Herongate Call for Gardening Donations – March 20

Our environment people work on the “bring your own tools” model for our projects (we don’t have storage space), but we do welcome donations of soil, rocks, leaves in the fall, money, etc. to Champlain Park projects. However, we’re happy to encourage the Herongate people in their gardening work, so if you have some extra old tools…

Subject: Call for gardening donations
Date: Mon, 14 Mar 2022 15:35:51 +0000 (UTC)
From: Herongate Tenant Coalition <herongatetc@gmail.com>
To: Champlain Park Community Association <champlainpark@gmail.com>

Dear Champlain Park Community Association,
Please share far and wide with your members in Ottawa!

Do you have gardening supplies like tools, stakes, or seeds lying around you aren’t using anymore? Support Herongate gardeners by dropping off gardening supplies on Sunday, March 20th between 10:00 AM and 5:00 PM at the corner of Baycrest Drive and Cedarwood Drive.
Continue reading “Herongate Call for Gardening Donations – March 20” →

Talk on Depaving, Building a Forest and Pollinator Garden – March 10

Thursday, March 10th – Daniel Buckles, of Champlain Park, will outline how the community turned a paved street into a model forest and a pollinator garden. The project won the 2020 award from the Society for Organic Urban LandCare in recognition of its benefits to local wildlife, the urban forest and public engagement.

Join the Riverview Park Community Association on Zoom for a virtual presentation from 7:00pm – 8:00pm on the date shown above. Each presentation will be followed by a short Q & A. To attend, please register by sending a message to forpgsottawa@gmail.com A link to the Zoom meeting will be mailed out to all registered participants a day before each session.

Their community association: https://riverviewparkca.com/
FORPGS stands for Friends of Riverview Park Green Spaces. They’re on Facebook.
The event was also mentioned in the Riverview Park Review – February 2022.

The Royal Mental Hygiene Challenge

From https://mailchi.mp/theroyal/mental-hygiene-challenge, #MentalHygieneChallenge

Joining us is easy! Just take 10 minutes every day throughout March 2022 to do simple, research-based activities that support your mental health. These 10 minutes can be done all at once, or broken up into shorter intervals – it’s up to you!

It’s fun, it’s free, and no special equipment or skills are needed.

a list of mental hygiene practices that are easy to do, recommended by mental health experts at The Royal
a free digital calendar to track your progress
links to helpful resources and how-to videos
an invitation to our virtual launch event on March 1 to help inspire and motivate you!

The goal here, of course, is to see how you feel after 31 days of practice. And who knows? The small changes you make might be the beginning of a big boost for your mental wellness.

Also see The Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre Facebook Group for the Challenge.

Here is a nugget of information from their Good hygiene for your mental health article:

Start your own your mental hygiene practice today

Guillaume Tremblay recommends spending at least ten minutes every day doing one of the following activities. (Pro tip: if you choose an activity you enjoy – and do it at a time that fits your schedule – you are much more likely to stick with it over the long term.)

Meditation or mindfulness exercises (there are many free apps and podcasts to guide you)

Focused deep breathing

“Prosocial” prayer (with themes of thanksgiving, praying for others, gratitude)

Journaling (writing about positive experiences or expressing gratitude)

A walk in a natural setting

You can also combine activities, such as taking a walk in the woods while thinking about the things for which you are grateful or listening to an “eyes open” mindfulness meditation. As Tremblay writes: “These kinds of deliberate and intentional exercises foster cognitive patterns conducive to well-being.”

