As the summer is getting started I hope everyone will be attending various events around the city and in our own neighbourhood. Currently there is the ongoing Tapestry Festival and the Magnetic North Theatre Festival. More locally, we have had a Jane’s Walk (I promise, I’ll add more photos soon!) and a picnic in Duke Street Park.

If you are planning a picnic or other event, and want a bit of publicity, please email us at mhbpna@gmail.com and we’ll post it to this Blog. We can also put it on the Calendar that appears on the right hand side. We hope to have more listings so anyone in our area can use it as a resource for what is “going on”.

We’d also like to remind everyone that the city of Kitchener sponsors a Festival of Neighbourhoods  program. For each event you have (like a walk, picnic etc.) you can register it and get a ballot. At the end of the summer the city sponsors a Finale celebration which includes a draw for a $10,000 improvement grant. The neighbourhood with the most ballots has a better chance of winning the grant.

The Blog’s New Look: I hope no one was startled this week with the “new look” but the Blogger folks published a number of new (and free) templates. I chose one that opens up the site a bit and makes it easier to see the calendar and other links.

I also added a “counter” that everyone can see (on the right side, under the Blog Archive section). This morning the number is “71” which means the site has had around 70 unique visits in the past week or so. It is encouraging that a few people are reading the Blog and I hope the number increases as more of you send in links, event information, even photos for us to publish.

Ted Parkinson

On Wednesday, May 19th, officials from the Ministry of the Environment attended a special meeting of the Neighbourhood Mobilization Alliance at City Hall. Volunteers did a great job advertising this meeting. Posters were designed and printed and handed out around the community. There was a listing on this Blog and the press was contacted as well. Approximately 30 people attended the meeting and that shows the importance of this issue to all of us in the area.

In case you haven’t read it, there was a great article written in The Record about the meeting and the history of this building. The article is still online here.

Ministry officials gave a PowerPoint presentation at the meeting and they have now sent it to us. This has been uploaded to our Neighbourhood Association website and you can view a PDF version by clicking here.

There is another “Final Report” which the ministry will forward to us after they have removed some personal information from it. We will post a Blog entry about that report and also upload it to the same “Shanley Street Building” folder on the MHBPNA Website.

Thanks to everyone who came out to the meeting to show support for resolving this issue.

My wife and I decided to have a “downtown” experience today after work. First stop Budds for clothes! It’s a great store with friendly people, great prices and for this weekend, NO TAXES. (Actually, there were no taxes last month as well). Anyway, I finally got some shorts that fit and look nice. They only problem is they close at 5:30 on a Friday. What is that all about? I guess it goes with the 1965 vibe.

Then to Ye’s Sushi where we just ordered off the menu instead of indulging in the “all you can eat”. We wanted to minimize our consumption and also have enough time to catch the music in front of city hall. So after a Bento Box and Sushi combo, we headed across the street. The distance is short but with all the streets torn up, it is not easy to get anywhere. Fortunately, it looks like the end is in sight as there is more concrete than dirt on King Street these days. In another year the Google Street View folks will be able to come back in their car and actually make it down the whole street!

We were greeted at city hall by the sounds of the “New Horizons” concert band which is composed of some senior citizens and a few middle-aged folks. OK, they were a bit out of tune, but they had enthusiasm (especially the conductor) and all wore the same nice blue shirts which counts for something.

 After the concert band departed, a group of youngsters took to the stage to play some really fabulous jazz. These kids looked like they still had to have their parents drive them to gigs, but they played some really awesome inventive jazz. They are called Macondo (although the Tapestry brochure available in city hall calls them “Mandoco”) and the sax player is originally from Chile, while the bass, piano and drummer are local.

They are also playing at the Kites of Joy and Freedom Festival on June 13. You should really check them out because they displayed a subtlety way beyond their years. I hope they continue to play together for a long time.

