaxing in a hammock in
your backyard, there’s a book to help
transport you into exciting adventures
and strange new worlds.
JULY/AUG 2009
The OSCAR
- OUR 37th YEAR
OCDSB TRUSTEE REPORT
Budget, Programs, Achievement and Hopewell
By Rob Campbell
Budget Summary
We finalized the budget for next year with some cuts
to central admin and moved about $500K for textbooks
and learning supplies to a central fund against emergent
school needs. Next year budgeting will start in October
with a large shortfall anticipated and no reserves to
backstop with this time. The Province is needed to either
help with the funding or help to fix our labour seniority
grid issue (rf. last column). We did succeed in scaring up
an additional permanent part-time vice principal resource
for Hopewell starting next year.
Accommodations
This June two community accommodation review
processes reported: no secondary school closure in the
east and direction of some more students to Fielding and
eventually Brookfield in the south. The Board will hear
delegations and make final decisions in the Fall.
Next Fall also the District will embark on a major
consultation of the ‘Schools of the Future’: should schools
be small or large, how many programs should they have,
which ones, etc. This will align with the Pascal report on
all-day early learning community hubs. This will set us
up for a possibly large accommodation review of schools
in the core the year afterwards, possibly involving most
Zone 9 schools - and definitely involving Hopewell.
Programs and Policy
Next year some additional early and middle French
immersion centres will open and late immersion will
continue to phase out. The alternative program, in 6
former OBE schools, will be examined for any of status
quo, expansion or termination. Recommendations and a
decision on the consolidation of secondary gifted centres
also will be made in the fall.
A decision on a new school transfers policy will be
made with implications for all schools. The review of
intermediate schools will continue with more switching
to a partial rotary system and defined literacy blocks. Best
practice re assessment and evaluation concerns will be
unrolled.
Achievement and Governance
The OCDSB is one of the fastest improving Districts
in the Province and has been noticed provincially. I’m
To book an OSCAR ad
call Gayle 730-1058
[email protected]
generally proud of the work trustees and staff have done
this year. Also Bill 177 will be in the legislature in the
Fall with implications for your trustee representatives
involving free speech limits which have sparked some
concerns. Please be on guard for us here.
It will be critically important next year for the
Province to address our funding and governance issues so
that our progress is not hindered and it will be critically
important also for communities to engage in the many
coming consultations and processes. Rest up!
Hopewell
Hopewell intermediate grades also are changing to
partial rotary and a defined literacy block - they must be in
place by September 2010. This is a central staff initiative
I largely support. It will likely mean little impact on
Hopewell re traditional specialty teacher assignments in
the end simply as Hopewell is very large and has so many
teachers. The administration is charged however with
the most effective use of all staff talents and managing
timetabling needs.
Hopewell additionally is moving to a balanced day
which means two large nutrition breaks in the day basically
and which carries timetabling implications. The balanced
day is being adopted by more and more schools across our
system as a site-based decision. It is said to make partial
rotary easier to implement and also to be a best practice.
This initiative has implications for Hopewell’s tradition
of intermediates going home for lunch which has created
some concerns.
Concerns re the above need to be addressed in
community dialogue with the School Council, with
the School Administration and between Council and
Administration, in the twin contexts of both student
achievement and the broad school community. Each
school across the system is handling such changes and
concerns locally.
If you have a suggestion or a concern, or would like
to be added to my e-newsletter list, then please contact
me via [email protected] or at 323-7803. Meeting and
document info available at www.ocdsb.ca
Page 31
Page 32
The OSCAR
JULY/AUG 2009
- OUR 37th YEAR
All GICs Are Not Created Equal
by Rick Sutherland, CLU,
CFP, FDS, R.F.P
G
iven the performance of equity
markets over the past year
many people have decided to
return to more secure investments such
as a Guaranteed Investment Certificate
(GIC). Even though we are currently
experiencing historic lows in interest
rates there are some who have decided
it’s better to be safe rather than take any
risk in the markets.
A recent survey of Canadian
financial institutions told us that the
rates quoted on a 5-year deposit was
between 1.5 and 4% and a 1-year deposit
was quoted between 0.1 and 3%. In a
non-registered account and depending
on your taxable income these deposits
may be yielding a negative return after
inflation. It is important to remember
that guaranteed investments do carry a
risk, that being purchasing power.
In the event you are deciding to
invest in a GIC you should know that
there are different institutions that have
different features and benefits associated
with guaranteed deposits. We will focus
our discussion on insurance company
and bank GICs.
Insurance and bank GICs are
equal on a couple fronts. Both offer
guaranteed interest income with options
for compound or simple interest and
various options to draw interest income.
Both have deposit insurance protection
up to $100 000. Canada Deposit
Insurance Corporation (CDIC) insures
bank deposits for maturities up to 5-year
terms, whereas Assuris will guarantee
deposits for maturities up to 10-year
terms. Therefore you have the option to
lock in a rate for a much longer period
of time with an insurance company.
Insurance company GICs include
the ability to name a beneficiary, the
person who will inherit your funds
in the event of death. A bank GIC is
automatically paid to your estate upon
death. No other option is offered through
banks. Bank GICs must pass through
probate whereas insurance GICs with a
named beneficiary will bypass probate
and avoid probate fees, a saving of up
to 1.5% in Ontario. Also, with a named
beneficiary the proceeds are paid
instantly without delay associated with
the probate process.
Insurance company GICs allow for
an additional tax break for those over
age 65. Interest earned is deemed to
be annuity income and eligible for the
pension tax credit and pension splitting
opportunities. Bank GICs do not allow
for a pension tax credits or income
splitting.
Insurance company GICs with
certain named beneficiaries offer
protection against creditors. This
option makes sense for self-employed
individuals where bankruptcy is a
possibility. However, do not expect
creditor protection by shifting your
assets to an insurance company in
contemplation of bankruptcy. Courts are
unlikely to uphold creditor protection in
these circumstances. Bank GICs do not
provide creditor protection and they are
often the very entity that will go after
the assets in the event of a bankruptcy
so it will most likely never become an
option with banks.
It is evident that there are features
and benefits worth considering before
you decide where to park your money.
Insurance company GICs are a life
insurance product and are treated totally
differently than those offered through
the banks.
The foregoing is for general
information purposes and is the
opinion of the writer. This information
is not intended to provide personal
advice including, without limitation,
investment, financial, legal, accounting
or tax advice. Please call or write to Rick
Sutherland CLU, CFP, FDS, R.F.P., to
discuss your particular circumstances
or suggest a topic for future articles
at 613-798-2421 or E-mail rick@
invested-interest.ca. Mutual Funds
provided through FundEX Investments
Inc.
Applications for Guardianship of Property or the Person
By Anna Sundin
I
f an injury, disease or birth defect
leaves someone incapable of making
important decisions regarding his
or her property, make medical or other
care decisions, any person who wishes
to can make a court application to be
appointed the guardian of the property
or of the person for the incompetent
individual. The Guardian is responsible
for making these kinds of decisions for
the incapable person while they are
incapable.
Someone is considered incapable who
cannot understand relevant information
or cannot appreciate what may happen
as a result of decisions they make or do
not make about their finances, health or
personal care. Someone who is in this
situation may be vulnerable to abuse,
neglect or exploitation.
A mentally competent adult can
make powers of attorney and grant
another adult decision making power
for him or her. If there is no power
of attorney and an adult becomes
mentally incapable or is so severely
Guidance, Protection
and
Peace of Mind.
Anna E. Sundin,
Barrister & Solicitor
GEnErAl PrActicE includinG:
Family Law, Wills, Real Estate, Incorporations, Litigation and Collaborative Family Law
– A Cooperative and Dignified Approach to Separation and Divorce.–
Sundin-OSCAR-Ad-2006.indd 1
7/27/06 11:15:35 AM
disabled from birth that he or she is not
competent to grant powers of attorney,
the court process is the only way for
someone to obtain the power necessary
to make these kinds of decisions for the
incompetent person.
The first step in making an
application for guardianship is to
obtain an opinion about a person’s
mental capacity. If there is no medical
personnel to give an informed opinion
about this, an assessment can be
obtained with the help of the province
of Ontario’s Capacity Assessment
Office. In a crisis, if there is an
allegation of abuse, exploitation or
neglect of an incompetent individual,
the Office of the Public Guardian and
Trustee can be temporarily appointed
as the person’s guardian while an
investigation takes place.
A person who has been assessed
as incapable has the right to have the
assessment independently reviewed
by the Consent and Capacity Board,
a tribunal operated by the Ministry of
Health.
The Public Guardian and
Trustee’s office, the incompetent
individual if appropriate, and the
family members of the person alleged
to be incapable have to be served
with the application for guardianship.
The application has to contain a plan
of care for the individual or a plan
for the property of the incompetent
individual depending on which kind of
guardianship is being applied for.
Once it receives an application,
the Office of the Public Guardian and
Trustee reviews it and determines if
it needs to oppose it in court. Before
it makes such a decision, the staff of
the office works with the applicant
and the family to ensure that the plans
that are being proposed are complete
and appropriate. If the matter can be
resolved in this way, there is no need
for a hearing.
In the worst case scenario where
there is a dispute between the applicant
for guardianship and other family
members or the Office of the Public
Guardian and Trustee there will be a
hearing in front of a judge who will
decide who is to be appointed Guardian
and the terms of the guardianship plan.
The costs of the application are usually
ordered paid out of the estate of the
incompetent person, if he or she has
any assets.
After being appointed, the Guardian
has a continuing obligation to answer
for all property and care decisions made
for the incompetent person. Therefore,
the Guardian will need to keep track of
the decisions that are made from time
to time.
JULY/AUG 2009
The OSCAR
- OUR 37th YEAR
Page 33
M.P.P. OTTAWA CENTRE
Supporting Growth in Our Community
By Yasir Naqvi,
MPP Ottawa Centre
T
he buzz word around town and in
the media for the last few months
has been “stimulus” – economic
stimulus by way of investments in
infrastructure. We all know the theory;
by spending money on upgrading and
adding infrastructure, governments are
spurring the economy because they are
creating jobs and demand for materials.
But what exactly does this mean for our
community?
