Our Field House is Open

After much discussion with city staff, the Champlain Park Community Association Board has decided that the field house will be open again for activities.

Other City of Ottawa recreation facilities are open and since a number of Covid-19 requirements have been dropped, that made it difficult for us to operate as a volunteer-run facility, the time is right to open things up after being closed for 2.5 years.

This means regular clubs that met pre-COVID as well as those booking for a one-time event (birthday party, baby shower, etc) can now proceed. (If you need to make a booking see the field house request form https://champlainpark.org/park/fieldhouse/).
Continue reading “Our Field House is Open” →

Interac Payment of Membership Fees

A Reminder Regarding Membership Fees:

For those of you who want to pay your membership fees by Interac e-transfer, send them to: financescpca@gmail.com (no password is needed as this is set up for auto deposit).

Please make sure to include: your name, street address and email in the message area. This is essential for us to track payments and know where to deliver membership cards.

Jennie Hornosty, Membership Coordinator

2022 Membership Drive Handout v7.pdf

Naturehood Club Fall Bird Walks

Upcoming Outings

Fall Bird Walks

Date: Tuesday mornings (September 13- ?)
Time: 7:00 AM – 7:45 AM
Location: Pollinator Garden (north end of Carleton Avenue)
Leader: Jennifer Neate

Description:
As we move into September and the days grow shorter, the fall migrants are starting to travel through Champlain Park. Come out and meet some of the resident and migrant birds of your naturehood on this family-friendly outing. Fall birds are notoriously challenging to identify with their faded plumage and lack of song. So, prepare to put your powers of observation to the test as we attempt to locate and identify migrants as they prepare for their long journey south. Bring your curiosity, a set of binoculars and a bird field guide, if you have one.

Registration is not required but if you would like to be notified of cancellations due to weather, feel free to send an email to jen@spiritwalkers.ca with the subject: “Naturehood Outing.” You may also email me if you would like to be added to the Naturehood Club list to be informed of future events.

Lost Keys

From Len:

It appears someone found lost keys and left them on the fence post at Pontiac/Northwestern. There appears to be keys/fobs for 3 vehicles. I’m not sure if the association has a lost and found or a way to advertise that the keys were found, assuming that they’re still there (we saw them on Sunday).

Heritage Oak Legacy Project

As many of you know, a “Champlain Oak” some 170 years old (pre-confederation) was lost on Patricia Avenue following the “derecho” storm in May, 2022. A link to the full story of “The Party Tree” is here: https://www.champlainoaks.net/post/ode-to-the-party-tree.

Some of the wood from the tree was “rescued,” with the help of many neighbours. It has been milled for future projects, once it has dried.

In the meantime, you can have a piece of the legacy in the form of a slab from the milled lumber (picture above). The slabs come in various lengths (2 feet to 6 feet), widths (4-8 inches) and thicknesses (2-4 inches), including bark.

With a minimum of work, they can be converted into a charcuterie cheese board, coat rack, key-holder, or wood feature in your house or yard (oak will last many years outdoors).

All residents of Champlain Park are welcome to pick one up, on a first come, first served basis. Text me at 613-807-8048. A donation would be welcome, and go towards a nursery for replacement with seedlings from remaining Champlain Oaks in the neighbourhood.

Daniel Buckles

Membership Drive 2022 – A Few More Volunteers Needed

Urgently needed: Volunteers

Thanks to those who have already contacted me. But we still need an additional 4-5 new canvas volunteers to assist with the membership drive.

It’s a fun and easy way to meet more neighbours.

What’s involved: a few hours of your time (usually late afternoon or evening or on weekends).

Visit about 20 houses on a designated street in the neighbourhood to collect fees and provide neighbours with a one-page handout that highlights the various activities of the Association.

Our canvas volunteers are the core of our Champlain Park Community Association fundraising efforts. Revenues collected enable a variety of community association activities.

If you are able to help or want more information, please contact: Jennie Hornosty (membership coordinator) at email: champlainpark@gmail.com with the subject line: membership drive.