In fact, there is lots of good (free) music happening tomorrow night at city hall, and throughout the month. Check out the city’s web site here. There is also a film festival going on inside city hall in the rotunda so while the jazz was heating up outside (despite the rain) a few people sat inside watching a Neal Young concert film. Strange but true.

The boundaries of our neighbourhood association (as shown here) end at King Street. But just across this street and a block further is the Tannery. This has been called the “Tannery District”, probably to positively associate it with the Distillery District in Toronto. But if Caden (the developer) has their way, and tears down two heritage buildings to build a small gravel parking lot, then there won’t really be any “district”, there will just be one building and a lot of parking.

This summer there will be live music in downtown Kitchener at several locations. These performances will happen on Thursday and Friday during noon hour and after work. Isn’t that great? They will all be within easy walking distance of the MHBP Neighbourhood.

For more information, click this link.

See you there!

Some people in our neighbourhood are circulating a petition for a leash free dog park to be located at the current Goodrich Uniroyal Park. This park is on Guelph Street, right next to the train tracks half way between Waterloo Street and Weber Street West.

The park is slightly hidden because you have to take a path up a hill to get to it, and it is not used a great deal. It is clearly marked with a sign if you’d like to investigate.

To sign the petition (or object to the idea) send an email to “denis@denispellerin.ca”.

Date: Saturday, July 10th
Time: Noon-3 pm

On Weber Street between Louisa and Wilhelm Streets

Events include:

–Free Games for kids
–Free draws for adults and teens
–Displays by police and fire
–Food for nominal charge
–Kitchener Rangers street team (they bring a cage and participants can take a shot on net, throw a pass and test their pitching skills).

And much more!!

Get to know your neighbours, make new friends, share ideas about the neighbourhood.

For MAP to park click this link.

MONDAY MAY 24, 2010

JOIN THE KITCHENER MUSICAL SOCIETY BAND

FOR THEIR ANNUAL VICTORIA PARK CONCERT

12:00 NOON

AT THE BANDSHELL, ROOS ISLAND

(free admission ~ bring your own ground cushions or chairs for seating)
* * *
When the Kitchener Music Society Band was officially established in 1876, Britain’s Queen Victoria had been on the throne for nearly four decades and would continue as reigning monarch of the Commonwealth for another quarter century. In total, she ruled for 63 years and 7 months – from June 20, 1837 through January 22, 1901.

During the Victorian Era, outdoor band music was popular and abundant, ranging from regimental marching corps, to church parades, to public concerts attracting thousands into city parks on summer afternoons.

What better place to recreate the pleasures of live outdoor music today than the picturesque Roos Island bandshell in our own Victoria Park, with the famous statue of the Good Queen within listening distance?

On Monday May 24, starting at 12 Noon, the Kitchener Musical Society Band, led by conductor Dave Davidson, will entertain one and all with an hour of music which (in the words of an old-time poster) promises to be “…fit for Queen, Country, and Citizens of all ages…”

On Wednesday, May 19th we will be conducting a special “one issue” meeting of the Neighbourhood Mobilization Alliance. We will have someone from the Ministry of the Environment present who can discuss what is being done with the former Electrohome building located at the corner of Duke and Shanley. This is a great opportunity to “get the facts” so we urge everyone in the area to attend. Volunteers have created posters and delivered them to houses and other locations.

The meeting is at Kitchener city hall in the Conestogo Room at 7 pm.

Thanks to everyone who came out last week for Jane’s Walk — Mount Hope Edition (2nd Annual!). We had from 20 to 25 folks throughout the walk despite the fact it rained for most of the morning. Some of us attended the Tannery District walk that same afternoon which was showered with sunlight.

I will add more of a writeup throughout this week with more pictures as well. It was great to meet old friends and make some new ones. Mary, Wayne, Ted and Joan took turns narrating parts of the walk and we had some others who provided a valuable historical perspective because they had grown up in the area many years ago.

Our area has many stories and a rich history.