Right here in Ottawa, the federal and
provincial governments have invested
over $250 million in infrastructure
projects in our community. Although
these projects include your traditional
municipal infrastructure projects such
as roads, bridges, sewers and water
systems, what I am most excited about
is the community building component of
these programs.
Through the Infrastructure Stimulus
Fund, we are investing in important
cultural projects in our community.
This includes $250,000 to support the
building of the Chinatown Gateway,
over $3 million to renovate five libraries
throughout the city – including the
Sunnyside Branch on Bank Street, and
$8 million to expand the Centrepointe
Theatre.
To ensure that our community
remains green and livable, we are also
investing over $69 million to improve
public transit by upgrading transit
stations and transitway surfaces. We are
also investing in pathways – improving
our already superior system of bike
and walk pathways so that residents of
Ottawa can truly enjoy the natural side
of our community.
Though investing in improving
physical infrastructure is important to
promote economic growth and ensure
the smooth flow of people and goods,
we cannot forget to continue to invest in
people themselves.
That is why I am so excited to tell
you that we are investing $158.5 million,
along with the federal government,
to repair and build new infrastructure
on university and college campuses
across Ottawa. Through the Knowledge
Infrastructure Program, four postsecondary institutions in Ottawa will
receive significant funding to expand
their facilities; creating new spaces for
exciting research and new academic
programs.
Through this fund, Carleton
University is receiving $52.5 million
to support the Waterfront Project that
will build two new buildings to house
the Faculty of Public Affairs as well as
lecture theatres and a conference centre.
This expansion will increase Carleton’s
capacity by 1,100 undergraduate and 500
graduate students.
With the help of $30 million from
federal government and $50 million
from the Ontario government, the
University of Ottawa will renovate
and add a tower to Vanier Hall. The
renovated hall and tower will be the
main buildings for research teaching
for 7,000 undergraduate and 1,000
graduate students. The buildings will
house neuroscience laboratories, therapy
rooms, teaching computer laboratories,
animal care facilities and research space
for Ph.D. and master students.
La Cité collègiale is receiving
$26 million from both governments to
build a new home for the 911 Institute
that will house seven existing programs
and five proposed programs related to
security and emergency services. As a
result, an additional 300 students will
receive training in emergency services,
and additional space will be created for
students in health and sciences programs.
In addition, our government
had previously provided Algonquin
College with $35 million to build a new
Environmental Demonstration Centre
for Construction Trades and Building
Sciences. The centre will bring together
all of the college’s construction trades
and building sciences programs and
research, adding 600 new construction
trades spaces and housing a total of
2,500 students.
These investments are important
for our community. They are creating
jobs and generating demand for
materials. They are strengthening our
physical spaces, allowing us to build
stronger, more reliable and efficient
systems to move people and goods.
Most importantly, these investments are
building up our people. We are funding
the expansion of our institutions of
higher learning so that more students can
gain the knowledge they need to compete
in tomorrow’s high-tech economy.
I am excited about the changes in our
community. I know that construction can
sometimes create delays and frustration
when you are commuting or simply
trying to go to your favourite restaurant
for dinner. Please be patient – these delays
are necessary and will be temporary . I
encourage you to continue to visit your
favourite stores and restaurants during
construction – they need your patronage
now more than ever!
Please don’t hesitate to contact me
at my Community Office if you have
any questions about these projects, or
any stimulus funding being announced.
I look forward to your feedback on
how we can continue to more forward
together.
You may contact me anytime at 613-7226414 or [email protected].
Have a safe and happy summer!
The OSCAR
Page 34
- OUR 37th YEAR
JULY/AUG 2009
Local Veterinarian - Dr. Emily Black
Wilderness 101 – Fido and Fifi in the Great Wide Open!
By Emily Black
I
t is summer and camping season
has arrived. Many of us are
dreaming of trips to national
parks, canoe camping or trips to the
cottage, and a common question I get
is how best to equip our domestic pets
for the great outdoors.
I guess the first big question is
“should your domestic animals even
be going with you into the wilds?”
Well, I guess the safe answer is that
it depends on the domestic animal.
I think pretty much all dogs can go
into the wild, cat… well… it’s a bit
of a different storey. Last summer I
accompanied a cat in a car to the lake,
then across the lake in a canoe to the
cottage where she hung out happily
in the timber rafters for the week she
was there. She was an indoor cat at
home and she was an indoor cat at
the cottage. She had been doing it
since she was a kitten, so the journey,
exciting to me was no big thing for
her. I also rented a cottage a couple
summers ago and I took my cats.
There was the characteristic vomiting
on the way there, especially on the
bumpy roads, but once we got there
they were so happy to sit at the screen
door and look at the mosquitoes. I
think the thing is most cats are happy
just to be with you. The especially
nervous variety might do better at
home with a cat sitter, but as long as
your guys can handle the ride, they
will probably do just fine at a cottage.
Outdoor cats from what I hear do
ok at cottages too. Outdoor threats
still exist, but they are just different.
Fishers, coyotes and other such
things are probably the greatest risk
to cats, so scope it out first… make
sure no new furry neighbors have
moved in before you let loose your
furry friend on local foul.
Also a good thing to remember
is that if you are traveling to a new
location with your pet, best to bring
your veterinary record which can be
easily copied from your vet. That
way if anything goes wrong a local
vet can help you out and know where
your animal stands. Also remember
if you are on a special diet or have
special medical needs, you may not
be able to get them met locally so plan
ahead. I have one client who takes 6
bags of her dogs dog food and 5 bags
of treats to the cottage in the middle of
a lake in northern Ontario, enough to
last her the whole summer.
As far as disease risks in the bush
go, there are a couple of things to look
out for. For cats, they may bring down
large prey… like bees and other insects
and maybe even the odd squirrel.
These animals can carry worms, lice
and other little tag-alongs, so making
sure that your cat has some sort of
protection against likely culprits
would be a good idea. Also, the most
common transmission of rabies to cats
comes from skunks.. more prolific
in the wild. The second most likely
carrier are bats… something to think
about in your indoor cat who may not
be fully up on their shots.
For dogs, we recommend that
their vaccines be fully up to date
including leptospirosis which is
carried by raccoons, skunks and
waterfowl. It is mostly contracted
through puddles and other stagnant
water. Vaccines cover only half the
kinds of leptospirosis so even if your
pooch is vaccinated, my general rule
is if you wouldn’t swim in it, don’t
let them. Another perennial favorite
is Beaver Fever, or Giardia. There is
a vaccine for this one too but there
is some question as to the efficacy of
this vaccine. What you might want
to consider is if you are going Canoe
camping or somewhere inaccessible,
talking to your veterinarian about
bringing along treatment options
on your trip should you run into the
projectile diarrhea associated with
this tummy bug.
If you are prepared, pets can be
great fun on camping trips or to the
cottage.
Dr. Emily Black owns Centretown
Veterinary Hospital and is herself
owned by three cats and a dog.
l’Amicale francophone d’Ottawa
Par Jean-Claude Dubé
L
’Amicale francophone d’Ottawa a terminé une
autre belle année avec la lecture du livre Le
Rêve le plus doux de Doris Lessing par le Cercle
de lecture et aussi par un pique-nique partagé au parc
Sylvia Holden le 27 juin.
L’Amicale francophone, une association à but nonlucratif dont la mission est l’épanouissement de la vie
en français dans les quartiers du centre d’Ottawa, existe
depuis l’automne 2005. Elle est ouverte à tous ceux
qui désirent socialiser en français et son adhésion est
gratuite.
L’Amicale œuvre pour enrichir un partenariat avec
les centres communautaires du Glebe, du vieil Ottawa-
To book an OSCAR ad
call Gayle 730-1058
[email protected]
sud, du vieil Ottawa-est et de Heron Park ainsi qu’avec
la bibliothèque municipale d’Ottawa pour développer et
présenter des services et des programmes de culture et
de loisirs en français. Les activités peuvent varier avec
les saisons, les années et les intérêts des bénévoles.
Nos membres couvrent toute la gamme de jeunes
familles, de célibataires et de personnes d’age mûr.
Vous êtes invités à venir partager et aussi répartir de
vos talents et intérêts pour le bien de la communauté
francophone et francophile du centre d’Ottawa.
Venez nous rejoindre lorsque nos activités
reprendront à l’automne 2009. Elles seront décrites sur
notre site web amicaleottawa.ca et vous pouvez toujours
communiquer avec nous au [email protected]
www.freecycle.org
Changing the world
free & open to all
24 hours a day, 365 days a year
JULY/AUG 2009
- OUR 37th YEAR
Page 35
CARLETON CORNER
June Brought Many Proud Moments
By Maria McClintock
F
The OSCAR
rom exciting news about
the expansion of Carleton’s
campus to celebrating academic
achievements, June was a month of
many proud moments.
The university wrapped up
Congress of the Humanities and Social
Sciences at the end of May, which drew
about 8,500 intellectuals from across the
globe for the largest interdisciplinary
academic gathering in North America.
Congress 2009 featured authors,
artists, researchers and students in the
humanities and social sciences.
Carleton’s
annual
Spring
Convocation was held from June 9
to 12. At the memorable ceremonies,
the
university
celebrated
the
accomplishments of its graduates.
There was a distinguished slate of
nine honorary degree recipients this
year, including Dan Fortin, Rick
Hansen, Stephen Lewis, Max Keeping,
the Honourable Edward Broadbent,
Christina Gold, Hilary Pearson, Norman
Barwin and the Right Honourable
Adrienne Clarkson. Each year,
Carleton presents honorary degrees to
recipients who have made outstanding
contributions to the Ottawa community,
Canada, or the world in the arts and
sciences, the professions, the private
sector, public service or humanitarian
endeavours.
Also this month, Carleton was
pleased that it received federal and
provincial funds totaling $52.5
million for two new buildings. A
groundbreaking ceremony was held
to mark construction on the River and
Canal buildings, which are expected to
be finished by 2011. The new structures
will create additional space for about
1,600 more students. The Canal site
will house new programs in biomedical,
energy, environmental and aerospace
engineering. The River Building will be
home to the Norman Paterson School
of International Affairs, the School of
Journalism and Communication and the
School of Public Policy.