Champlain Bridge Construction Work

Here’s the key part of a recent press release from the NCC, note that the bridge will be closed for a few days, then have reduced lanes available. The NCC rehabilitation info is at https://ncc-ccn.gc.ca/projects/champlain-bridge-rehabilitation

Champlain Bridge rehabilitation and bike lane improvements

The National Capital Commission (NCC) is planning some rehabilitation work on the Champlain Bridge starting in August 2022 and resuming in spring 2023.

The bridge, originally built between 1924 and 1928, has not undergone major reconstruction since it was widened to a three-lane crossing in 2002. Currently, various components of the bridge require rehabilitation as part of life cycle repair and maintenance to efficiently maintain the crossing. The planned work will include improvements to the cycling lanes to ensure continued safety and a better access for cyclists as well as major repairs and repaving of the bridge

What to expect:

The initial phase of work for this project will begin on August 16 and should be completed by th end of November.
August 16-18: There will be a full closure of the bridge overnight on August 16, 17 and 18, from 10 pm to 5 am, for equipment installation. The sidewalk will remain open to pedestrians.
As of August 17: There will be one vehicular lane open in each direction between August and November 2022.
A dedicated multi-use path on the bridge will be in place for pedestrians and cyclists throughout the entire construction project.
Clear signage will be in place to help users get around the construction area.

Flag persons will be present at various locations to direct traffic. We ask that users exercise caution, respect working crews, and obey signage and flag personnel.

Transport Canada Public Notice

A public notice was submitted by the NCC to Transport Canada for information. The Champlain Bridge rehabilitation project will not have an impact on navigation on the Ottawa River. The public may view the posting by visiting the Transport Canada registry.

Restoring Native Biodiversity

The Daniel Avenue turkey (A.K.A. the Patricia Avenue turkey) has delighted our front and back yard vistas all summer long, another sign of native biodiversity coming back to life in Champlain Park. Last summer a deer spent a month or so grazing the same area, rabbits abound everywhere, and we have enjoyed glimpses of foxes here and there. The ground hogs are not as much fun, or the occasional skunk, but overall relatively harmless creatures if left alone.

More widely appreciated are the trees and gardens along the de-paved section of Pontiac Avenue, and in various fragments of the NCC forest (A.K.A. the Champlain Woodlands). To celebrate these spaces, the Environment Committee has installed a sign at the ball diamond. The piece of wood is from the same Grandmother oak tree removed in 2011 from Northwestern Avenue that also graces the outside wall of the Field House (the dated cookie). The tree was a sapling in 1857, a decade before Canada became a country.

Sebastian Hadjiantoniou from Daniel Avenue created the sign while Mark Hartley of Clearview Avenue built the stand (and the earlier installation on the Field House). Our stalwart captain of engineering works, Kris Phillips of Northwestern Avenue dug the hole and poured the cement base. Daniel Buckles (Daniel on Daniel) launched the project, donated the wood and stickhandled the various bureaucracies to get it done.

Heartfelt thanks to the Champlain Park Community Association for important financial and administrative support, and to the office of Councillor Jeff Leiper, where a solution to the permissions puzzle was found. The City of Ottawa provided funding for tree planting on the various terraces, as did the the Ottawa family of Peter Sims (1980-2021), a committed climate activist.

We hope you are enjoying the trees and gardens this summer, along with the flowering and edible planters. The sign is intended to give local residents and the many people that pass through our community a bit of the story behind restoring native biodiversity in Champlain Park.

Star Gazing – Reminder

A reminder that Star Gazing in the Park will be this Saturday at 8pm, or Sunday if it’s raining. See the main post for details.

Little Forest and Pollinator Garden Tour – August 14

Tree and Garden Tour in Champlain Park

Sunday, August 14, 3:00 to 5:00 PM

Join John Arnason (Ethnobotanist), Owen Clarkin (Tree specialist), and Daniel Buckles (Community animator) for a tour of the pollinator gardens, “tiny forests,” and nearby woodlands of Champlain Park in Kitchissippi. Talks on plants, policies and the passion for nature.

Starts at 3:00 PM at the Field House, facing 150 Cowley Avenue.

Note: Outdoor event, physical distancing, masked or unmasked. Wear long pants and shoes, if you want to check out the trees in the forest.