Glebe Report

On August 1, 2019, my business partner Blair Brassard and I took over what was then known as Pints and Quarts, located conveniently between Second and Third avenues, in the appropriately named Glebe Central building. We had no experience in the bar/restaurant business.

With the construction of the John Howard Society (JHS) supportive-housing development at 289 Carling Avenue now into its fourth month, the JHS has stepped up preparations to operate in the community by hiring residential coordinator Joshua Bridges.

History students at Glebe Collegiate Institute, participating in the OCDSB’s Project True North, have been uncovering the hidden stories of Canada’s first and only segregated Black battalion.

Hester Whatman passed on an inspiring quote from Robert Swan: “The greatest danger to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it.” She shared it as we chatted recently about what she does and why with curbside garbage in the Glebe.

This year, Earth Day is on April 22. At the first Earth Day in 1970, the goal was to raise awareness of the connection between environmental health and human health. More than 50 years later, people are still facing serious human health impacts.

The Glebe Community Association’s Environment Committee, through our anti-idling subcommittee, hopes to raise awareness of a key aspect of planetary health right here in the Glebe – the air we breathe. In particular, we hope to make the air around schools cleaner by discouraging motor vehicle idling.

Please join volunteers from the Glebe Parks Committee in giving our parks a spring clean! Starting at 11 a.m. on Saturday, May 15, we need your help to find and remove litter such as cigarette butts, glass, paper, wrappers, bottles and cans.

Amin Habib will likely be spending a lot more time in the Glebe this summer. Why wouldn’t he, now that he’s got a cool, crisp 10 grand in his pocket for winning 2020’s Glebe Spree contest?

Mistral Venture Partners, a unique enterprise nestled in the Glebe since its inception in 2012, provides seed and early-stage investment for start-up technology companies related to cyberspace.

Spring is here! When we think of spring, our minds turn to our gardens, some with glee, others with groans. Still struggling to make sense of your garden? Here are some tips to get you started.

The red-winged blackbird is one of the first birds to head north after winter. Who hasn’t heard their nasal, gurgling conk-la-ree song from the marshy area around Dow’s Lake or Brown’s Inlet announcing, “I’m back, I’m beautiful”?

Do you know this man? Perhaps you’ve seen him at one of many festivals you attend? Perhaps he’s taken your tickets and given you a broad smile and a thank you – all that in a time before COVID mind you. Robert Michel is a “people person” and he gets around.

During our COVID confinement we’ve all been staring at our excess “stuff,” wondering how that happened. In this occasional series, Martha Tobin will answer some of your organization and decluttering questions and provide some tips and tricks for making the process easier.

Whoever has stepped into the multi-purpose room in the Glebe Community Centre has certainly noticed the framed sign hanging above it: colourful Lego blocks against the grey baseplate spell the words that identify the space ahead. But what about the small black tag glued on the top right corner of the sign?

Like many small businesses, GNAG has pivoted to online programming once again. Keeping our minds stimulated and our bodies active during a third-wave lockdown can be a challenge. Thank goodness, we are now on the right side of the weather and can enjoy the sun.

During this term of city council, staff have been working on updating the Official Plan (OP). The OP is the city’s most important planning document. It sets the direction for all city planning initiatives – from zoning to affordable housing, tree protection to transportation and just about any other city issue you can think of.

Spring has arrived and there is much hope in the air. Isn’t it wonderful to hear the stories of people in our community, across Canada and around the world receiving their vaccinations against COVID-19?

More than a year into the pandemic, the team at Abbotsford at the Glebe Centre has become creative with technology, music and distanced visiting to keep clients in the Day Away program engaged and active.

The documentary film A Drummer’s Dream is an 
absolute must for drum
mers and interesting for anyone else who loves music. The location is Westport, Ontario – cottage country, near a lake, at a summer drum camp with 40 students.

The film My Octopus Teacher is a documentary released last September on Netflix, directed by James Reed and Pippa Ehrlich. It follows Craig Foster, a filmmaker and founder of the Sea Change Project, as he dives in the Cape Point reef. He comes in contact with an octopus, and they form a remarkable trust and bond.

Life rarely gives you second chances, especially when it comes to making good on $300-million box-office bombs. But thanks to a global pandemic, Hollywood’s thirst for new revenue streams and a persistent (and occasionally toxic) fan base, director Zack Snyder was given a rare mulligan to lay out his singular artistic vision for the DC Cinematic Universe. The result is the film Zack Snyder’s Justice League.

There’s absolutely nothing better than a well-written middle-grade novel. Geared toward young people aged eight to 12, the genre offers increasingly diverse storylines and characters for all literary tastes while boasting some of the most talented authors in the business.

The COVID-19 pandemic compels deep reflection on the human condition. My book, Transforming Nations after the COVID-19 Pandemic: Humanitarian and Planetary Systems Perspectives, calls for a different way of viewing future world challenges beyond the pandemic.

Imagine one instrument with a range of sounds and colours that can represent all the voices of an orchestra and choir. That instrument is an organ, a much-loved part of the music program at Glebe-St. James United Church.

As an English-as-Second-Language teacher, I notice there are certain aspects of English that cause more difficulties for my students than others. One is the way we use present tense.

I have written to Stephen Lecce, the Minister of Education, urging him to stop the cuts to education and maintain and expand the COVID-19 funding for schools to keep kids safe, to invest in mental health supports and to guarantee that no education worker or teacher loses their job.

Our government shares the urgency of Canadians to ensure access to life-saving vaccines as rapidly as possible, and we are operating with this sense of urgency every single day.

A few months ago, staff at the City Archives notified me that on March 20, I would surpass Stanley Lewis as the longest-serving mayor in Ottawa’s history. That got me thinking about how grateful I am to be mayor of our wonderful city.

Last October 30, Ariana Grande released her sixth studio album titled Positions. With everything going on in the world at the time – a global pandemic and a U.S. presidential election – Grande recalls being unsure about whether or not to put out new music. Ultimately, she chose to release the album.

TikTok is a video-sharing, social-networking platform that is used to create lip-synching, comedy, dance and talent videos that range in length from three seconds to a minute. With this many people on one network, information and trends can spread incredibly fast.