Another university honour came
when Carleton student Shannon
Tessier was named the YMCA-YWCA
Young Woman of Distinction at its
annual awards ceremony. Ms. Tessier,
an active volunteer, is completing a
master’s degree in science specializing
in microbiology and is one of Carleton’s
brightest young researchers. Carleton’s
Julie Lalonde, a master’s student in
Canadian studies, was also nominated
in the Young Woman of Distinction
category. Carleton law Professor Dr.
Cheryl Picard was nominated in the
education and training category.
Christine Rivas, a Carleton
University instructor and alumna,
was awarded a prestigious Fulbright
Scholarship to pursue post-doctoral
studies at Vanderbilt University in
Nashville, Tennessee this fall. Rivas
earned her BA and MA at the University
of Ottawa and graduated with a PhD
from Carleton last fall. Her dissertation
documents how people used marriage
and godparental kinship ties and
alliances to form networks of power
in 18th century Spanish Dominican
society. The Canada-U.S. Fulbright
program works to strengthen CanadaU.S. relations through its bilateral
academic exchanges of outstanding
students, scholars and professionals.
More information on Carleton’s
events can be found at www.carleton.
ca/events.
Carleton Corner is written by
Carleton University’s Department of
University Communications. As your
community university, Carleton hosts
many exciting events of interest to
Ottawa South. For more information
about upcoming events, please go to
carleton.ca/events.
Page 36
The OSCAR
JULY/AUG 2009
- OUR 37th YEAR
SURROUND CIRCLE YOGA
By Maureen Fallis,
Surround Circle Yoga
Nurture Your Health with Yoga
the flow of lymph which effectively
flushes and eliminates toxins, germs
and waste.
G
rowing up on a prairie farm,
there were many times looking
out the kitchen window when
I had trouble deciphering what I was
actually seeing. Was it a mirage or an
optical illusion? A beautiful blue haze
in the distance might have been a flax
field in full gorgeous bloom or it might
have been a shimmering shallow lake
created by heavy rainfall.
Naturally, my father preferred the
former most of the time, however,
should it have been the latter he made
good use of the result. If the field was
filled with water he had no choice but
to use massive machinery to deepen
the ditches aiming to divert the water
to other areas of the farm. The benefit
of this watershed provided irrigation
to areas that might very well have
been thirsty later on in the year.
In much the same way, we nurture
our body when practicing yoga.
Rhythmic breathing floods prana,
abundant life giving energy, into our
body. Flowing from one posture into
another, we channel this vitalizing
energy to all parts of our body.
Resting in relaxation, body and mind
are bathed in healing energy.
Numerous are the benefits of
Kripalu Yoga, here are but a few:
• Restores the capacity to breathe
freely & uplifts every cell in the
body
The life of the body depends
• Creates an abundance of energy &
bestows beauty from the inside out
Maureen Fallis - Photo by Brian Ure
upon the breath. Each inhalation
brings oxygen into the body;
sparking the metabolic process,
transforming nutrients into energy.
Each exhalation eliminates carbon
dioxide and other wastes. Taking
just a few deep diaphragmatic breaths
noticeably amplifies alertness. A
single exhalation helps to let go of
tension. Improve your breathing, and
you literally uplift the health of each
and every cell in your body.
• Connects mind and body & renews
inner balance
If you are out of touch with your
body, it is impossible to attend to
the intuitions and urges that signal
its basic needs. This contemplative
style of yoga provides quality time
dedicated to feeling, listening inside,
restoring inner balance, and healing.
It offers a practical way to get back in
touch with the wisdom of your own
body and heart, enabling an organic
connection of mind and body.
• Counters negative effects of stress
& enhances circulation
Yoga is like a self-massage. It
activates a relaxation response which
counters the negative effects of stress.
When the body is calm, blood is
directed into vital organs where the
immune and digestive systems are
stimulated. Stress hormones in the
bloodstream drop, respiration, heart
rate and blood pressure decrease and
muscles relax.
As the body moves forward and
back, side-to-side and twists like a
top, there is a dramatic increase in
Energy is strong when respiration
is deep, metabolism is steady, and the
organs are doing their job. Energy
is balanced when the nervous and
endocrine systems are finely tuned.
Energy is available for productive use
when not being drained by muscle
tension or chronic pain. By fostering
all these things, yoga produces a great
by-product: abundant energy!
Better yet by practicing even
a little bit on a regular basis your
appearance will change. Smooth
skin, bright eyes, shiny hair, and a
firm figure are really nothing more
than the outward signals of a healthy
body. By nurturing the roots of
health through a regular Kripalu Yoga
practice, you will come to enjoy the
best cosmetic of all: that natural blush
of good health.
Summer is a great time to be
outdoors … it need not be a time of
total yoga abandon! Practicing on the
grass, on the deck or the dock, are all
possible. Although Surround Circle
Yoga is taking a break at the studio, we
are pleased to offer a few summertime
classes in Windsor Park. To find out
about the summer schedule, please
see website www.surroundcircleyoga.
com or call 613-730-6649.
K
ripalu Yoga is a form of Hatha Yoga that defines itself as
therapeutic, and spiritually focused. It uses yoga concepts
of inner focus and meditation along with standard yoga
poses and “breathwork,” as well as “development of a quiet mind”
and relaxation. Kripalu emphasizes “following the flow” of prana,
or life-force energy, compassionate self-acceptance, observing the
activity of the mind without judgment, and taking what is learned
into daily life.
To book an OSCAR ad
call Gayle 730-1058
[email protected]
JULY/AUG 2009
The OSCAR
Page 37
- OUR 37th YEAR
COMPUTER TRICKS AND TIPS
Is A Netbook For You?
By Malcolm and John Harding, of
Compu-Home
I
n the May issue we mentioned
Netbooks, and quite a few
questions and comments arose.
Clients were asking us about buying
a netbook, and others had already got
one and wanted us to help them set
it up. We thought it might be worth
exploring this subject in some more
detail, considering how very popular
and established they are becoming,
wherever portability is needed.
There are no official divisions
separating laptops, notebooks, and
netbooks. Let’s just say that, like art,
we’ll know it when we see it . . . the
tiniest sibling in the family. Netbooks
have been growing in popularity since
2007, and the manufacturers soon
realized that they couldn’t afford to
stay out of the market. Nowadays
most brands have a complete line of
netbooks – small, smaller and smallest
- and the CBC reported on June 8 that
netbooks accounted for more than
25% of all computer sales in the first
quarter of 2009!
We started by thinking we would
do a list of pros and cons, but we
quickly realized that wouldn’t work,
because so often the pro is the con
... tiny size means tiny display, for
example. Instead, we’ll just list some
features, and let you decide whether
they are advantages or detriments for
you:
No optical drive means a
tremendous saving in weight,
dimensions and reliability. On the
other hand, it dictates some careful
planning in how to install software
and back up your data. Expect to pay
about $100.00 for an external USB
optical drive, if you decide you need
one (and actually, we doubt that you
do).
Processing speed and power
are often sacrificed in a netbook. 1
Gigabyte of RAM is usually the
maximum, and the Intel Atom
processor is the most common;
neither of these is terribly impressive
compared to today’s average desktop
model, but the result is greatly
improved battery efficiency.
The operating system might
be another trade-off.
Some
manufacturers ship their machines
with Linux - not that there’s anything
wrong with that - but most people
aren’t familiar with Linux. Even
when it’s Microsoft Windows it’s
going to be XP, because Vista is too
demanding.
Macintosh fanatics
have been known to experiment with
installing a Mac OS on netbooks, but
this is strictly against Apple’s End
User License Agreement.
The display on a netbook is
typically between 9 and 11 inches
measured diagonally. Even the largest
is probably inadequate for extended
work sessions or word processing. If
you have any plans for putting your
netbook into this kind of service, you
should make sure that it has a VGA
port for connecting a larger monitor
and enough USB ports for your printer
and external keyboard and mouse.
Hard disk space is an interesting
variation among the various models.
Some have traditional spinning platter
Jack Babulic (L) and Graham Greene (R), who finished 2nd and 3rd in
the 2.5 km run of OOS River Run, June 14.
hard disks, of medium capacity, like
160 gigabytes. Others trim a lot of
weight with Solid State Disks (SSDs)
that utilize the same technology as the
ubiquitous USB flash drive. SSDs
have much less capacity, but the nomoving-parts feature is a big plus.
Price is less of a variable
than you might expect. The least
expensive of these machines starts at
approximately $300.00, and they go
up to about $550.00. The reason that
we don’t consider price as a variable,
is that you will almost certainly find
a close relationship between the cost
and the features of any given machine.
If one costs $50.00 less than another,
you will almost certainly find that
something is missing – can you do
without it?
****************
Who’s reading this column? This
is our last column before the summer
break. We hope to be back next
season, and we’d like to be responsive
to our readers’ interests. Therefore
we are offering 1 hour of free CompuHome service to each of the first three
readers who send us suggestions
for column topics for next season.
(Obviously, these must be topics that
we are able to use!) Phone or write
your suggestions to our contacts
below.
Malcolm and John Harding
are the owners of Compu-Home,
specializing in assisting home and
small business computer users.
Visit
www.compu-home.com
and go to Suggested Websites to see
a list of our favourite useful and
interesting websites.
Write to [email protected] or phone 613-731-5954
to discuss computer issues, or to ask
questions to be addressed in future
columns.
Financial Divorce Specialist
Avoid costly mistakes with professional financial
assistance in the division of assets.
Contact: Rick Sutherland, CLU, CFP, FDS, R.F.P.
1276 Wellington Street, Ottawa ON K1Y 3A7
Phone: (613)798-2421 Email: [email protected]
Page 38
The OSCAR
- OUR 37th YEAR
JULY/AUG 2009
Red Apron Cooks
A
hhhh…summer. It’s finally
here and for 8 brief weeks
we get to enjoy ourselves
comfortable in the knowledge that
it is not going to snow. Now is the
time to gather together with friends
and family for casual outdoor dinners.
If you are fortunate enough to have a
cottage, or know someone who does,
then your summer might include some
weekends spent there.
It’s always a challenge to enjoy
good food and beverages without
spending too much time cooking or
cleaning. They key to success is one
thing – keep it simple!
