ACNA April 2014 Newsletter

Alpine Community Neighbourhood Association

ACNA NEWSLETTER April 2014
CONTACTS: President of ACNA, Graham Jeffery, 519-578-9603, gwjeffery@rogers.com or Vice President of ACNA Anne Zeiger - azeiger@rogers.com Website: http://alpine-cna.blogspot.com/ Alpine Community
Neighbourhood Learn More About the ION Rapid Transit Project. Association At our May 6th meeting (7:00pm at Alpine Public School) we will have a presentation about the progress of Rapid Transit construction, given by a representative from the Region of Waterloo.
This presentation will provide details about construction for the light rail streetcars that will run through Waterloo and Kitchener and the bus rapid transit that will go from Kitchener into Cambridge. Feel free to come out and find out more about this important regional transportation project.
Earth Day Community Cleanup - Saturday April 26th, 2014 After a long winter, all the rubbish tossed on our public areas appears as if by magic. So, in neighbourhoods across Kitchener, groups of people get together each Spring to clean it up. It's amazing how much garbage there is out there once you go looking for it, and it's so much better when the trash has been picked up and taken away. Our annual ACNA Community Cleanup of public spaces will take place on Saturday April 26th, between 9:00 am and 12:30 pm. We will have bags, gloves, water, and snacks, as well as gift items for participants! Meet us behind Alpine Public School for your supplies and then head out to Alpine Park, along the edge of the roads, and under the power lines to pick up items. Drop off the bagged trash at the school and we will take it away. If the weather is nasty on the Saturday, we will meet on Sunday the 27th. Look to our blog and Facebook pages for a rain date announcement if the weather looks bad. Either day, we look forward to seeing you there.
R031714
Alpine Community Neighbourhood Association Newsletter Apr. 2014 Contact: Graham Jeffery, 519-578-9603, gwjeffery@rogers.com or Anne Zeiger - azeiger@rogers.com
Page 1 of 6
Community Garage Sale - June 7th, 2014 A good way to attract garage sale buyers is to have many garage sales in the same neighbourhood at the same time. We encourage you to sell your stuff on Saturday June 7th. We will promote the sale through ads on Kijiji and posters in the neighbourhood. In the past we have had as many as 30 sales on the announced day. If we expect bad weather, we will reschedule to the following Saturday, June 14th. Our blog and Facebook will keep you informed. Country Hills Recreation Association - So Much for People to Enjoy! The Country Hills Recreation Association (CHRA) provides affordable, low cost recreational and educational programs and events, just a very short distance away from our ACNA area. They operate out of the Country Hills Community Centre at 100 Rittenhouse Road, not far from the intersection of Strasburg and Block Line. Most of their services are provided at the Community Center, including... - Programs for children of all ages, like activities for preschoolers and, for the older kids and teens, fun with cooking, drama, floor hockey, basketball and much more. - Programs for adults, like yoga, pilates and other types of exercise and sports. - The winter outdoor rink at the Community Center. - Community events, like their Family Fun Day on April 27th and their Garage Sale on June 21st. There's much, much more. To get a better idea of what the CHRA can do for you and your family, see their newsletter at: http://www.kitchener.ca/en/livinginkitchener/resources/CC_CHRA_Spring_2014_ Newsletter.pdf You can also follow them on Facebook "Country Hills Recreation Association".
Our Annual General Meeting (and Other Upcoming Meetings) Our May meeting, on Tuesday May 6th - 7:00pm, at Alpine Public School is also our Annual General Meeting. We will be electing our 2014 - 2015 executive team on that date. All residents of the Alpine area are eligible to come out and vote. Our following meetings will be Tuesday June 3rd, 7:00pm at Alpine Public School and (after the summer break) Tuesday September 9th, 7:00pm at Country Hills Community Center. All are welcome at any of our meetings.
Page 2 of 6
Dear Ward 6 Residents, Wishing you a healthy and happy spring and summer! As your representative on City of Kitchener C ouncil, Im committed to fostering healthy, vibrant and safe neighbourhoods in Ward 6. I strongly value the diversity and quality of life of my Ward residents. Road conditions are vital to keeping our community moving safely. This winter has been one of the most difficult in many years. The harsh temperature fluctuations have wreaked havoc on road asphalt conditions. Although city crews regularly patrol streets to identify potholes and other road deficiencies, potholes can develop on a daily basis due to extreme temperature fluctuations and lows. We appreciate your help in identifying locations that require attention so they may be repaired in a timely manner. Pothole complaints are addressed on both a priority and a scheduling basis. If you have noticed a pothole on your street or in the neighbourhood, you may follow these tips in reporting a pothole to assist our operations staff with expediting the repair work. First, provide the precise location of the pothole by taking note of the nearest intersecting street(s) and address if possible. Then, describe the location and size of the pothole on the roadway (e.g. eastbound centre lane, or westbound curb lane.) Reporting can be made through our Corporate Contact Centre at 519-741-2345, or you may e-mail me directly and I will pass along your complaint to staff. Help nominate a worthy individual for Salute To Seniors award. Do you know someone age 50+ who makes a difference in the community and deserves to be recognized? Perhaps theyre a dependable volunteer or a role model? Maybe theyre an entrepreneur helping to shape Kitcheners future; or they could be someone committed to helping others through acts of kindness. If you know such a person, wed like to hear about them! Nomination forms can be completed online at www.kitchener.ca/salute. The deadline for all nominations is Monday, April 14, 2014. If you happen to miss the deadline, please e-mail me the name and address of the person you wanted recognized and it would be my honour to send them a special certificate recognizing their contribution to the community. Please feel free to voice your input or concerns, you can reach me at the office 519-741-2793, by email paul.singh@kitchener.ca, or follow me on Twitter @paulsinghward6. If you prefer to meet and chat in person, I am still available on the third Wednesday of each month at the Chandler-Mowat Community Centre from 6:30-7:15pm, and the Country Hills Community Centre between 7:308:30pm. This is a great opportunity to discuss your ideas, concerns and suggestions. Sincerely,
Councillor Paul Singh Ward 6

