Monthly Archives: April 2019

Ontario Regional Assembly of Development And Peace Comes To Welland

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By Frank Fohr

WELLAND – The weekend of May 3rd to 5th will see close to 100 members of Development and Peace from across Ontario descend on Welland’s Niagara College campus for their annual Regional Assembly.

Delegates from as far away as Thunder Bay in the west and Ottawa in the east will come to hear about development issues in the Global South, elect new regional members to the National Council and pass resolutions for the National Council to consider.

In addition to working sessions over the three days, there will be opportunities for people to socialize and pray together. A dinner at Notre Dame College School on Saturday night and Mass as St Kevin Church Sunday morning are planned as part of the weekend.

The Ontario Regional Assembly coincides with regional assemblies in Quebec, the Maritimes, Newfoundland and the Western Provinces. It is hoped that there will be an opportunity at some point to link electronically with the other gatherings being held across the country.

The Ontario Assembly rotates around the province each year. The last time it was in the Niagara Region was 12 years ago when it was held at the Niagara-on-the-Lake campus of Niagara College.

Since the event is here in the Niagara Region this year, the local contingent has a full complement of 4 voting delegates and approximately 12 additional observers registered to attend.

(Frank Fohr is South Western representative on the National Council of Development and Peace.)

Themes Announced For City’s Display Beds

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Selected theme display beds over the years. (Photos/ Courtesy Welland Parks horticulture staff)

By Joe Barkovich, Scribbler-at-large

WELLAND – Themes have been selected for the city’s floral display beds.

These outdoor works of floral art year after year can be counted on to show off the creativity and design talent of the City of Welland parks division horticulture crew.

This year’s themes are:

St. David’s Anglican Church 75th anniversary tribute: Prince Charles Drive West (corner of Prince Charles and Colbeck Drive);

D-Day 75th anniversary tribute: Prince Charles Drive East (Prince Charles and First Avenue);

A spider and fly design: Broadway (Prince Charles and Broadway), by Dave Steven, the city’s forestry foreman;

Canadian flag design: Riverbank (Niagara Street and Riverbank);

A lizard design: Triangle Park (Ontario Road and Southworth Street).

In e-mail correspondence, landscape technician Craig Danys said only one bed request was received this year, that from St. David’s Anglican Church. But he said “a few” have already been received for 2020.

The theme chosen this year at Triangle Park follows the trend of having a child friendly, animal design for the bed. In previous years there have been a turtle and a snake so Danys decided on a lizard for this year.

The spider and fly are an original design by Dave Steven.

“It is really interesting and should be a real eye-catcher with some bright colors in both insects and webbing,” according to Danys.

A variety of plant material is used in the displays to provide rich colour and texture. Examples are alternanthera, santolina, begonia, duranta and helichrysum. The hues are yellows, different greens, reds to burgundy, silver and white and blue.

By tradition, the floral display beds receive annual acclaim from passersby who admire the eye-catching design and array of colour.

They have been praised in letters to the editor of the  daily newspaper written by local residents, but also visitors to the city who are taken with their attractiveness.

Work on the display beds will begin after removal of the tulip bulbs, around mid to late May.

THE WEEK AHEAD: Meetings In Welland

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Meeting Calendar
Meetings are open to the public unless otherwise noted. Information is obtained from the applicable agency, board, committee, or commission and downloaded to this calendar as it becomes available. Information is subject to change. Please check back often for the most up-to-date information, including cancellations.

April
30
Special Council Workshop ≫
7:00 PM Tuesday Apr. 30 2019 –
in the Council Chambers, Civic Square, 60 East Main Street

May
1
North Welland Downtown Business Improvement Area Meeting ≫
4:00 PM Wednesday May. 1 2019 –
Boston Pizza, 934 Niagara Street

1
City of Welland Heritage Advisory Committee Meeting ≫
5:00 PM Wednesday May. 1 2019 –
Room 108, Civic Square, 60 East Main Street

HERITAGE LIVES: National Monument Designation Again Recommended For Second Aqueduct

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By Terry Hughes

While looking through my notes from my time serving on the heritage committee back in 2008, two structures that were mentioned along with others were the Cross Street Pool and Feeder Lock. Today, these two structures still appear on the agenda and minutes of the heritage committee in 2019!

Since being declared as a site to be developed as a national monument by the MacLaren Report back in 1984, many efforts have been made to pursue this goal.

For example, In 1990 city council endorsed the idea and when the Welland Recreational Canal Corporation (WRCC) came into being after 2005, they endorsed the idea several times. Two years ago we thought that city council had supported the designation of the pool but the city clerk informed me that a last minute agreement was reached not to pursue the idea.

Our MP, Vance Badawey, last year said that he would support the effort. Since then a list of 25 prominent citizens has endorsed the proposal for the pool explained below:

The accompanying picture shows the structure in the form of a reflecting pool enclosed with an iron fence and a shower of water cascading at its centre. This project would recognize the 75 years it served as an aqueduct and the nearly 40 years as a swimming pool. In winter because it is only 18 inches deep, it would serve as a skating rink that would replace the small ice pad in front of the civic centre. This would recognize the winter days when people skated on the old canals and river. No hockey would be allowed. Appropriate historic signage would be placed on site. (Inscription in white at far right says: Second Aqueduct 1851-1926)

So what is your opinion? If you like the idea, tell your city councillor about it and tell the folks to hurry up the proposal now languishing in the heritage committee!
We’ll deal with the Feeder Lock Park issue another time.

(Image Credit: Darlene Kisur de Pagter)

(Terry Hughes is a Wellander who is passionate about heritage, history and model railroading. His opinion column, Heritage Lives, appears on the blog once or twice monthly.)

City Committees In Need Of Appointees

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WELLAND – The City of Welland needs you.
It is looking for members of the public to apply for appointments to various municipal boards and committees.
According to a notice on the Welland Civic News page in local media, nine committees are in need of new appointees.
They are:
Accessibility Advisory Committee;
Active Transportation Advisory Committee;
Market Square Advisory Committee;
Senior Citizens Advisory Committee;
Town and Gown Committee;
Transit Advisory Committee;
Waterway Advisory Committee;
Welland Arenas Advisory Committee;
Welland Community Wellness Complex Advisory Committee.
Appointments are for the term of council, that is, December 4, 2018 to November 14, 2002, unless otherwise indicated.
Applications and information about membership on the committees is available on the city’s website, http://www.welland.ca/Media/Notices.asp or at the office of the city clerk.
Important to note is that applications must be received in the office of the city clerk on or before 4:30pm on Thursday, April 25.

Make This A Seasonal Household Keeper

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Region’s environmental insert deserves to be a keeper, not a throw away. (Photo by Joe Barkovich)

By Joe Barkovich, Scribbler-at-large

WELLAND – A lot of the inserts that come with the local newspaper go out with the trash. Oops, you’re not supposed to do that any more, so they go out in the grey box for recycling instead.
But not this one, courtesy Niagara Region. This insert, Green Scene, which arrived earlier this week is a keeper. It deserves to be.
The eight-page section is rich in environmental information, graphics, photos and stuff that’s great to know. It’s visually appealing, which is important, and an easy read.
The cover caught my eye with great graphics about curbside battery collection, annual spring branch collection and compost giveaway.
The inside is a treasure chest of riches like: Earth Week activities, bicycle recycling, booking online for large item collection, Humberstone landfill expansion and even an update on GO Train Service, among others.
It arrived with a slew of other inserts in this week’s newspaper, which is unfortunate. It might have been missed by many readers, especially those who discard the inserts “en masse” without even bothering to see what they’re about. In this case, what a waste!