Obviously you can stop by the
Red Apron on Thursday or Friday
afternoon and stock up on already
prepared meals to suit every appetite
(shameless plug). However, if you
want to do a little more of the cooking
yourself, here are some tips for simple,
summer fare:
1: Marinate your meat ahead of
time (oil, vinegar, fresh herbs, pesto
or BBQ sauce) in a Freezer Bag.
Freezer bags are easy to pack, easy
to transport, and spill proof. Your
steak or chicken will taste better after
spending a day or two infusing with
flavour, and then all you need is the
hot coals or open flame!
2: Turn your salad into a meal!
Start with good quality greens but
add interest by incorporating fresh
seasonal berries, caramelized apples
or pears, grilled asparagus, avocado
or shredded red cabbage. Add some
protein like grilled shrimp, grilled
Salad Days of Summer
chicken or steak, tuna or salmon,
grilled tofu, shredded or crumbled
cheese, and beautiful beans like
garbanzo beans or black turtle beans.
Double smoked bacon or smoked fish
add both protein and intense flavour.
Top your salad with nuts for added
protein and crunch. I have included
some recipes for basic vinaigrette
along with some salad ideas.
3: Roadside stands and farmers
markets provide plenty of fresh,
crispy vegetables that can easily be
transformed into a beautiful vegetable
platter.
Cherry tomatoes, grilled
asparagus or green beans, fresh
cucumber and baby carrots, all make
wonderful items to dip in a basic
vinaigrette, or to serve with a yogurt
dip or some hummus. This is a great
way to ensure that the kids eat their
veggies!
4: Assemble a variety of local
cheeses, cured meats, smoked fish
and fresh bread. This and a bottle
of wine and you’re set! The Chelsea
Smokehouse
carries
wonderful
cheeses as well as smoked fish. Also,
new in our neighbourhood is the
Whalesbone retail store – and they
have some spectacular smoked fish
and raw oysters. The Piggy Market
in Westboro carries a selection of
beautiful local cheeses, and their own
smoked and cured meats.
5: Although it is summer, don’t
forget about your slow cooker. It
still rains once in a while and an
occasional soup, stew or curry will
hit the spot. Add a fresh green salad
and some crusty bead and you are
set. We did a number of recipes
for the Ottawa Citizen this winter
and they are still available online at
(www.ottawacitizen.com/story_print.
html?id=1328084&sponsor=)
Remember to visit the Ottawa
Farmer’s Market every Sunday until
November 22nd, from 8am to 3pm,
and starting June 18th every Thursday
from 1pm until 6pm. The Red
Apron has a both this year and will
be selling seasonal treats made with
local ingredients, including Justine’s
Granola, flavourful Soups and our
famous Carrot Cake and Fair Trade
Chocolate Brownies.
The Red Apron will be closed for
the week of June 29 to July 4th. In
addition, there will be no Mid Week
Dinner service from on August 4-5-6
but our Retail Pantry at 571 Gladstone
will remain open. Have a happy, fun
and safe summer!
Basic Vinaigrette:
1/2 tablespoon finely minced shallot,
garlic and/or scallion
1/2 tablespoon Dijon-type mustard
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tablespoon freshly squeezed
lemon juice
1/2 tablespoon wine vinegar,
balsamic or white balsamic
1/3 to 1/2 cup excellent olive oil, or
other fine, fresh oil
Freshly ground pepper
Instructions:
You can shake all the ingredients
together in a screw-topped jar
however I like to make my dressings
in a blender or food processor. Start
with the lemon juice, vinegar, shallots
or scallions together with the mustard
and salt. With the blender or food
processor on, drizzle the oil in a
slow steady stream to form a smooth
emulsion. Add freshly ground pepper.
Taste and correct seasoning with salt
and pepper.
Yield: For about 2/3 cup, serving 6 to
8
Variations:
Asian Mango: Add some chunks of
Mango and replace the lemon juice
with lime juice. Replace the Dijon
with Chili Powder and fresh Cilantro.
This dressing works well with a
salad that includes grilled asparagus,
grilled chicken or Shrimp and topped
with garbanzo beans, crispy leeks or
toasted almonds.
Sesame Ginger: Include a thumb
size piece of peeled ginger, replace
the lemon with orange juice and zest
(from 1 orange) and replace ½ the
oil with Toasted Sesame Oil. Add a
pinch or two of sugar or honey. This
dressing works well with Grilled
Tofu, Sushi Grade Tuna or a few
strips of lean steak. You can top it off
with sesame seeds and if you want to
give it a real boost, toss it with some
cooked rice noodles.
Sweet & Savoury: Add some
Caramelized apples and Onions, fresh
thyme and brown sugar or maple
syrup. This dressing works very well
with a salad that includes some dried
cranberries, toasted walnuts, fresh
goat cheese and some duck confit for
a truly decadent dinner salad!
JULY/AUG 2009
The OSCAR
- OUR 37th YEAR
Page 39
New Summer Camp Makes History At Billings Estate Museum
By Emma Jackson
S
chool’s out for another summer,
and Billings Estate National
Historic Site is offering a unique
summer camp this July to keep hands
busy and brains buzzing.
For the first time ever, the local
museum, located at 2100 Cabot St.
near Pleasant Park and Riverside, is
offering a Creative Kids Day Camp,
a week-long day camp beginning
Monday, July 27 and ending Friday,
July 31. From 9am to 4pm each day,
kids will hunt for bugs, dig for artefacts
and learn about pioneer life in Ottawa’s
early days. The camp also includes day
trips to Pinhey’s Point Historic Site in
Dunrobin and Cumberland Heritage
Village Museum east of Orleans.
“It’s a fun week of outdoor
activities, but it’s also really
educational,” said the museum’s
education and interpretation officer
Brahm Lewandowski. “The kids are
going to have a great time.”
The camp is aimed at kids aged 6
to 12. For $120 per child, parents can
rest assured their children will learn
something new every day while having
a blast from the past.
The five-day camp kicks off on
Monday July 27 with a day of pioneer
life: dressed in heritage costumes,
campers will learn what life was like
in Gloucester township when Braddish
Billings lived in his estate. From farm
chores to food, the kids will get a
taste of the old days as they explore
the 5 kilometre grounds and meet the
Billings family through the museum’s
permanent exhibit.
On Tuesday, campers can expect
to get dirty while they go on a bug
hunt and an archaeological dig fit for
Indiana Jones. The kids will learn
how to date the artefacts they unearth,
and will discover why archaeology is
an important way to learn about our
history.
A day trip to Pinhey’s Point
Historic Site on Wednesday will take
the campers – transportation provided
– to the shores of the Ottawa River
in Dunrobin to explore the house of
Hamnett Pinhey, a prominent politician
and merchant in Upper Canada. The
museum’s 88-acre green space along
the shore will offer plenty of room for
kids to get outside, get messy and get
active.
Thursday’s day trip will travel to the
other end of Ottawa, at the Cumberland
Heritage Village Museum for a day of
circus fun and a chance to explore the
rural village’s 29 heritage buildings.
Live farm animals, a working sawmill
and plenty of costumed interpreters
will bring Ottawa’s history to life.
By Friday, the happy campers
will learn about lumberjacks and other
Bytown business endeavours as they
wrap up their week exploring Ottawa’s
local heritage.
“I’m pretty excited to get started,”
Lewandowski said. “We’re going to
have as much fun as the kids.”
Billings Estate is also offering
a host of day programs for kids
MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT OTTAWA CENTRE
Cycling – A Cornerstone of Life in Ottawa
W
ith more than 170 km of trails
throughout the National Capital
Region, Ottawa has long been
known as a great cycling city. However, our
city is quickly falling behind on infrastructure
maintenance and development which places
our city’s cycling status, as well as the safety
of our citizens, at risk. We must remember
that cycling is a cornerstone of our city, not
an add-on, and that we must address these
shortcomings.
On May 30th, I was delighted to have more
than one hundred people fill the basement of St.
Giles church to discuss cycling in Ottawa. I was
impressed with the commitment to cycling that
these people, and the many who have contacted
my office, have to identifying concerns and
offering creative and reasonable solutions.
An overarching theme that emerged from
the consultation is that the City of Ottawa and
the National Capital Commission need to see
cycling as an integral part of our transit plan.
Many people in Ottawa use bicycles as a main
mode of transportation and as such, cycling must
be given the full consideration of city officials
on par with road repairs and public transit and
not merely as an after thought. Improvements
to infrastructure such as repairing pot holes and
sewer grates, as well as ensuring that newly
paved roads include bicycle lanes will have the
most immediate impact for cyclists.
We must also continue to promote cycling
as an important part of tourism in Ottawa. For
example, VIA Rail has recently added bike
racks on board select trains running to the
Niagara region and is looking to expand this
service to eastern Ontario. Ottawa should work
to ensure that it is included in VIA’s future
Bike Train plans. Investing in infrastructure
improvements and supporting pilot project
such as the NCC’s new Bike Share will further
encourage tourists to use a bicycle to see our
great city.
The cost of making these cycling
improvements will be minimal in comparison
to the benefit that will be received. The City
of Ottawa has requested $4.5 million in federal
infrastructure money and by allocating a
portion of this funding to cycling we would be
well on our way to achieve these goals.
My commitment to cycling will not
end with this summit. A report based on the
consultation will soon be released on my
website and I encourage your feedback on this
issue.
Paul Dewar, MP
613 946-8682
www.pauldewar.ca
throughout the summer, including
weekly archaeology, farming, bug
hunt and heritage trades programs full
of crafts, games and fun. The museum
is open Wednesday to Sunday 11am to
5pm from May to October.
The Creative Kids Day Camp is
limited to 15 spots, and registration is
required. To reserve a spot or to find
out more about the museum’s summer
programs, call 613-247-4830 or visit
Ottawa.ca/museums.
The OSCAR
Page 40
- OUR 37th YEAR
JULY/AUG 2009
NOTES FROM THE GARDEN CLUB
Annual Spring Garden Tour
Shade Gardens”. She tore down an old
shed, set about amending the clay soil
with peat moss and manure, turned over
an old vegetable garden, ripped out a
cedar hedge, and worked bit by bit to
build her little oasis off Main Street.
