Recycle your Christmas Tree at Champlain Park

Recycle your 🌲 Tree at the Champlain Park Baseball Diamond, anytime in January!!

Give your old Christmas tree a ‘second life’ by donating it to the Kichi Sibi Winter Trail. Trees will be used to create wind breaks and safety barriers/cordons at various locations along the Winter Trail at Remic Rapids. Trees can be brought to the North East corner of the Champlain Park baseball diamond anytime in January, 2023. The Winter Trail team will then make sure they get to where they are needed.

[Christmas trees stacked up against the baseball diamond fence at Champlain Park, Ottawa, ready for a bonfire or windbreak]

Thank you from the Kichi Sibi Winter Trail Team, and happy skiing!

Rink: Call for Support

Champlain Park Outdoor Rink – call for community support!

Hello Champlain Park residents and friends,

We’re happy to let you know that the Champlain Park Community Association (CPCA) will be taking on the task of building and maintaining the Champlain Park outdoor rink for the 2022/23 season. A huge thanks to our neighbours, Paul O’Blenes and Rod Gillyatt, who have volunteered as rink maintenance coordinators this year! Both worked with Matt during the past two years.

We’re also grateful to Aimee Ferron, who is taking on the rink supervision contract again, as she has done for the past two years.

We are looking for volunteers for both Maintenance and Supervision (separate duties).

[Rink as of 20200117, now flooded and actually frozen]
Continue reading “Rink: Call for Support” →

Community Sleigh Ride Cancelled!

Some bad news – the sleigh ride is cancelled!

Jim got a call from sleigh-owner regarding the sleigh ride tomorrow. As feared he is not comfortable coming downtown with his horse rig with the imminent snow storm tomorrow evening. This happened twice before. He was most apologetic, and he looks forward to the winter carnival date, but will not be coming tomorrow.

Community Sleigh Ride – December 22 Reminder

Sorry, but due to bad weather, the sleigh ride has been cancelled.

The Sleigh Ride takes off December 22, with horses, sing-along!

Thursday, December 22nd, 2022 at 6:00PM

[Sleigh ride horses stopped outside Santa's house, photo by Joyce Mortimer, December 2019]

The annual horse-drawn sleigh ride is back and arrives just before Christmas, a lovely start to the school holidays. Special thanks to Jim Cocks, volunteer organizer, and to the Wellington West BIA for sponsoring the ride. The sleigh ride will wind through the neighbourhood and there will, of course, be a sing-along of holiday carols. Feel free to bring bells or other instruments. There is a rumour Santa may stop by. Best be there to find out!

The sleigh will be available for several rides and will start at the front of the fieldhouse at 140 Cowley at 6pm. To ensure everyone can ride the sleigh and manage overcrowding and safety issues, the first sleigh ride will prioritize young children, their caregivers, seniors and anyone needing assistance. Then there will be the main sleigh ride through the neighbourhood and of course all interested are encouraged to walk behind the sleigh and sing holiday carols. The sleigh will continue to be available for several more rides to accommodate all. Poor weather sometimes cancels the sleigh, so best to check the website for last-minute updates.

Hot chocolate will be served inside and outside at the Fieldhouse. Feel free to bring Christmas cookies or snacks. If you’re able to volunteer to help with the sleigh ride or Fieldhouse set up, clean up, hot chocolate, please contact Jim Cocks at jim.co@sympatico.ca.

To accommodate COVID considerations, please note these proposed precautions:

  • Ottawa public health guidelines will be followed. Ottawa public health recommends wearing a mask in crowded and indoor spaces. To note the ride is outdoors with an open sleigh and the Fieldhouse will be open for refreshments.
  • Several tours of the neighbourhood are planned to avoid overcrowding and there is a limit to the sleigh capacity: first tour would prioritize young children, their caregivers, seniors and anyone needing assistance, second tour open to all, third and/or a subsequent tour could be for only masked participants if there is a demand (to ensure choice for those being more cautious).

Happy holidays.

Daybreak Housing Fundraiser – Successful

A message from Laurie Fagan about the fundraiser:

Well neighbours, you did it!

All 47 residents at Daybreak Housing will receive a drugstore gift card with their homemade cookie bundles this Christmas.

I didn’t doubt for a minute the generosity of residents here in Champlain Park. A huge thank you to all those who contributed – you truly are kind.

On behalf of the residents I wish you all a wonderful, joyous holiday season. 2023 is going to be great.

Laurie Fagan

Daybreak Housing Fundraiser

A message from Laurie Fagan:

As a board member of Day Break housing I reached out to our community to donate a $20 gift card for either Shoppers Drug Mart or Rexall for the 47 residents live in Daybreak houses (one on the edge of Champlain Park).

I was blown away by this community’s generosity and I have received 30 gift cards so far.