Crossing Guards Needed

Subject: Urgent Need for Crossing Guards in Champlain Park
Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2022 18:00:41 +0000
From: stephanie dotto <stephanie.dotto@ottawasafetycouncil.ca>

Good Afternoon,

I am with the Ottawa Safety Council, the local non-profit that runs the Crossing Guard program and I need your support. We are currently experiencing a guard shortage and reaching out to the community for help in keeping our kids safe. This directly impacts your residents as we risk not having crossing guards to keep children and other members of your community safe during the hectic time before and after school. We think your members would make great Crossing Guards and it’s a fantastic way to give back to the community while supplementing ones income.
Continue reading “Crossing Guards Needed” →

Occupation and Hintonburg

From the Hintonburg Community Association via Jeff Leiper’s newsletter #297:

In the last week we have heard some very troubling reports of residents in Hintonburg being harassed on the street and feeling unsafe. We were made aware of incidents Thursday & Friday at our primary schools.

Since Tuesday the Hintonburg Community Association has started some evening walks in the community and Friday we had a presence near each of our primary schools. We are providing extra eyes on the street and a quiet presence on the street at certain times of the day with our Walks for Safety.

If you have some time to help for an hour or so over the next few weeks, we would appreciate your help. Please contact the HCA at info@hintonburg.com.

If you witness or are aware of any illegal activity being committed by convoy participants or organizers, please report them to the following: Police 613-236-1222, x7502 (dispatch); x5015 (Hate crime hotline); x7300 (file a report); ottawapolice.ca. Call 311 for any by-law issues.

Carlington Community Health Centre Nominations

via Heather…

Subject: Call for Nominations
Date: Fri, 4 Feb 2022 16:05:28 +0000
From: Communications <communications@carlingtonchc.org>

Carlington Community Health Centre’s Governance & Internal Affairs Committee has put out a call for nominations for candidates for election to the Board of Directors at our AGM in June.
Continue reading “Carlington Community Health Centre Nominations” →

Electronic Waste Collection at Van Lang Field House – January 22, 29

From our city councillor Jeff Leiper’s January 15 2022 newsletter:

Westboro/Westboro Beach electronics waste drop-off

Thanks to Charlotte at Nepean High School who has organized a waste electronics drop-off as part of her environmental science class. The drop-offs will be at the Van Lang field house (29 Van Lang – next to 303 Churchill N.) on January 22 from 1-4 and on January 29 from 11-1:30. They’ll be collecting items such as flash drives, phones, MP3 players, laptops, mic, speakers, DVD players and more. Write to ewastedropoff22@gmail.com with your questions and follow @electronicwastewestboro on Instagram for updates. See the full poster here.

The Passing of Amy Steele (Kempster)

On the night of January 16, Amy Steele (Kempster) passed away at the Colonel By Retirement Home, where she had been residing since mid-2021. Amy, who lived at 118 Clearview Ave. for many years, had been a stalwart leader, whose goal was to help (frequently nudge in the right direction!) Champlain Park and all of Ottawa to become the best places to make a home. During her long lifetime of community engagement, her volunteer positions included President of the CPCA, Co-president of the FCA, and Co-chair of the Greenspace Alliance. Among her many awards were the Mayor’s Award for Volunteer Service in 1999 and the 2014 Lifetime Achievement award from the FCA. In 2014 the CPCA presented Amy with an Award for her 30 years of volunteer service with our community. The Amy’s corner web page is here: https://champlainpark.org/amys-corner/

Amy has always been an inspiration and a passionate defender of neighbourhoods and the environment.

Amy touched many lives. We will miss her.

Greening the Neighbourhood Podcast

Date: Sat, 15 Jan 2022 18:00:42 -0500
From: DANIEL BUCKLES <dbuckles@sas2.net>

Greening the Neighbourhood

David Paré of Ottawa South has produced a delightful podcast series on “Decarbonizing Ottawa,” that highlights the actions people in our city are taking to do their part to overcome the climate crisis: https://anchor.fm/david-pare

A recent episode (Greening the Neighbourhood) features Champlain Park, starting with the de-paving of a section of Pontiac Avenue and continuing with our wonderful pollinator garden and “tiny forests.” Have listen to this, or other podcats on topics ranging from the National Healing Forests Initiative to Going Electric (pros and cons).