The members then moved onto
Chesley Street where they discovered
Brenda Small’s astonishing one
hundred-foot garden sweeping down
from her house to a mini forest.
Looking every inch an English garden,
it was resplendent with irises, bachelor’s
button, cornflowers, flocks, hanging
baskets, and potted geraniums. Brenda
and her husband moved into their house
at their store on Bank Street. About
eleven years ago, the Paradis’s decided
to “live over the shop” and decided to
green the barren roof of their premises.
With wooden planters, Astroturf,
quirky pots full of colourful flowers and
quirkier ornamental tortoises and frogs,
the Paradis’s turned the roof of their
premises into a delightful urban garden
that they enjoy of a summer’s evening.
Diane provided light refreshments that
were most appreciated by the members.
The tour was the final activity of the
Garden Club’s current program, but an
exciting program of presentations and
activities is planned for 2009-10 starting
Paradis Garden (Photo by Colin Ashford)
By Colin Ashford
O
n a perfect summer’s evening,
three local residents invited
members of the Old Ottawa
South Garden Club into their gardens.
First stop on the tour was Nathalie
Chaly’s garden just off Main Street:
like many of the gardens in the area,
Nathalie’s garden is partially shaded
but, even so, it was a riot of brilliantcoloured flowers including treasured
native plants such as ladyslippers, and
unusual varieties of clematis, euphorbia,
and thirty-nine types of peonies!
Nathalie, a self-confessed “plantaholic”
was inspired to start her garden in 1995
by reading Ken Druse’s book “Natural
Brenda’s Garden (Photo by Colin Ashford)
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in 1971 but only started to garden
in earnest nine years ago. Although
she likes to sit in her garden and read
gardening books, somehow Brenda
always finds a job or two to do and so
gets little reading done.
The final stop on the tour was the
roof gardens of Diane and Pierre Paradis
on September 8th. Because of the
renovation of the Firehall, the Garden
Club will be meeting at Southminster
United Church on the second Tuesday
of each month from September to April
inclusive. Topics planned include:
xeriscaping, shade gardening, vertical
gardening, and garden renovation.
Nathalie’s Garden (Photo by Colin Ashford)
JULY/AUG 2009
The OSCAR
- OUR 37th YEAR
Page 41
This is the end of our walk down, or is it up, Sunnyside on the
South Side, having started at Rideau River Road and followed it all the
way to here, at Bronson Ave. Our thanks to Tom Alfoldi for the idea
and the photos. Join us another time as we follow Tom through Old Ottawa South. What street shall we walk together next?
Tasty Tidbits From Trillium Bakery
Rhubarb – Straight From the Garden
This Is One Tart You Can Bring Home
By Jocelyn LeRoy
P
ulling the long string off the
cloth rhubarb bag and peering
into 20kgs of fresh organically
grown pink stalks of that wonderful
weed (as some call it when it
overtakes their gardens) brings back
a single delicious memory: A memory
of baking in the log cabin – winging
it with the wood-stove oven; a
childhood memory that I get to enjoy
every June in rhubarb season.
The log cabin my parents built
with their bare hands, filed with the
fragrance of baking home-made bread
– my mom no doubt praying that the
oven wouldn’t spike up to 600F and
ruin all her hard-work of bread and
pies. Open the vents. Close the vents.
Picking through the woodpile to find
the perfect pieces to slow down the
fire. She chopped her own kindling,
which she kept in a small box by the
stove -- a box with a linoleum top,
which lasted for 60 years. There was
a shelf inside for newspaper and one
for the cedar kindling sticks – some so
finely sliced you could make a little
teepee in the stove box to light the
fire.
Rhubarb Pie was a June treat in
my family, A huge glass pie plate was
filled with freshly picked rhubarb,
bubbling away in the oven, then
served hot with a spoonful of mother’s
ice cold homemade vanilla ice cream.
She made it in the tiny freezer tray, in
the tiny ice box of her pride and joy
– her kerosene fridge. I watched with
fascination as Mom beat (by hand)
the ice crystals and cream at intervals
all afternoon. (The kitchen was too
hot in the morning.) All that work for
a spoonful each on our pie!
So, it is with great pleasure and
fond memories that I have been
baking some of my mother’s original
recipes using rhubarb. Many have
been altered to suit the various dietary
peculiarities our customers bring to
us.
But not the rhubarb pie – it
remains true to its past.
Summer Reading
By Jean McCarthy
T
wice yearly a group of
publisher representatives,
The Dewey Divas
and Dude, visit Ottawa Public
Library giving staff a great idea of
what is in store for readers in the
new publishing year. This very
enthusiastic group presents the
books that they have especially
enjoyed. Always worth reading is the
Dewey Divas blogspot: http://www.
deweydivas.blogspot.com/
From the titles the Divas
presented to OPL staff, the following
are ones that look especially great for
summer reading:
For the preschool set:
The Curious Garden by Peter Brown
Dogs by Emily Gravett
Baby Pie by Nick Ward
For chapter book set:
Melonhead by Katy Kelly
Julia Gillian and the Quest for Joy
by Alison McGhee
For the school to teen set:
Flora’s Dare by Ysabeau S. Wilce
When You Reach Me by Rebecca
Stead
The Uninvited by Tim Wynne-Jones
For the adults:
The Angel’s Game by Carlos Ruiz
Zafon
We Two: Victoria and Albert:
Rulers, Partners, Rivals by Gillian
Gill
Every man Dies Alone by Hans
Fallada
The Children’s Book by A.S. Byatt
Come, Thou Tortoise by Jessica
Grant
Sunnyside by Glen David Gold
Becoming George Sand by Rosalind
Brackenbury
We recently received a load of
just-picked organic rhubarb. We’re all
chopping it up furiously. There’s so
much of it!
Rhubarb strawberry. Rhubarb
apple, and just plain rhubarb.
Rhubarb mixed berry crumble –
rhubarb cake. Rhubarb cobbler. We
have it all. But not for long! One
clever customer tells us you can even
blend a little raw rhubarb with your
berry smoothies – perks them right
up.
Come share your nostalgic
Rhubarb stories. We’d love to hear
them.
Mom’s Rhubarb Pie
9-inch pie
4 – 5 cups unpeeled rhubarb stalks
¼ cup all purpose flour
1 ¼ to 2 cups sugar
1 TBS butter
1 tsp grated lemon or orange peel
(optional)
Preheat oven to 400F.
Line pie plate with pie dough.
Add mixed ingredients. Top with pie
pastry, lattice if you have patience.
Bake for 20 minutes, then reduce heat
to 350F and bake another 20 minutes.
Variation: Mix the flour, 3 eggs,
sugar, ¼ tsp nutmeg, and a little milk;
spread over rhubarb and bake. This
makes a custardy filling. Yum!
Page 42
The OSCAR - OUR 37th YEAR
JULY/AUG 2009
Skimming Across History In Istanbul And Cappadocia
By Jim Robb
Quiet evening interlude on the
Bosphorus
(Photos by Jordan Bush).
T
he first striking image of
Istanbul is the one that has
stayed with me.
We’d arrived in the city in late evening
and checked into our two rooms at the
small Side Hotel, plunked between
two of Istanbul’s most famous sites,
the Hagia Sophia and the Sultanahmet
or Blue Mosque.
After getting settled, we stepped
out to the rooftop terrace. Lights
glittered over the city of some 12
million and blinked from the shipping
and water taxis on the crowded
Bosphorus.
Over the floodlit dome of the Blue
Mosque and its six minarets, luminous
seagulls soared and wheeled, climbing
and diving in an unending avian ballet,
their wings shining white in the glare.
There were five of us. Two
stepsons, two grandsons (one each),
and me, the stepfather. We were
starting an eight-day visit in early
February that soon included an
unplanned-for two-day detour to
Cappadocia, land of cave dwellers
from time immemorial.
There are advantages and
disadvantages to a trip to Istanbul in
winter. You avoid the tourist jam but
get stuck with damp, chilly weather
with only occasional sunshine.
And a few days can only give
you a sampling of Turkey’s rich and
complex past that includes transitions
from Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman
rule.
These attractions in Istanbul
stand out: the Topkapi Palace; the
Basilica Cistern; the Mehter Band; the
Bosphorus at the Galata Bridge; and,
Cappadocia.
The Ottomans started building
the Topkapi Palace in the later
15th Century, shortly after they
overthrew the Byzantine defenders
of Constantinople. The complex is a
treasure house of Ottoman decorative
art, architecture and artifacts.
You’ve got to go underground to
view the Basilica Cistern. Constructed
in the 4th Century during the reign
of Emperor Constantine it’s a
magnificent example of Roman water
supply engineering. And, it’s huge.
The cistern measures 141 metres
by 73 metres. Twelve rows of 28
columns, 8 metres tall, support the
superstructure, according to the
guidebook written by archaeologist
Yucel Akat.
You can hear the Mehter Band at
the Turkish military museum, indoors
in winter, outdoors in summer. It’s
unlike any military band you’ve heard
in Canada.
The Harem Romm in the Topkapi Palace (Photos by Jordan Bush).
the height of the empire’s power.
They’re garbed in period costumes
and the sound is unforgettable.
The Bosphorus is worth a close-up
look simply because it’s so busy with
shipping traffic. And the approaches to
the Galata Bridge shelter several fish
A camel waits for tourists in Cappadocia (Photos by Jordan Bush).
The musicians and singers
perform Ottoman military music from
restaurants that offer good food and
good value. The fish aren’t just local
The Mehter Band performing at the military museum (Photos by Jordan Bush).
catches. Seafood from all over the
world is flown in for the restaurants.
Near the end of our stay we
caught a morning flight to Kayseri,
Cappadocia’s aiport, connected with
our tour guide and spent the afternoon
and the next day in a fast tour of as
many sites as possible.
Cappadocia is a relatively small
area south of Istanbul that is covered
with layers of rock formed from tufa
or volcanic ash, topped by hard basat
or lava. Dwellings and shelters for
domestic animals have been carved
out of this soft rock for centuries.
Early Christian communities
sheltered in cave dwellings. They also
created a wealth of small churches
and chapels that are now tourist
attractions.
We saw a lot of them, plus a
traditional pottery factory and a rug
weaving cooperative with stunning
kilim rugs before heading back to
Istanbul.