If you want to help us reach our goal we have 17 cards left to go. You can purchase the cards and contact me to drop them off. If you can’t make it to either store I can purchase them for you if you drop off the funds.

My email is: lauriefagan59@gmail.com

Thanks again – the spirit of giving is alive in our small community.

Be Fraud-Aware this Holiday Season

As we head into the holiday season, Ottawa Police Service, in partnership with 211, is reminding residents to be cautious of scams preying on your honesty, trust, good nature and sometimes fear. If it’s too good to be true, it probably is. When in doubt, check it out – do your research.

Never feel pressured to provide information or make a financial contribution right away. In Ottawa, you can call 211 to speak to someone who can help you figure out if something is a scam,

IMPORTANT: If you’ve been a victim of fraud and lost money in a transaction, please report the incident to the Ottawa Police Service online reporting or by calling our Police Reporting Unit at 613-236-1222, extension 7300.

Common scams circulating right now include:
• Merchandise scams
• Emergency (aka “Grannie”) scams
• Canada Revenue Agency scams
• Tech support and Refund scams

If you’re not sure if something is a scam call or not, here are a few tips:
• Hang up. If someone says they are calling from a reputable organization, like your banking institution, you should be able to contact your banking institution and verify the caller’s information or claim.
• Call 211 or phone a friend! Don’t be embarrassed! It’s becoming harder and harder to tell what is legitimate and what is a scam. 211 Ontario has a wealth of fraud prevention information and can help point you in the right direction if you need additional resources or support.
• Check out the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre’s website or call them at 1-888-495-8501. They have up-to-date information on the latest scams and how to report them.

For more information, visit the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre.

Community Sleigh Ride – December 22

Sorry, but due to bad weather, the sleigh ride has been cancelled.

The Sleigh Ride takes off December 22, with horses, sing-along!

Thursday, December 22nd, 2022 at 6:00PM

[Sleigh ride horses stopped outside Santa's house, photo by Joyce Mortimer, December 2019]

The annual horse-drawn sleigh ride is back and arrives just before Christmas, a lovely start to the school holidays. Special thanks to Jim Cocks, volunteer organizer, and to the Wellington West BIA for sponsoring the ride. The sleigh ride will wind through the neighbourhood and there will, of course, be a sing-along of holiday carols. Feel free to bring bells or other instruments. There is a rumour Santa may stop by. Best be there to find out!

The sleigh will be available for several rides and will start at the front of the fieldhouse at 140 Cowley at 6pm. To ensure everyone can ride the sleigh and manage overcrowding and safety issues, the first sleigh ride will prioritize young children, their caregivers, and seniors. Then there will be several more rides to accommodate all. Feel free to walk behind the sleigh. Details on the route and exact times will be posted on the website closer to the date. Poor weather sometimes cancels the sleigh, so best to check the website for last-minute updates.

Hot chocolate will be served at the Fieldhouse. Feel free to bring Christmas cookies or snacks. If you’re able to volunteer to help with the sleigh ride or Fieldhouse set up, clean up, hot chocolate, please contact Jim Cocks at jim.co@sympatico.ca.

To accommodate COVID considerations, please note these proposed precautions:

  • Ottawa public health guidelines will be followed. Ottawa public health recommends wearing a mask in crowded and indoor spaces. To note the ride is outdoors with an open sleigh and the Fieldhouse will be open for refreshments.
  • Several tours of the neighbourhood are planned to avoid overcrowding: first tour would prioritize small children, second tour open to all, third and/or a subsequent tour could be for only masked participants if there is a demand (to ensure choice for those being more cautious).

Happy holidays.

Webinar featuring our Pollinator Garden – November 29

Champlain Park’s experience with the pollinator garden and community forests will be featured tomorrow, Tuesday, November 29 in a webinar series for the Year of the Ecological Garden, hosted by the Society for Organic Urban Land Care (SOUL). Champlain Park received an award for its work from SOUL earlier in 2022.

Tickets are free upon registration at the SOUL website: https://organiclandcare.ca/2022_Series

Previous presentations on a wide range of gardening topics are also posted to the site, which contains a wealth of experience from across North America, on topics ranging from urban agriculture, ecological turf care, greener greenspaces, etc.

Cheers, Daniel Buckles (the speaker for tomorrow).

Found Child’s Knitted Hat

Late breaking news from Laura…

On 2022-11-28 11:02, Laura wrote:
> Thanks so much, […]! I just got a call and someone is going to pick it up!

From Laura…

We found this hat on the sidewalk in front of our house (middle block of Cowley Avenue) and left it out on the edge of our yard for a few days, but no one picked it up. By then it was pretty soggy and sad looking, so we washed it. I’ve printed up this poster (attached) to staple to a few nearby poles, […]


20221128 Hat FOUND.pdf