Glebe Report

A flash of yellow and black. Squabbling in small flocks around the feeder. That’s the male American Goldfinch, a colourful addition to the songbirds in our gardens. The male grows the bright yellow breeding plumage in the early spring and loses it again in the autumn.

Responding to the call of young people to take part in this year’s Global Climate Strike of the Fridays for Future (FFF) movement launched by Greta Thunberg, the Glebe Community Association’s Environment Committee aims to participate in Ottawa’s climate strike on September 24. “Let’s support the youth who have faced so many challenges over the past year,” says committee chair Della Wilkinson.

I have always believed that one of the Glebe’s biggest attractions are the majestic trees throughout the neighbourhood. At least that is what attracted me to start a new life here. Thirty years later, I now find that some of my old walking routes through the neighbourhood no longer offer the shady sidewalks they once did because many of our trees have grown old and been cut down. The Neighbourhood Canopy Regeneration Project aims to help restore the urban tree canopy.

Iva Apostolova believes that efforts to reduce, reuse and recycle need to start young.
“We humans are creatures of habit, like most other species on this planet, so I would say the only way to make a real difference is to develop good habits based on best practices early on in life.”

The Ottawa Bach Choir (OBC) is excited to welcome you to its 20th season of stunning choral music. Over the past 19 years, the professional ensemble has not only travelled the world and received national and international recognition, it also has many “firsts” to its credit, including a 2020 JUNO award.

When Abbotsford House connected by telephone and email with housebound seniors to do wellness checks during the pandemic, many mentioned food as a major concern. Abbotsford’s food hamper project was born!

Are you looking to join a community where you can meet new people, learn new things and hear from high-profile and engaging speakers? Come check out Seniors in Conversation, a weekly Zoom call every Tuesday morning between 10 and 11:30 a.m.

Since 2011, Pearls4Girls jewellery has been sold through Escape Clothing, the popular Glebe women’s clothing boutique. With ever-present support from store owners Leslie and Kenetha, Pearls4Girls and Escape Clothing hit a milestone this summer by raising $50,000 in sales of jewellery to support vulnerable girls in Lesotho in southern Africa!

GNAG staff continue to ramp up with great programs for the community despite the constant changes due to the pandemic. This fall, we have a wide range of in-person programs for all ages and interests. All participants in GNAG in-person programs and events will be required to provide proof of full vaccination. Online options continue as well, because who doesn’t like learning and play from the convenience of their own home?

While there were no Glebe Community Association meetings over the summer, there were definitely lots of things happening in our community. I am looking forward to our next board meeting at the end of September. If you are looking for a new way to be involved in your community, please come and check us out!

As fall approaches, the activity at City Hall (or over Zoom) starts increasing. Committee and council meetings are starting again, and we’ve got a lot of big issues to deal with. We have big planning and development files coming to the Planning Committee, as well as important issues going to the Transportation Committee.

When COVID restrictions loosened in mid-July and backyards came back to life with the first barbecues of the season, among those indulging were the pilots, mechanics and staff of Ottawa Aviation Adventures. When I asked them to name their favourite dish, the answer was undisputed: Matthius’s mushrooms.

As many parents struggle with how to share an ongoing climate of racist violence with our children and also to change it so that they might live in a different world, I turn to three authors who manage to carve out a landscape of joy for children while not shying away from the urgent need for education on QT/BIPOC (Queer and Trans/Black Indigenous, People of Colour) issues for young children.

Talking to children about Orange Shirt Day and about the history of residential schools in Canada is difficult but extremely important. The Ottawa Public Library has many titles to help you approach this topic with your children, no matter their age.

How can you know if your child’s school challenges are typical for their age? Is it just a phase? Or is there something more going on? A psycho-educational assessment can help to answer these questions.

At the Glebe Cooperative Nursery School, teachers create environments and experiences to engage children in meaningful exploration. The daily schedule reflects the need for both indoor and outdoor play.

It’s the beginning of the school year. In other words, it’s September, the month of Libra, the “turning leaves moon” and so on. Around the world, people experience time differently, depending on how their language names the months of the year.

I’ve always loved September. As a child, it meant back-to-school shopping, reuniting with friends and hanging out at the playground. Now that I’m a parent, it means back-to-school shopping, reuniting with alone time and hanging out in my blissfully silent house as all these people who’ve been in my space for far too long finally, finally go back to school!

Teachers especially feel the rhythms of September. We are a people in love with learning and driven to share our enthusiasms with the children lent to us each year. Just like students, we feel jittery and excited, nervous and hopeful. We wonder what will this year bring?

For decades, Good Morning Creative Arts and Preschool has been a warm and welcoming part of the community, offering programs for toddlers, preschoolers and school-age children. After the mandated closures in 2020, the centre cautiously reopened last fall, starting only with the preschool class. This fall, we are thrilled to be able to reopen our full slate of programs!

Psycho is an iconic film. I don’t think there is anyone out there who isn’t familiar with the famous shocking shower scene, the brilliant score by Bernard Herrmann and the classic closing monologue. But watching it now, I think we have taken for granted how great it is.

I wrote film reviews for the Glebe Report for 17 years. It was a great run. As a filmmaker, I love seeing films that other people make and meeting those who make them. I was lucky to be able to do this for decades, either working on my own films or viewing films at the Montreal World Film Festival and other festivals.

We urgently need vaccine mandates in healthcare and education as well as vaccine passports to protect people’s health. We need political leaders to stand up for what’s right and for the well-being of folks who are most at risk from COVID-19.

Harry’s Bar is a world-famous restaurant bar in Venice. In 2001, the Italian Ministry of Cultural Affairs named it a national landmark. One source claims that the place evokes “not simply a cuisine, or a kind of drink, but a frame of mind.” When in Venice, my wife and I found Harry’s Bar.

After watching the “We Love NYC: The Homecoming Concert” recently on CNN to celebrate the city’s comeback from COVID, I realized how much I am in a New York state of mind. It made me think of where I was on September 11, 2001, 20 years ago when the most horrific incident took place in New York City.