On our last evening in the city I
went back out on the hotel balcony.
The luminous seagulls were still
circling the minarets and dome of the
Blue Mosque.
The OSCAR - OUR 37th YEAR
JULY/AUG 2009
Page 43
Much Ado About Summer Fools
By Crystal Parsons
W
hat could be better on
a summer’s day then a
trip the park - the birds
chirping, the flowers blooming and...
Fools fooling? A Company of Fools
that is. They’ve become a familiar
feature in city parks every year
throughout the month of July and their
back at it again this year with
their
Torchlight
Shakespeare
production - Much Ado About
Nothing.
Much Ado is Shakespeare’s
timeless comedy of romance and
treachery, plot twists and turns,
wit and nitwits. The story follows
Claudio and Hero who are in love
and Benedick and Beatrice who are at
each others throats. The story takes a
few unexpected turns as intrigues and
villainous plots are hatched - but will
the lovers win their race to the altar?
“You’ll have to see the show to
find out!” says Artistic Director, Scott
Florence,” It’s going to be lots of fun
and it’s extra special this season as we
are celebrating 20 seasons of Foolishness in Ottawa.”
The company is best known
for making the classic works of
Shakespeare
accessible
through
performance techniques such as
clown, puppetry and improvisation.
“That’s why our shows are great for
families - parents enjoy the witty
repartee, kids like it when we jump
around and fall on our faces” says
Florence.
This year’s show features four
core members of the Fool’s artistic
collective - Emmanuelle Zeesman,
AL Connors, Fools co-founder Margo
MacDonald and the Big Fool himself
- Artistic Director Scott Florence. The
show is directed by Fools favourite,
Richard Gelinas.
There are no advance tickets,
the shows are “pass-the-hat-andpay-what-you-can” ($10 donation is
suggested). The shows starts at 7:00pm
and the audience is encouraged to
bring their own lawn
chair, blanket or bug spray.
The Fools will be performing
Much Ado in the Glebe’s Central Park,
July 7 and 8 and in Windsor Park on
July 17 and 18. For full schedule and
more information, visit A Company of
Fools’ website at www.fools.ca or call
613-863-PLAY..
Is Your Portfolio Properly Diversified?
By Bob Jamieson
T
oday’s market and economic
environment might be one of
the most challenging many
investors will ever face. But there
are actions you can take now to help
you stay in control and strategically
prepare for your financial future.
One of the most important things
you can do is improve the quality
and diversification of your portfolio.
Diversification cannot guarantee
profit or protect against loss, but
having a healthy mix of investments
has proven to be an effective, longterm wealth-building strategy for
many investors.
As a starting point, you need
to be able to determine the overall
composition of your portfolio with
respect to different asset classes, such
as equities (stocks and stock mutual
funds) and fixed income (bonds). That
depends on factors such as your age,
specific financial goals, time horizon
and tolerance for risk. In terms of
diversification within those asset
classes, here are some guidelines to
consider.
For your overall portfolio:
• If investments in any single
company represent more than 5% of
your overall portfolio, you should
think about reducing your position to
5% or less.
• If you own aggressive income
investments, you’ll probably want
these representing 5% or less of your
overall portfolio.
• If you own low-quality
investments, switch to higherquality investments, which are more
likely to survive in this challenging
environment.
If you own mutual funds:
• If any one fund represents more
than 25% of your overall portfolio,
it’s probably prudent to trim that back
to 25% or less.
• Make sure you have appropriate
international exposure.
If you own individual stocks:
• You want to have a sizeable
basket of stocks spanning each
major industry and various countries.
As a rule of thumb, 25 should be
appropriate, or 15 if you also own
mutual funds.
• No one stock should be more
than 5% of your portfolio.
• If you own aggressive stocks,
make sure you are comfortable with
the risk and that they constitute
an appropriate percentage of your
portfolio.
If you own individual bonds:
• You should consider holding
10-20 in a laddered portfolio,
whereby you’ll have an appropriate
mix of short, intermediate and longterm maturities. As each investment
comes due, the money is reinvested
at the highest-available rates. This
eliminates the need to guess where
interest rates are headed and offers
protection in times of rising and
falling rates.
• Similar to stocks, make sure
your bonds are issued by companies
in different industries, and that you
own some government bonds.
• No one bond should be more
than 5% of your portfolio.
With market values down
significantly from previous highs,
now may be the best opportunity in
years to make changes to improve
the quality and diversity of your
portfolio. Doing a Risk Analysis
of your portfolio is the first step in
ensuring that you are Recovery Ready.
Speak with your financial advisor to
help you assess your portfolio and
to decide on possible adjustments
tailored to your particular situation,
or give me a call at 613-526-3030
and ask about a complimentary 2nd
opinion.
Bob Jamieson, CFP
Edward Jones, Member CIPF
The OSCAR - OUR 37th YEAR
Page 44
JULY/AUG 2009
WHAT’S HAPPENING AT THE LIBRARIES
Sunnyside Branch Library
Sunnyside Branch Library
1049 Bank Street, Ottawa
613-730-1082,
Adult Services, extension 22
Children’s Services, extension 29
Babytime
Tuesdays, 2:15 p.m. (30 min.)
July 7, 14, 21, 28
August 4
Toddlertime
Thursdays, 10:15 a.m. (30 min.)
July 2, 9, 16, 23, 30
August 6 (Registration)
Storytime
Wednesdays, 10:15 a.m. (30 min.)
July 8, 15, 22, 29
August 5
TD Summer Reading Club
Club de lecture d’été TD
009
TD Summer Reading Club Launch
Agent 009, here is your mission!
Drop in to uncover mysteries and pick
up these clues: activity book,
stickers and a poster.
Wednesday, July 8, 2:15 p.m. (60
min.)
[Bilingual / Bilingue]
Clowning Around
Get ready to howl, whoop and giggle!
L’il John the Clown gets the whole
family laughing! Registration.
Wednesday, July 15, 2:15 p.m. (45
min.) [Bilingual / Bilingue]
Clown rigolo
Préparez-vous à hurler, éclater de rire
et ricaner! Le clown L’il John
fait rigoler tous les membres de la
famille! Inscription.
Le mercredi 15 juillet, 14 h 15 (45
min.)
Black Hand Gang
Join the Black Hand Gang and help
solve the mysteries. Ages 7-12.
Registration.
Wednesday, July 22, 2:15 p.m. (45
min.)
Shhhh! Espions
Agent 009, habille toi en espion pour
écouter une histoire mystérieuse
et faire un brico-bizarre! 5-7 ans.
Inscription.
Le mercredi 5 août, 14 h 15 (45 min.)
Scavenger Hunt
A clue for you, a clue for me! Look
for them at the library. Ages 5-7.
Registration.
Wednesday, July 29, 2:15 p.m. (45
min.)
[Bilingual / Bilingue]
ADULTS/ADULTES
30-minute Computer Tutorial
Get help with the Library catalogue,
accessing the web or addressing
e-mail issues during a one-on-one
30-minute tutorial. Registration.
Wednesdays, 10:00 a.m. (30 min.)
August 5, 12, 19, 26
Shhhh! Spies
Agent 009, come dressed as a spy to
hear mysterious stories and make
crack-the-code crafts . Ages 5-7.
Registration.
Wednesday, August 5, 2:15 p.m. (45
min.)
[Bilingual / Bilingue]
Get in Gear with Bicycle Repair
Tools, grease and a little air, it’s all
part of bike repair! Get technical
help and tips from the experts at The
Cyclery.
Registration.
Thursday, July 9, 7:00 p.m. (60 min.)
Alta Vista Branch Library
Alta Vista Branch
Ottawa Public Library
2516 Alta Vista Dr.
To register call: 613-737-2837 x28
Adult Programs
Cool Reads for Warm Days
Join us for tea / iced tea and hear
about great titles for summer reading!
Wednesdays, 10:30 a.m. (1 hr.)
August 12 : Mysteries from around
the world
August 19 : Gentle Reads
August 26: Guest speaker: Randy
Ray
How much do you know about
Canada?
English Conversation Group
Improve your spoken English and
meet new friends in a relaxed setting.
In partnership with Somali Family
Services.
Mondays, 6 p.m. (1.5 hrs.)
Tuesdays, 1 p.m. (1.5 hrs.)
Knit 2 Together
Meet with other knitters to share
patterns and ideas and offer
assistance to each other.
Saturdays, 10:30 a.m. (1.5 hrs.)
July 4, Aug. 1
Wednesdays, 6:30 p.m. (1.5 hrs.)
July 15, Aug. 19
PRE-SCHOOL / PRESCOLAIRE
Babytime
For babies and their parent or
caregiver with stories, rhymes, songs
and activities. Ages 0-18 months.
Thursdays, August 6-August 20,
10:30 a.m. (30 min.)
Toddlertime
For toddlers and a parent or caregiver
with stories, rhymes, songs and
activities. Ages 18-35 months.
Mondays, July 6-July 20, 10:30 a.m.
(45 min.)
Family Storytime
Program with stories and rhymes for
everyone in the family.
Wednesdays, July 22-August 5, 10:30
a.m. (45 min.)
CHILDREN’S SPECIAL
PROGRAMS / PROGRAMMES
SPECIAUX POUR ENFANTS
Agent 009
TD Summer Reading Club 2009
opening ceremony. Ages 4 and up.
Cérémonie d’ouverture du Club de
lecture estivale TD 2009. Pour les 4
ans et plus.
(Bilingual)Tuesday, July 7, 2 p.m. (45
min.)*
(Bilingue) Mardi 7 juillet, 14 h (45
min.)*
Two-minute mysteries
Test your detective skills with these
mysteries. Ages 6-10.
Thursday, July 9, 2 p.m. (30 min.)*
Spy boot camp part 1
The ultimate experience for special
agents in training. Learn how to
break codes, master the art of disguise
and create your own tools. Ages 6-10.
Wednesday, July 15, 2 p.m. (45 min.)*
The mysterious case of who dung
it?
Chief Bottom, Dung Detective
has found a mysterious coprolite,
and needs your help to identify the
poopetrator. Become a dung detective
and help bag this case! Ages 6-12.