Page 3 of 6
PONDERISMS
I used to eat a lot of natural foods until I learned that most people die of natural causes. Gardening Rule: When weeding, the best way to make sure you are removing a weed and not a valuable plant is to pull on it. If it comes out of the ground easily, it is a valuable plant. The easiest way to find something lost around the house is to buy a replacement. Never take life seriously. Nobody gets out alive anyway. There are two kinds of pedestrians: the quick and the dead. Life is sexually transmitted. Health is merely the slowest possible rate at which one can die. The only difference between a rut and a grave is the depth. Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday, lying in hospitals dying of nothing. Have you noticed since everyone has a phone camera these days no one talks about seeing UFOs like they used to? Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again. All of us could take a lesson from the weather. It pays no attention to criticism. In the 60's, people took acid to make the world weird. Now the world is weird and people take Prozac to make it normal. How is it one careless match can start a bush fire, but it takes a whole box to start a campfire? Who was the first person to look at a cow and say, "I think I'll squeeze these dangly things here, and drink whatever comes out?" Who was the first person to say, "See that chicken there? I'm gonna eat the next thing that comes outta its bum. Why is there a light in the fridge and not in the freezer? If quizzes are quizzical, what are tests? Do illiterate people get the full effect of Alphabet Soup? Did you ever notice that when you blow in a dog's face, he gets mad at you, but when you take him on a car ride, he sticks his head out the window? Why doesn't glue stick to the inside of the bottle?
...............submitted by Dennis Haid
Page 4 of 6
Roots of Empathy is Looking for Volunteers, and that Includes Babies! Since 1996, Roots of Empathy has been teaching children to identify and reflect on their own thoughts and feelings and those of others. This is a nation-wide program that runs in hundreds of schools, including many local Waterloo Region and Catholic elementary schools. In our region, it is the YWCA of Cambridge that administers the program. The Roots of Empathy experience is shown to have dramatic and lasting effects in terms of increased positive social behaviour (sharing, helping and including) and decreased aggression. At the heart of the program are classroom visits by an infant and parent, along with a qualified instructor who visits the classroom on a weekly basis. Through guided observations of this loving parent-baby relationship, children learn these lessons of empathy. Each school year, the program begins in early to mid-October and runs until early to late May. As such, we are always looking for volunteer families who have babies between the ages of 2 - 4 months by the beginning of October. Roots of Empathy babies may be young, but they are making a world of difference. If you are interested in becoming a volunteer family or instructor, please contact Heidi Vanstone or Mary Wright at 519-2676444. Learn more about this volunteer opportunity when you call and at www.rootsofempathy.org/ Volunteer... and Share a Smile! Community Support Connections provides much more than just Meals on Wheels. Their focus is on "Enabling people to live at home with independence and dignity." They've asked us to help them recruit volunteers for an important program... In their Friendly Visiting Program, friendly visitors provide one-to-one friendship and support to lonely and isolated seniors and disabled adults. Weekly 2-3 hour visits take place at the clients home, when they would otherwise be alone. Activities can include conversation, a shared hobby, playing board/card games and can even include a social outing. By giving as little as 2-3 hours of your time, you will: - Make a difference in YOUR community by decreasing social isolation and loneliness! - Play a key role in the well-being of seniors and disabled adults! - Gain new skills and experiences! - Meet new people and develop new friendships! To volunteer or for more information, please call 519-772-8787. Ask for Ann, Volunteer Coordinator at x205 or annr@communitysupportconnections.org. To learn more about this organization and/or to learn more about all their volunteer opportunities, please visit them at www.communitysupportconnections.org
Page 5 of 6
Some important numbers:

Emergency! - Call 911 if there is an immediate risk to the safety of people or property, like a crime in progress, medical emergency, fire, or serious motor vehicle collision. Call the police at 519-653-7700 for non-emergency situations, like theft from a vehicle, property damage where suspects have fled the scene, a motor vehicle collision where no injuries are reported, and general inquires. For Alpine Public School property issues, please call Bestel Security at 519-749-3838 For Our Lady of Grace School property issues, you can call the Catholic School Board facilities department at 519-578-3660 x 5555. What can you do to be more involved in your neighbourhood? - Come out to our monthly meetings. We enjoy getting together. We plan events, discuss issues of concern, exchange information. - Tell us what you want in this newsletter, suggest a topic, or write something yourself; perhaps an interesting story you want to share. - Pay a tribute to a special neighbour, through the newsletter, blog or Facebook page. - Get involved in our events - like our Earth Day Cleanup, or Halloween Food Drive. - Join our Facebook page and contribute there. - Help us deliver the newsletter. It's a volunteer effort! Four times a year and no more than a few dozen for each person to deliver. Call Graham at 519-578-9603 or email gwjeffery@rogers.com for details on any of these.
See More Of Us On Facebook We are on Facebook, and you can find us if you search "Alpine Community Neighbourhood Association". "Like" us to get our update postings. Facebook does not guarantee that all our postings will be delivered to your Home newsfeed, so to ensure you see more of our postings, you can: 1) "Like" the individual postings you do see, so Facebook knows you want to see more of them, or even better... 2) If you click the down arrow on the "Liked" button and then click "Get Notifications", you should get all of our postings. Alpine Community Neighbourhood Association - Who Are We? We are the neighbourhood association for the area bounded by Block Line Road, Homer Watson Blvd, Strasburg Road and Ottawa Street. Anybody living within these boundaries is welcome to join. We volunteer to ensure a better social, economic and business climate in the neighbourhood. We publish this newsletter, organize events, hold an annual food drive, provide our neighbours with useful information, and focus on problems in the neighbourhood. We meet once a month during the school year, usually the first Tuesday of each month, in the Alpine Public School library, at 7:00PM. Feel free to come to a meeting! For more information, call Graham Jeffery 519-578-9603.
Page 6 of 6

ACNA April 2014 Newsletter

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

ACNA April 2014 Newsletter

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Alpine Community Neighbourhood Association

Alpine Community Neighbourhood Association

Alpine Community Neighbourhood Association

Councillor Paul Singh Ward 6

Alpine Community Neighbourhood Association

...............submitted by Dennis Haid

Alpine Community Neighbourhood Association

Alpine Community Neighbourhood Association

Some important numbers:

You might also like