Thursday, July 16, 10:30 a.m. (60
min.)*
Detective Dinosaur puppet show
Help Detective Dinosaur follow the
clues and solve some mysteries. Ages
4-8.
Monday, July 20, 2 p.m. (30 min.)*
I spy treasure hunt! / C’est moi
l’espion de la chasse au trésor!
Stories, riddles, videos and crafts.
Ages 4-8.
Contes, devinettes, vidéos et
bricolage. Pour les 4 à 8 ans.
(Bilingual) Wednesday, July 22, 2
p.m. (45 min.)*
(Bilingue) Mercredi 22 juillet, 14 h
(45 min.)*
School for villains
Do you have plans-henchmen at your
beck and call? Learn what it takes to
take over the world! Ages 8 and up.
Saturday, July 25, 2 p.m. (1 hr)*
Nature detective techniques
Stephane Bruneau from Parks Canada
shows you research techniques such
as how to identify prints, dissect owl
pellets, and analyze video captures.
Ages 7-12.
Tuesday, July 28, 3:30 p.m. (75
min.)*
Happy birthday, Louis Braille!
Discover how braille was invented
and how it is being used…200 years
later! Hone your spy skills by writing
your own “secret” message in braille.
Ages 6-12.
Thursday, July 30, 2 p.m. (45 min.)*
Spy boot camp part 2
The ultimate experience for special
agents in training. Learn how to
break codes, master the art of disguise
and create your own spy tools. Ages
6-10.
Wednesday, August 5, 2 p.m. (45
minutes)*
Famous animal detective club! /
Club d’animaux détectives célèbres!
Stories, videos, facts and crafts. Ages
4 and up.
Contes, vidéos, faits et bricolage.
Pour les 4 ans et plus.
(Bilingual) Wednesday, August 12, 2
p.m. (45 min.)*
(Bilingue) Mercredi 12 août , 14 h (45
min.)*
Agent 009
TD Summer Reading Club 2009
closing ceremony. Ages 4 and up.
Cérémonie de fermeture du Club de
lecture estivale TD 2009. Pour les 4
ans et plus.
(Bilingual) Wednesday, August 19, 2
p.m. (45 min.)*
(Bilingue) Mercredi 19 août, 14 h (45
min.)
TEEN SPECIAL PROGRAMS
Mmm…Books!
Teens talk about their favourite
reading material with other book
lovers. Ages 12-17.
Mondays, July 27, August 24, 7 p.m.
(1 hr)*
Game On!
Challenge your friends to get gaming.
Compete on the Wii or duel on the
DDR to rack up points. Ages 13 and
up.
Fridays, July 31, August 21, 2:30 p.m.
(90 min)*
Trick my cart
Do old book trucks get you down?
Help us trick out some run-down carts
and give them the makeover they
deserve! Wear old clothes that can get
dirty. Ages 13+. (Wear old clothing-it
will get messy!)
Saturday, August 15, 2 p.m. (120
min.)*
Twilight falling
Meet other Twilight fans, play the
game and have vampire fun. No biting
allowed! Ages 13+.
Monday, August 17, 6 p.m. (1 hr)*
The OSCAR - OUR 37th YEAR
JULY/AUG 2009
Alta Vista Library Creates Art
From Food Bank Donations
T
o commemorate the
25th
anniversary
of
the
Ottawa
Food Bank, each Branch
or Cluster was asked to
create a sculpture with their
donations. The Canstructs or
Cansculpts were shown via
powerpoint at the General
Staff Meeting on June 19th.
All the food gathered
was collected for the food
bank, as was all the food
brought to the General Staff
Meeting. The two symbols
made represent the City of
Ottawa’s “O” (left above)
and the Ottawa Public
Library’s logo (left below).
Elmvale Branch Library
Elmvale Acres Library
1910 St. Laurent Blvd.
613-738-0619 ext. 3
Diversity Spotlight / Pleins feux
sur le diversité
Saturday, Jun. 27, 2009, 1:00 PM
(60 min.)
Celebrate the diversity of
our community with food,
stories, games, song and dance.
This event is in partnership
with LASSA. Registration
with branch. Venez célébrer
le diversité avec nourriture,
contes, chants, jeux et danse. En
partenariat avec LASSA. Pour
toute la famille. Inscription.
Family Storytime
Monday, Jul. 06 - 27, Aug. 10,
2009
10:15 AM (45 min.)
Stories, rhymes and songs for
children of all ages and their
parent(s) or caregiver.
TD Summer Reading Club
Launch / Lancement du Club de
lecture d’été TD
Monday, Jul. 06, 2009 2:00 PM
(45 min.)
Agent 009, here is your mission!
Drop in to uncover mysteries
and pick up these clues: activity
book, stickers and a poster. Ages
4+. Registration.
Agent 009, voici ta mission!
Passe à ta succursale et espionne
des contes, activités et un
bricolage mystérieux. Pendant ta
visite, procure-toi ces indices : le
livre d’activités, les autocollants
et l’affiche.
4 ans+. Inscription.
Babytime
Tuesday, Jul. 07- Aug. 11, 2009
10:15 AM (30 min.)
Stories, rhymes and songs
for babies and their parent or
caregiver. 0-18 months.
Around Town
The Ottawa Regional Youth
Choir (ORYC), conducted by Kevin
Reeves,
is seeking young people
between the ages of 15 and 23 to join
the choir in September.
The choir performs its own concerts
and collaborates with a wide range
of other musical ensembles. Altos,
Basses, Sopranos and Tenors interested
in auditioning should contact Carolyn
Smith at 613-823-1114. The ORYC
website is www.oryc.on.ca
La Leche League Canada has a
group in Old Ottawa South - Are you
breast-feeding your baby? Are you
pregnant and planning to breast-feed?
A La Leche League meeting is a
relaxed, supportive and non-judgmental
place where you can: meet breastfeeding women, ask specific questions
Page 45
2009Adult English
Conversation for Newcomers
Tuesday, Jul. 07- Aug. 25, 2009
6:30 PM (90 min.)
Improve your English and
meet new friends in a relaxed
about breast-feeding, learn more about
breast-feeding from accredited leaders
who have breast-fed their own children
and who volunteer their time, get
tips for working through best breastfeeding challenges, find out more about
getting ready to breast-feed (if you
are pregnant), find out more about the
benefits of breast-feeding for baby and
you, borrow books about breast-feeding
and related parenting topics.
Meeting day is now every SECOND
Thursday of the month (except August)
from 7:00 to 8:30 PM at 36 Glen Ave.
Next meeting July 14. Please note the
AUGUST MEETING IS TUESDAY
AUGUST 4. For more information
call 613-238-5919, the local La Leche
League phone line.
setting. This program is offered
in partnership with the Conseil
Economique et Social d’OttawaCarleton.
Toddlertime
Wednesday, Jul. 08 - Aug. 12,
10:15 AM (45 min.)
Stories, rhymes and songs
for babies and their parent or
caregiver. 18-35 months.
Missing Money/Monnaies
perdues
Thursday, Jul. 09, 2009/Jeudi, 09
juillet 2009
2:00 PM (45 min.)
Identify fake money throughout
history. Identifier les fausses
monnaies à travers l’histoire.
Bilingual / Bilingue
Ages 6-12 / 6-12 ans.
Registration/Inscription
Two-Minute Mysteries
Tuesday, Jul. 14, 2009, 2:00 PM
(45 min.)
Test your detective skills and
solve these short mysteries. Ages
6-10. Registration.
Twilight Falling
Monday, Jul. 20, 2009, 6:00 PM
(60 min.)
Meet other Twilight fans, play
the game and have vampire fun.
No biting allowed!
Ages 13+. Registration.
The Mysterious Case of Who
Dung It?
Thursday, Jul. 23, 2009, 10:30
AM (60 min.)
Help bag the poopetrator! Join
Jacob Berkowitz, otherwise
known as Chief Bottom, Dung
Detective, for an interactive show
full of laughs and learning.
Ages 6-12. Registration.
Nature Detective Techniques
Thursday, Jul. 30, 2009, 10:30
AM (75 min.)
Learn techniques on how to
identify prints, dissect owl pellets
and analyze video. Presented
by Stephane Bruneau of Parks
Canada. Ages 7-12. Registration.
Bridging Program for Women
and Men
Out of school for some time? Want
to study at university?
Bridging courses are low cost, noncredit, and 3 hours a week for 13 weeks.
As well as studying a topic, you will
practice reading, writing, and testing
skills. Explore your education options
and potential -- we will support you.
A grade of ‘B’ or better may qualify
mature students (21 years and over)
for admission to a Bachelor of Arts at
Carleton University. 613-520-2600 ext.
3740 [email protected] Register
now for September start dates
Join the biggest Haitian Festival
ever happening in our community this
and every summer with international
artist from Montreal, Miami, New york,
Wii at the Library
Thursday, Jul. 30, 2009, 2:00 PM
(60 min.)
Grab your Nunchuk, get into
position and play baseball,
bowling or boxing with other Wii
gamers!
Ages 5-11. Registration.
Get a Clue Movie Afternoon
Tuesday, Aug. 04, 2009, 2:00 PM
(60 min.)
3,2,1... Action! Silver screen
delights for young children. Ages
4-8. Registration.
Detective Dinosaur Puppet
Show
Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2009, 2:00 PM
(30 min.)
Help Detective Dinosaur
follow the clues and solve
some mysteries. Ages 4-8.
Registration.
Detective School Graduation /
Remise des diplômes de l’École
des enquêteurs
009 agents gather to celebrate
the ‘mysteries of the summer’ at
the TD Summer Reading Club
closing party./ Les agents 009
se rassemblent pour célébrer la
fin de l’été mystérieux et la fin
du Club de lecture d’été TD.
Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2009, 2:00 PM
(45 min.) Ages 4+. Registration.
4 ans+. Inscription.
Bilingual / Bilingue
Tips for Job Search
Monday, Aug. 24, 2009, 1:00 PM
(210 min.)
Community and Social Services
staff help you overcome
obstacles in your job search. Get
tips on where and how to find
job opportunities! Get tools to
help you get that job!. Adult Registration.
Bloody Words Book Talk
Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2009, 6:30
PM (60 min.)
Share your favorite ‘whodunnit’
authors and discover some new
ones too. Refreshments will be
served.
Adult - Registration.
Ottawa, and Haiti, also featuring The
Miss Afro Caribbean Teen 2008 and
present contestant for the 2009 title.
This will be taking place on July 18th,
2009 at Petrie Island starting from 12
noon to 8pm. This is a family event
filled with lots of entertainment fun
and excitement, with a diverse cultural
menu. We would like to inform our
multicultural community of this event,
to make it the success we envisioned.
Below is a poster of the event we would
appreciate if you would post it in your
paper. For more information please
contact Marlene Fraser-Fidelia at (613)
841-2006
Haiti En Fete
Beach Party
Location:Ile Petrie
Time:12:00PM Saturday, July 18th
The OSCAR - OUR 37th YEAR
Page 46
JULY/AUG 2009
CLASSY ADS
CLASSY ADS
are free for Old Ottawa South residents (except for businesses or for business activity) and must be submitted in writing to: The OSCAR, at the Old Firehall,
260 Sunnyside, or sent by email to [email protected] by the deadline. Your name and contact information (phone number or email address) must be
included. Only your contact info will appear unless you specify otherwise. The editor retains the right to edit or exclude submissions. The OSCAR takes no
responsibility for items, services or accurary. For business advertising inquiries, call 730-1058.
For Sale
Gas barbecue, Broil King, with push
button igniter and rolling cart, in very
good condition, $150. 613-521-4992
Accommodation
65 year old Grandmother looking to
relocate in the OOS or Glebe area to be
near family. Looking for a 2 bedroom
apartment, (preferably in a house).
Please call 730-4994.
----------------------------------------------Summertime Nanny Available Certified childcare services available
from experienced and conscientious
university student seeking full-time or
part-time employment over the summer.
Please call (613) 233-6460.
----------------------------------------------Professional,
experienced
ECE
accredited daycare provider with full
time space available to OOS families
starting September 2009. Come join
a fun, nurturing, safe, home daycare
environment. Daily routines consisting
of structured, stimulating indoor and
outdoor educational
programming. For more information
please email: learnwithtada@hotmail.
com
----------------------------------------------For rent: Mont Tremblant — spacious
3-bedroom condo, 1 km from hill.
Sleeps 10 (master bedroom - queen;
bedroom 2 - queen, double; bedroom 3
– two doubles). Three full bathrooms.
Fully equipped kitchen (dishwasher &
microwave). Balcony with gas BBQ.
Cable TV, VCR, DVD. Linens included.
Beach access. NO smoking/NO pets.
Call 613-730-3206.
----------------------------------------------FOR RENT: Three-bedroom cottage
near South Rustico/North Rustico on
Prince Edward Island. Located right on
beach, close to golf courses, lobster suppers, etc. Available for rent in June, July
and September. Call 730-5006 for more
information.
-----------------------------------------------Home to rent in Old Ottawa South. 3-4
bedrooms; 2 baths; newly renovated; 5
minutes from Carleton University and
close to all amenities. $1,700/month plus
utilities. 1 parking place. Available July
1, 2009. Tel: 613-730-0206.
Child Care
Caregiver available full-time through
July or part-time from August 1st. Light
cleaning, mending, and vegetarian
cooking if desired. Extensive experience
with children. References available.
Please call 613-219-3972. Start date and
schedule flexible.
----------------------------------------------In home day care provider (B.A. in
Child Development, E.C.E., 17 years
experience) has 2 full time spaces
available starting in Sept. 2009 for
children 18 months of age and older.
Activities include playgroups, library
outings, museums, parks, crafts, baking,
gardening, circle time and much more.
I provide a loving and nurturing home
environment where children experience
both intellectual and emotional growth
and find self-fulfillment in a small group
setting. Nutritious snacks and lunches
provided. References and Receipts. Call
Brenda Lee at 733 0608.
----------------------------------------------Childcare Spaces Available -Home
daycare provider in Old Ottawa South
provides outings, snacks, crafts, songs,
play and stories in a welcoming,
non-smoking environment. I am a
qualified teacher and mother of three,
with First Aid, CPR, and twelve years
daycare experience. Spaces available
immediately and in September.
613-730-0750
----------------------------------------------French Tutor: Patient, mature, fluently
bilingual De La Salle high school student
with a good sense of humour and high
marks in gifted French, interested in
tutoring French over the summer. I will
focus on the person’s particular needs,
i.e., conversation, grammar (I have
grammar books), reading, or writing
(including creative writing, in which I
have a special interest). I enjoy working
with kids and have a lot of experience
doing so, including in summer camp.
Contact Mado at 613 730-3251 or at
[email protected].
Looking For
Garden Help Wanted. Reliable and
knowledgeable individual required to
help with general weeding, pruning, and
planting. Approx. 1-2 hours per week
from now, through to the Fall. Possibility
of more hours initially, as required.
Tools and materials all provided. Rideau
Gardens location. Please e-mail David,
detailing your experience & hourly rate
at [email protected]
----------------------------------------------Looking For: Gently used Duplo blocks
made by Lego ,small wooden blocks and
wooden pull toys to be purchased for a
day care centre in rural Nepal. Please
call Tineke at 730 4963 or E.mail: tineke.
[email protected]
Found
On Saturday May 23rd, “Laura’s”
NORCO bike was abandoned at the
corner of Glenview Ave and Avenue
Rd.. If you are “Laura” and would like it
back, please call 613-794-8769.
----------------------------------------------I found a set of three keys at windsor
park on June 15th. Sens House key, ski
key and bike lock key(?) with caribeaner
and other key chain. Anyone wishing to
claim them may call Jennifer at 613 878
0983.
Look out for Turtles!
Turtle S.H.E.L.L. Tortue
S
pring is here and once again,
turtles are emerging from their
winter hibernation. Many of
the slow moving critters will attempt
the extremely hazardous trek across
roads and highways in search of food
and nesting sites. Unfortunately, a
turtle’s thin shell is no match for
motor vehicles. Highway fatalities are
devastating for turtle populations. In
Ontario, we are lucky to have all eight
of Canada’s native turtle species. Sadly,
seven of these species (the Spotted,
Wood, Blanding’s, Eastern Spiny
Softshell, Common Musk Common
Map and Snapping Turtles) have been
classified by provincial and national
authorities, as endangered, threatened,
or of special concern. The good news
is that there are now 700 turtle crossing
signs installed on highways throughout
Ontario, thanks to the dedication and
efforts of Turtle S.H.E.L.L Tortue (a
registered charitable organization). You,
as caring citizens, can help by paying
close attention to the road and shoulders
in these designated turtle crossing areas
and near any water-bordering areas
from April to September.
If you do happen to see a turtle
(which may resemble an oddly shaped
rock) and if you are able to stop safely,
then you can help prevent a turtle
fatality. There is likely nothing wrong
with a turtle on the road, do not return
it to water, take it home, or take it
somewhere that seems safer to release
it. Smaller turtles can be picked up
and carried to the side of the road and
placed in the direction that they were
heading. Do not turn a turtle around
as it will simply try to cross the road
again: they know where they are going!
Snapping turtles or larger specimens
should be grasped by the base of the
tail and gently pulled backwards, or
rolled over onto their backs, onto a mat,
cardboard, blanket or shovel. The jaws
should be avoided, since turtles, like
other animals, can deliver a nasty bite,
when they feel threatened.
If the turtle is injured it can be
brought to any one of the nineteen
turtle drop-off locations listed on our
website
(www.turtleshelltortue.org).
These turtles will then receive the
necessary treatment at the Turtle Care
Centre and be rehabilitated for eventual
safe release back into the wild. It is
important to record the exact location
SUMMER CAMP
Holistic fun! Ages 6-14,
one week sessions, full days.
Games, math, media literacy,
physical activity, social justice, arts, more!
Awesome instructor(s).
613-656-5498
www.EquitableEducation.ca
where the turtle was found, so that it
can be returned to its original territory.
If no distinct landmarks are present,
record your odometer reading at the
rescue site and then again at the nearest
intersection. Keep the turtle in a quiet,
dry and cool place during transport and
do not provide any food or water for
the time being. Survival rate for turtles
brought to the centre is 95%.
Turtles are long lived, and some
species, such as Snapping Turtles, have
survived over 60 years in the wild!
By rescuing a turtle you not only help
increase its life span and the survival
of the next generation of turtles you
also contribute to the preservation
of a healthy ecosystem in your
neighborhood.
JOHN GRANT
RENOVATIONS * RESTORATIONS
Homes, Apartments, Kitchens, Bathrooms,
Basements,
Shops, Restaurants, Offices
25 YEARS EXPERIENCE
WE ARE CARING,
CREATIVE CRAFTSMEN
Call John
Day: 613-294-6441
Eve: 613-623-6441
The OSCAR - OUR 37th YEAR
JULY/AUG 2009
Your
Marketplace
ENVIRONMENTALLYFRIENDLY CLEANING
Homes, offices, move in / out,
pre-sale, construction sites
HOUSE HELP
CALL 729-2751
A
Rent
Wife Household Organizers
“Every working woman needs a wife!”
Regular & Occasional cleaning
Pre & Post move cleaning and packing
Pre & Post renovation cleaning
Blitz & Spring cleaning
Organizing cupboards, basements...
Perhaps a waitress ???
rent-a-wife-ottawa.com
Laurel 749-2249
Gibbon’s Painting and Decorating
Local House Painter - Bonded
With 20 years experience
• interior/exterior painting
Customer satisfaction
ALWAYS GUARANTEED
For a free estimate please call Rory 731-8079
Ask about my $25 referral rebate
Book now for your
interior/exterior painting needs
www.gibbonspainting.ca
cell: 613-322-0109
RELIABLE QUALITY CARE
RPN (38 years experience)
Relief for Family Caregiver
Private Duty
Palliative Care Provided
By Michael Moynahan
730-4957
Cell: 240-9394
Extra Mile Renovations
Quality bathrooms, kitchens,
porches & more
Trim work, installations, plumbing,
electric, doors, fixtures
Local Renovator Creative Solutions
Reasonable Prices
References Available
Please call (613) 297-8079
Page 47
Page 48
The OSCAR
- OUR 37th YEAR
JULY/AUG 2009